Community Association Newsletter Fall 2009

WWW.COUNTRYPLACECA.CA

The Country Place Community Association Our Mandate to You

1. To maintain and improve the residential character, environment and quality of life within the Country Place community,

2. To foster neighbourhood recreation and social events, and

3. To promote the interests of all residents and represent their concerns to various levels of government.

President’s Corner Rocco Romeo

UP-COMING EVENTS

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM) SEPTEMBER 30TH, ST MONICA’S CHURCH

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBOURHOOD The Country Place Community Association would like to welcome you to the neighbourhood. We know you will love living here!

The Country Place Fun Night at the Casino and Races Friday October 16th

This years Fall Social will be a Fun Night at the Casino and Races on Friday October 16 th at 630 pm with dinner at 715. This will be a fun filled night and will include the following:

Reserved seating in the dining room overlooking Canada's fastest 5/8th mile racetrack.

The Fabulous All-you-can-eat buffet dinner featuring 100 fine food items.

Freshly brewed coffee or tea.

A complimentary race program.

A live race dedicated to Country Place.

A personal welcome by the track announcer, Welcome messages for our group on our in-field Tote board and on the front cover of the Official Rideau Carleton Raceway program.

Your first $2 wager (To get you in on the racing action!)

ALL FOR $35* PER PERSON

INCLUDES ALL TAXES AND GRATUITY Parking and Valet Service Always Free at RCR

Non Gamblers can come for $30 per person (just dining)

What’s Been Happening in the “Hood” Carole Sutherland-Bégin

Annual Community Garage Sale Even though the day started our rainy, by 10 o’clock the sky had cleared and the sale was in full swing. As we had nothing to sell my husband, step-daughter and I hopped on our bikes and went shopping. There was a steady stream of cars on most streets and I managed to pick up quite a few good “treasurers”. All the while visiting and talking to neighbours, much to the chagrin of my step-daughter who just wanted to get going in case she missed a good buy. We finished our day by visiting our other neighbours in Pine Glen, there were not as many people out selling their goods as there were in our neighbourhood. All in all it seemed to be a good day.

Community Fun Day June 13th

I wish I could report on this wonderful annual tradition personally but on the morning of the big day I woke up with a bad case of the flu. I biked down to the park to meet Dana to help her set up the French Café but within minutes knew I wasn’t going to be able to stay. My husband and step-daughter stayed to help and came home exhausted. But reported that things went well. Good times seemed to be had by all. A big THANK YOU to all the volunteers and to our corporate sponsors who made this day possible:

TARA GRAFF OF ROYAL LEPAGE TEAM REALTY

BROWN’S CLEANERS

MARDI FRIEZS AND SUE BRIARD OF COLDWELL BANKER

Browns Cleaners – The preferred Dry Cleaner of Country Place. Call Serge at 613-880-0397 for free pick-up and delivery. Country Place Garden Tour Hilda Wooles

Country Place’s First Annual Garden Tour was a success. The tour, which took place on the morning of our annual Community Fun Day on June 13, featured the efforts of twelve green thumbs living in your immediate neighbourhood. Tonie Chéné, the event's organizer, had asked us to add to the interest of our gardens by displaying other facets of our lives. One result was that several back yards had easels with paintings on them. I am particularly interested in birding, and so, on our patio table, we had the laptop running with a slide show of my bird photos. I also make cards using photos of flowers or birds, and I put these on display as well.

Some of our homes are adjacent to the Pineglen neighbourhood, whose mature trees provide us with some very shaded areas in our back yards. It was interesting to see the contrasting approaches that our gardeners have taken to make use of the shade with displays of different hostas and ferns, and of other flowering plants that thrive in such locations. Jocelyne and Bill have truly transformed their shaded back yard into a paradise; they served cooling drinks, which we sipped as we admired their creativity both in the garden design and in Bill's display of his paintings.

Tonie loves to reflect nature as is, and so combines her garden skills with what Mother Nature sends her way in the form of birds, butterflies and insects. She had a wonderful variety of flowers in full bloom. Tonie's back yard also accommodates a nursery and a vegetable patch. An added attraction of her back yard are the many bird houses she has artistically placed on poles against a cedar hedge. She also has a collection of different shapes and colours of bottles hanging from a tree.

Several gardens boast ponds, which offer up very soothing summer sounds as the water trickles from one level to another. Elisabeth has a wonderful pond with large floating water lilies deep pink in colour. These reminded me of the floating lotus plants I have seen in many water gardens in Vietnam and Bali.

I was sorry that I could not see all of the gardens on display, but I was very happy to meet the many interested visitors who graced our back yard, including several families with children. The conversations ran from travel to hobbies to hints on gardening. I hope than many of these garden tour visitors have been inspired to reach down to get their hands into the soil as a means to discover the beauty and tranquility that gardening brings to us. Thank you, Tonie, for a morning well organized and much enjoyed.

