April 16, 2010 Vol. 38 rvn No. 4 Serving the Glebe community since 1973 FREE Honouring the legacy of Sylvia Holden PHOTO: ILSE KYSSA Sylvia Holden, centre, with her son Alfred, left, and her husband, Clem, right, on opening day of the park, June 1, 1995. WHY A PARK FOR SYLVIA HOLDEN? BY ELAINE MARLIN could build – under supervision – using scrap materials, also came close to Sylvia and Clem Holden, a dynamic duo (still wonderfully active at ages realization in the northeast section of Lansdowne Park, now being referred to 80 and 86), were local residents who were very involved in community ac- as Sylvia Holden Community Park. Eventually the wading pool was built at tivism and local politics in the Glebe from the 1970s to the 1990s. One of the spot planned for the playground – a different result than intended; however, Sylvia’s passions was improving and expanding recreation facilities in the by then, the spot had been clearly earmarked for recreational use. Glebe. Together with the late Frances Bryce, she did a survey of all the rec- In contrast to the hustle and bustle of recreational activities at this commun- reational facilities in the community, cataloguing possible new spaces for de- ity park, the park at Bank Street and Holmwood Avenue, is a passive park for velopment. As a very active chairperson of the Glebe Community Association’s all ages that provides a respite from the noise of Bank Street. Sylvia patiently Recreation Committee, Sylvia kept the goal of expanding recreation facilities and doggedly pursued her goal of establishing a park on this site, a process in the public eye, no matter what other crises were going on. which took years of negotiations. It was officially opened on June 1, 1995 by Working mostly with groups of young parents, she helped to upgrade several councilor Jim Watson and was named in honour of Sylvia Holden. Although of our neighbourhood parks. The establishment of the Tot Lot at Fifth and the Holdens eventually moved away, Sylvia would make a point on return O’Connor avenues (later named Lionel Britton Park after another great sup- visits of weeding the flower beds with her friend Ilse Kyssa. Last month, in a porter of recreation) was the hard-fought victory of one of those local groups. telephone conversation, she confirmed that the original Sylvia Holden Park in- Sylvia almost succeeded in having a children’s playground built on the part of cluded only the piece of land at Bank Street and Holmwood Avenue. Jim Wat- Clemow Avenue that is currently blocked off to traffic, this time working with son described it as a three-acre park in the Glebe Report issue of June, 9, 1995. a different team of residents. An adventure playground, where older children Why the boundaries recently appear to have moved is still a bit of a mystery. continued on page 22 WHAT’S INSIDE Mark your calendars April 15-18 Originals Spring Craft Sale, Lansdowne Park Abbotsford . 2 GNAG...............6 www.originalsshow.ca (see page 24) Art . 24 Glebe History . 14-15 April 17 Spring clean Bank Street, 9:30 a.m. Meet outside Fifth Avenue Court. BIA ................13 Grapevine . 38-39 April 22-25 First Avenue School Book Sale Thurs., 4-9 p.m., Fri., 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Books........... 38-39 Letters . 5 Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun., 10 a.m.-3 p.m. April 25 My Kids Funky Closet Kids Consignment Sale Business . 16-17 MP’s Report.........18 10 a.m.-3 p.m., GCC www.mykidsfunkycloset.com Councillor’s Report . 10 MPP’s Report . .12 April 30 Rockin Benefit, 6:30 p.m., GCC (see page 8) May 7-24 Canadian Tulip Festival, www.tulipfestival.ca Editorial .............4 Music ..............25 May 7-8 Glamour in the Glebe, jewelry show, GCC Religion ......... 40-41 (see page 6) Entertainment .......26 May 9 Ottawa Farmers’ Market opening day GCA . 8 Schools . 30-34 Lansdowne Park, www.ottawafarmersmarket.ca May 27 GNAG’s Lobster Kitchen Party (see page 6) May 29 Great Glebe Garage Sale NEXT DEADLINE: FOR THE MAY 14 ISSUE FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2010 2 Glebe Report April 16, 2010 EVENTS Join us early to fight against Abbotsford’s GST Auction: HIV/AIDS in Africa goods, services and talents BY Carol MacLEOD Grammas to Ambuyas (grandmother in Shona) are pleased to be organizing their third annual fundraiser for the Stephen Lewis Foundation, once again with the generous collaboration of Bob Russell, proprietor of Stoneface Dolly’s. On May 31, Grammas to Ambuyas is sponsoring a Reach for the Top celebration to give our community the opportunity to be updated on the Stephen Lewis Foundation Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign. Since its March 2006 launch, more than 220 groups of Canadian grand- mothers have taken the