By Kathy Rowe
I’d like to take this opportunity to report on CCRA’s March meeting. As many of our readers know, the first half hour of this meeting was dedicated to generating ideas for using the vacant parcel of land on Bridgeport Drive just south of Lawrence.
I was extremely impressed by the large number of people who took the time to attend this discussion. At least 40 interested residents from both the Centennial and West Rouge areas came to put forward the suggestions listed above on the ways our community could enjoy this property.
I’d like to extend a hearty thank you to all who attended. It was especially encouraging to see David Turnbull from our MP’s office and MPP Vijay Thanigasalam in attendance. Brett McCandless from our councillor’s office helped field questions that evening and we were pleased she was able to assist.
As suggestions continue to be submitted, the CCRA in partnership with staff from the councillor’s office are looking to sort them. We will then bring forward the best combination of ideas to the landowners (the public and Catholic school boards) who will have the final say. As you can appreciate, this kind of initiative takes time. This is just the first of many steps to come. We will continue to update our readers on this topic.
If you have not done so already, I encourage you to submit any new ideas for responsible land use regarding this six-acre parcel of land. Email us at news4ccra@gmail.com or drop by the Port Union Community Centre and fill out our form. We’d love to hear from you!
Community Earth Day
The Port Union Community Centre will be the hub of activity once again this year for an Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 27. Come and join your neighbours for the many activities that the centre will be hosting, such as:
- Area clean-up
- Building a birdhouse
- Recycling electronics, batteries, clothing, scrap metal and more in the Scouts fundraiser
Free compost will be available for pickup at the West Rouge Community Centre.
A free barbecue lunch will be offered at the Port Union C.C. for all those who participate in the area clean-up. Volunteer hours will be granted to students who participate in the area clean-up.
Please see the Earth Day celebration flyer elsewhere in this newspaper for details about the day. We hope to see you there!
Membership Campaign
May is coming quickly and our membership chair Denise Bacon is already working hard at gathering canvassers for our membership drive. Last year’s drive went well but we were not able to canvass all the streets in our community. This year we hope you will help us cover more ground. It’s great to get walking in the springtime! Please contact Denise at 416-282-3561 if you can help with the canvassing.
‘70s Dance
Our CCRA 70th anniversary dance was quite the party! Great ‘70s music and fashion to boot! The dance floor rocked the entire night. The CCRA executive performed some terrific team work in the planning and execution of the dinner dance. A big thanks to them and to the folks who came out to support us and enjoy the party atmosphere. Happy 70th birthday CCRA! May we have many more.