Event Ideas

If you have ideas for any of the events please free to give your Street Rep or the president a call and get involved. We’d love to have your input; we love to have your help even more!

Business Guide

Thinking of doing some work on your house? Need to consult a real estate agent familiar with homes in our community? Need the advice of a legal expert? Planning for a special occasion? Many residents of Country Place own or operate businesses that are just what you are looking for. To help you find the information you need, the Country Place Business Directory is available on line. So, keep an eye on the community website at www.countryplaceca.ca If you would like your business to be in the directory please contact Charlie at [email protected].

New NCC Bicycle Path In Our Neighbourhood Antoinette Chéné

“Chapeau” to the National Capital Commission for having built the well-planned, winding bike path at the end of Amberwood Crescent! Early this spring, the trail opened to cyclists, pedestrians and their dogs. The stone dust pathway is approximately four kilometres long by my estimate, and runs from through to Woodroffe Avenue. It skirts the field next to St. Monica’s Church, meanders upstream along the creek that empties into the Rideau above Blacks Rapids, through a cool pine forest, past a cat-tail bog and farmers’ fields, crosses over an arched wooden bridge, comes parallel to the railway tracks, and finishes adjacent to the equestrian centre at the corner of Fallowfield and Woodroffe. Each time I’ve biked this trail, my senses have been heightened the perfume of wild milkweed and clover flowers or by the songs and trills of cardinals, red-wing blackbirds and goldfinches. More than once, I have been startled by the rumble and surprisingly sudden appearance of a Via Rail train. For two seasons now, I have been monitoring the growth of the soya and oat crops in two large fields. I have also enjoyed the taste of wild raspberries growing on the north side of the path, and have experienced the sensation of a gentle (and on one occasion, a more insistent) rain falling on my face. Just a short distance west of Merivale, a pair of wooden benches sit next to the path and overlook a bend in the stream about ten meters below. It is an ideal spot to rest and observe the wildlife thriving in and near the water. Last week, I observed a kingfisher noisily chattering as it flew above the water. In July, I arrived at the benches in time to spot a great blue heron stalking amphibians in the shallow waters, and also caught a glimpse of what I think may have been a beaver lazily swimming around the bend. On a cool day late in July, my husband and I biked past three or four young bunnies aimlessly hopping from one patch of tall grass to another. A bit further along, and to our surprise, we sighted a coyote cantering slowly away from us on long thin legs, not more than 100 meters up the pathway. It looked like a thin dog of medium size, with a coat of mottled grey and white. It quickly disappeared into the brush. I am a gardener who has lost much of my crop of beans and other vegetables this wet summer to the many rabbits that invade my garden. Frankly, I was not displeased to see that there may indeed be natural predators in the area helping to keep the number of rabbits and other rodents in check.

On another day just after a morning’s downpour, I spotted a deer. It seemed to be a yearling, and was standing still in the middle of the path. We stared curiously at each other for a moment and then it retreated to the pine forest. It made the bike ride in this hot, hot and humid weather all the more worthwhile".

I would be very pleased if there are any bird watchers or naturalists living in Country Place or who are known to Country Place residents, who might be persuaded to organize and lead a group of interested people on an exploration of what waits to be discovered alongside our new pathway. Perhaps by next spring, some volunteers will emerge.

WANTED

Looking for a full-time live-out nanny who can help with child care, housekeeping and cooking. Please call 613-680-0930 if you are interested. HOW TO BE A GOOD NEIGHBOUR PART TROIS by Carole Sutherland-Begin

Since I started doing this newsletter I have received several phone calls and a few anonymous letters from neighbours requesting a few new additions to my ever growing list of “How to be a Good Neighbour”. Hey they all seemed reasonable so here they are and some more pet peeves of my own. If you are tired of rereading this you can start at number 12 for the new additions. But remember these are not the rules of Country Place they are MY ideas on how to be a good neighbour with input from many others in the community.

1. If you are planning out door renovations inform your neighbours. They don’t want to plan an outdoor event like a birthday party and have jack hammers pounding next door. And the reverse if you’re planning a large outdoor event tell your neighbours. Go one better, if the occasion is appropriate, invite them.

2. Don’t trim the hedges/tear down fences without first consulting the people that share those items (do not rely on your contractor to do this for you). Your neighbour may not want to see you in your swimsuit. You may not want to see them in their Speedo either. They may even offer to share the cost of the property line work.

3. Don’t mow your lawn on Sunday morning, supper time or when that neighbour is having that outdoor event (I know, he should have invited you, but do you really want to meet his Uncle Stan that sells used paper clips).