challenge. The campaign has raised over $7 mil- lion. The Stephen Lewis Foundation directs these funds to community-level organizations in 15 sub-Saharan African countries to provide grandmothers with much needed food, housing grants, school fees for their grandchildren and grief counselling. There is more information at the Foundation web- site: www.grandmotherscampaign.org/ or www.stephenlewisfoundation.org/ grandmothers.htm. Grammas to Ambuyas guest speaker this year is Gisele Mansfield. She and five other Kilimanjaro grannies hiked to the summit of Kilimanjaro. The adven- ture-of-a-lifetime was planned to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic that is destroying Africa’s social and economic fabric. AIDS has killed a generation of sub-Saharan wage earners, leaving grandparents and orphaned children to fend for each other with limited economic resources. The family unit has been BY JULIE Ireton redefined by AIDS so that vulnerable children are raising their siblings. Grand- Sneezy Waters will entertain. CBC Radio host, Alan Neal, will be MC. Art, parents are the primary caregivers to millions of orphans and communities are jewelry, crafts and even a night-on-the-town will be up for auction. There’s ostracizing the HIV+ sufferers. something for everyone at the Glebe Centre’s Fifth Annual Goods, Services The Kilimanjaro Grannies group produced a glorious book about their trek and Talents Auction to be held Thursday, April 22, at the Glebe Community to the summit of this iconic African destination, Kilimanjaro, A Purposeful Centre. Journey: A story of six ordinary women making a difference in AIDS-stricken The event gets underway at 7 pm sharp with Sneezy Waters. His trio includes Africa. Profits from book sales support the Stephen Lewis Foundation Grand- Ann Downey and Vince Halfhide. They’ll play for only the first half hour or so, mothers to Grandmothers Campaign, the Snowy Owl AIDS Foundation and so get there early to hear Sneezy. While you listen to the trio, you can wander Camp Wendeke, a camp being built in eastern Ontario for people living with around, checking out what’s up for auction. “This year we have three unique HIV and AIDS and their caregivers, loved ones and traditional/non-traditional craft items on offer, thanks to the generosity of our talented volunteers,” says families. The book will be on sale after Gisele’s talk at Stoneface Dolly’s. Pat Goyeche, program facilitator at Abbotsford’s Community Centre for adults The event takes place on Monday, May 31 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Stoneface 55 plus. Dolly’s at 416 Preston at Beech. Delicious flavours of Africa treats will be “The one-of-a-kinds are just that, so you have to see them to believe them!” served. Tickets are $40 and proceeds go to the Stephen Lewis Foundation. If Among the items up for auction will be 26 pieces of original art and 30 pieces you have other commitments, you can make a cheque payable to the Stephen of jewelry, all precious stones in either sterling silver or white gold. There Lewis Foundation and we will make sure it reaches its destination! Donations are bracelets, earrings and necklaces with pendants. “We do have a couple over $20 are tax receipted. Tickets are limited for this always popular event. of pieces of antique jewelry which I know some collectors are interested in,” For tickets, call Barb Coyle, 613-233-2500, Sheila Jenkins, 613-235-3107 or explains Sandy Taylor, outreach co-coordinator for Abbotsford. Taylor is in- Carol MacLeod, 613-234-9572. Please join us! volved in organizing the art and jewelry for the auction. “We have everything appraised, and we start everything at one third market value. For the art, there’s a combination of oil or watercolours and most of it is signed by the artist,” explains Taylor. There are also some rare forms of art. “We have four lovely Japanese wood cuts. It’s a type of Japanese art done with small pieces of wood. It’s very at- ESCAPE tractive.” Also up for auction will be English porcelain, hand-cut glass vases WOMEN’S CLASSIC CASUAL CLOTHING and some Middle-Eastern rugs. But there are more than goods up for grabs. There are also some interesting services…including meals out and a “sleep- over.” Spring has arrived! For the second year in a row, Alice Hinther, a neighbourhood foodie, will offer her services for a dinner for eight. Hinther’s dinner was very popular last year and raised a lot of money. “I’ll deliver it hot, on platters,” she explains. New lines and designs! “There’ll be no Styrofoam!” Hinther is well known to the Glebe community and is a frequent helper for Abbotsford fundraisers. “The dinner for eight will Old favorites as well! include a starter, salad, a meal with dessert…there will be a menu to chose from,” says Hinther.