By Kathy Rowe
Our Annual General Meeting was held on November 16 and it was well attended.
I’d like to thank our guest speakers Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie and City of Toronto senior staff Nathalie Forde and Kamran Khurshid for speaking at the meeting. Their presentations were informative and well received.
My president’s report outlined the major challenges that we faced throughout 2023. I spoke about the defacing and restoration of the community mural as well as the updating of our CCRA bylaws, which are now compliant with the Ontario Not-For-Profit Corporations Act.
Speeding in our community remains a concern and this year we advocated for traffic measures, particularly on Bridgeport Drive and Bridgend Street. The councillor’s office has acted and we continue to monitor these and other roads in Centennial.
It has been a struggle to increase our membership numbers this year. Our door-to-door canvassing suffered due to the lack of canvassers. There are plans to introduce more creative ways that will hopefully result in higher membership numbers in 2024.
In May, we brought back our CCRA dinner dance after a three-year break. The event was held at the new Legion on Morrish Road, and it was a big success. Our dance committee worked hard to bring back a fantastic night of delicious food and great music. We look forward to putting together a dinner dance in 2024.
I’d like to thank Gay Cowbourne for facilitating our elections. I will continue on as president for 2024 and I welcome our four new board members. I look forward to working with Shelley Cooke, Julie Plante, Jill MacMillan and Reeca Cobb. Welcome to the team! Kaz Anwar, our police liaison, was acclaimed as vice-president of the board. I welcome Kaz in this new role and I look forward to working with him in 2024.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Laurie MacIsaac for her four years of dedication and hard work as CCRA secretary. Laurie has decided to step away from the CCRA to pursue other interests. She will be missed! Laurie has been instrumental in supporting me at meetings, producing the monthly meeting minutes, and in particular stepping up this year to update the CCRA bylaws. We wish Laurie all the best.
Transportation director Amaan Jabbar will be stepping back from this portfolio to focus on higher education. I’m happy to say that he has expressed his desire to remain on the board. We wish Amaan all the best with his courses in the coming year.
Community Carol Sing
On Sunday, December 10 at 7 p.m., St. Dunstan of Canterbury church on Lawson Rd. will be hosting their annual Christmas Community Carol Sing. This is always an enjoyable event. If you go, please stay to enjoy some refreshments following the sing-a-long courtesy of the CCRA.
I want to wish Centennial residents happy holidays and only the best in the New Year.