4. You may love your Wind Chimes, Noise Activated Croaking Frogs, or any other “white” noise device, but the people around you may not appreciate it the same way. Be aware that sounds sometimes get amplified by echoing off surrounding structures and can travel farther than you think.

5. Pick up after your pets. Don’t let them go right up onto someone’s lawn and do their job. And speaking of pets why is it that what ever pet it is, cat or dog, they always go to the one person that do not particularly like those animals. I’m a cat person. One of my neighbours is definitely not. What does my cat do as soon as she sees that neighbour, ah yes you’ve have it. Purr, purr, rap around the legs, aren’t I cute. My poor neighbour tries vainly to be pleasant, while I look like an idiot chasing the cat around the yard. Any other day it would come when called.

6. You may love the Rolling Stones, and maybe I do too, but that doesn’t mean I want to hear Mick when I’m trying to read a book in my backyard. I’ll buy tickets to their next concert.

7. Go ahead have that backyard party just let your neighbours know. Don’t call the police if the noise gets out of hand, call your neighbour first. If that doesn’t work well then….

8. Sound travels, especially at night. The size of our yards, combined with the fences and many hedges give a false sense of privacy. You would be amazed at the family secrets that I have heard on a hot summer night. Do I have a juicy piece of gossip for next party. For a small fee I can be convinced to keep it to myself.

9. Watch your driving. Slow down! It could be your child in the street. Some of us are not as spry as we used to be.

10. Try to put your garbage out in the morning. We are called Country Place for a good reason, we have tons of wild life (the four legged kind). Garbage Day is like a buffet to the raccoons and skunks. Preferably use a sturdy pail with a tight fitting lid.

11. Please don’t let your dogs bark and bark and bark. Oddly enough there isn’t an invisible sound barrier surrounding your back yard keeping the noise in. If you enjoy letting your dog bark, please keep it in the house, the sound travels all year round.

12. Honking your horn to say “good-bye” seems cute at the time but trust me, no one really cares that your cousin Ernie is leaving your house at 2 AM. So before your friends and relatives leave say your good-byes in the house and ask them not to honk their horns.

13. Corollary to number 3. What’s with the shop vacs, chain saws, leaf blowers and my favourite to hate, pressure washers on Sunday mornings? When did Tim Allen move into Country Place and why is he ruining my Sundays.

14. We all have rather big laneways, so when you can, park on them, that is what they are there for. We are starting to look like (heaven forbid) .

PLEASE SLOW DOWN

Speeding in the community is a continuing issue. All residents can help by doing the following: 1. Please monitor your own speeding. 2. Please politely remind your neighbours, friends and relatives of their excessive speeding. 3. Please survey your property to ensure that there are no objects such as shrubs, trees, or man made structures, obstructing the view of drivers. If so, please take measures to rectify this situation.

Stoop and Scoop

Pet owners are reminded and encouraged to do the right thing and clean up after your pet does their business. Thanks for keeping the community clean and being sensitive to others.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Carole Sutherland-Bégin

That’s All Folks

That is to say this will be my last Newsletter and I will also be resigning my post as Vice-President. Family obligations are making it impossible to devote any time to the Association. As you can see I’m very late with the newsletter, already Colin took over the Fall Social planning and Louise is doing the signs, so really most of my responsibilities are already looked after. It has been a great five years but now it is time to go, I have to say I am getting a tad bitter and twisted anyway. It is time for new blood, new ideas. Hopefully some of our new residents will be able to find time to lend a hand and get involved. I want to thank all the Street Reps for all their help over the years; I have met some wonderful people by volunteering to be a Street Rep, people that I probably never would have met if I hadn’t got involved. I want to especially thank Barb and Bruce Armstrong for taking me under their very experienced and kind wings and teaching me all about the neighbourhood, Charlie Inglis for his patience as I blithely spent money before he kindly put the brakes on, Rocco Romeo for his wonderful capability to take things in stride and his seemingly effortless ability to manage any situation.

Cheers, Carole

Membership/Street Reps Once a year your Street Rep knocks on your door to ask if you want to be a member of The Country Place Community Association. Inflation has finally caught up with us and we are forced to raise the price to 15 dollars. For that you get; representation in Neighbourhood Watch, Community Fun Day, Garage Sale Day, Fall Social, this newsletter and association members that will represent your concerns with City Hall and the NCC. If you haven’t signed up yet please call your Street Rep. See the last page of this newsletter for the name of your Street Rep. Please support us. Your contribution shows you care about this community and recognize the effort the Community Association makes on your behalf. If you would be willing to distribute flyers as well as help with the membership drive, please contact Colin Wooles 723-0853.

In order carry out our mandate we communicate matters of interest to the community through our newsletters and information posters/bulletins, and at the Annual General Meeting of the Association. The former is presently done by our strong network of Street Representatives.

In today’s age we believe that the Internet is the way to go for most members of our community. The first part of this initiative is completed with the successful implementation of the Country Place Community Association website www.countryplaceca.ca.

The next step is to communicate with members using e-mail where appropriate. This has been suggested by a number of residents and Street Representatives. We are therefore undertaking to bring our records up to date, with a focus on obtaining current e-mail addresses. Please write your current information in the space provided below and return the completed form to your Street Representative. UPDATED INFORMATION (please clearly print following any change of information on the appropriate line):

YOUR NAME(S): ……………………………………………………………………………………

YOUR PHONE: …………………………………

YOUR ADDRESS:…………………………………………………………..

YOUR Email Address: ……………………………………………………

Please return this completed form to your Street Representative:

Street Rep Name: ………………………………………………………. Association Executives

President Secretary Past Presidents Rocco Romeo Vice President Treasurer Charlie Inglis 226-6276 Street Reps Colin Wooles 723-0853 Newsletter Rink Steve and Jill Nimmo 228-0702 Neighbourhood Watch Marilyn Journeaux Signs Louise Staranczak

Elected Officials (for now)

Gord Hunter Pierre Poilievre M.P. Lisa MacLeod M.P.P. Councillor Knoxdale- Nepean-Carleton Nepean-Carleton Merivale Ward Progressive Conservative Progressive 110 Laurier Avenue 250-B Greenbank Road, 2 nd Conservative West Level 10 Green St, Ground Flr , ON K1P 1J1 Nepean, Ontario Nepean ON K2J 3Z6 Ph: 613-580-2479 Ph: 613-990-4300 Tel : 613-823-2116 Fx: 613580-2519 Fx: 613-990-4333 Fax : 613-823-8284 [email protected] http://www.fightingforyou.ca [email protected] [email protected] Country Place Street Representatives

The following is a list of the people you can expect to see to come knocking on your door from time to time to inform you of Association news. If you want to become a Street Rep or just help out please call Colin Wooles at 723-0853.

STREET NAME ADDRESS PHONE 15-28 Amberwood Cres Colin Wooles 5 Denewood Cres 723-0853 29-43 Amberwood Cres Lissy Valasco 44-61 Amberwood Cres Lissy Valasco 62-77 Amberwood Cres Barb Straw 70 Amberwood 727-6973 86-98 Amberwood Cres Rocco Romeo 88 Amberwood Cres 226-6532 102-132 Amberwood Cres Angelina Pontone 143 Amberwood Cres 723-2150 135-143 Amberwood Cres Jasmine Albagli Broad Oaks Court Dana Petrie 19 Broad Oaks Court 224-8955 Calias Court Tim & Tam 7 Calais Court 237-6642 Lethbridge Campfield Court Louise 5 Campfield Court 224-3660 Staranczak Charnwood Court John Kaczmarek 30 Amberwood Cres 727-0975 Chesswood Court Patty Campagna 7 Chesswood Court 715-2215 Cordell Court Jill Nimmo 33 Tennyson Street 228-0702 18-26&27-43 Denewood Marilyn 35 Denewood Cres 226-7333 Journeaux 2-16&3-25 Denewood Sarah 25 Denewood Cres 226-5487 McCaughern Edenbrook Court Shirley Fullarton 18 Edenbrook 226-5325 Erinlea Court Charlie Inglis 7 Erinlea Court 226-6276 2-28 Fifeshire Cres Hillary Allen 22 Fifeshire Cres 225-3492 29-57 Fifeshire Cres Tara Graff 32 Fifeshire Cres 225-2230 Lacewood Court Tam DeGiovanni 5 Lacewood Court 226-9454 2-18 & 3-11 Parmalea Cres/ Lillian Lee 5 Parmalea Cres 226-5188 Promenande

13-25 7 26-44 Parmalea Barb Campagna 12 Parmalea Cres 274-7296 Cres Tangmere Court Sarah Kalhok- 8 Tangmere Court 225-6035 Bourque 28-42 Tennyson Street Jill Nimmo 33 Tennyson Street 228-0702 Treymore Court Branka Jankovic 8 Treymore 565-2149 Tunbridge Court Karen Deterding 8 TunbridgeCourt 225-1788 1-10 Weatherwood Cres Jill Cooke 2 Weatherwood Cres 224-5793 11-20 Weatherwood Cres Barb Armstrong 12 Weatherwood Cres 727-0821 22-40 Weatherwood Cres Ann Marie Mason 17 Weatherwood 224-9480 Yewfield Court Adriana DiRienzo 4 Yewfield Court 274-0406