By Kathy Rowe

Wishing all Centennial residents a safe and happy summer!

This is our last issue before Centennial News breaks for the summer. I want to congratulate our editor, graphic artist, advertising chair and many skilled writers for their time and dedication to this newspaper over the past 10 months. I am so proud of this newspaper and all those who make it possible each month. This summer rest is well-deserved indeed.

All-Candidates Meeting

On May 11, CCRA, West Rouge Community Association and Highland Creek Community Association hosted an in-person all-candidates meeting at the Legion. All candidates were invited. A few days before the event we were told that incumbent PC candidate Vijay Thanigasalam would not be available. Liberal candidate Manal Abdullahi was expected to attend, but never arrived. The attendees and organizers were visibly disappointed.

The meeting went well and the candidates who did come, including Felicia Samuel for the NDP, Priyan Da Silva for the Green Party, and Gordon Kerr for the Ontario Party, answered many of your questions. If you would like to view the recording of the meeting, visit our website at ccranews.com

Shout-out to Area Associations

I’d like to congratulate President Brian Blakeley, Highland Creek Community Association, and Reza Khoshdel, President of the West Rouge Community Association. These two gentlemen recently took on their new positions, and I look forward to working with both of them.

Outgoing Highland Creek president David Adamson has always been a pleasure to work with, and he remains involved with his community and the challenging projects surrounding the setup of a new home for the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 258 on Morrish Rd.

West Rouge CA past president Kathi Loughran has also been a great team player and she remains active in her community helping with many area events.

West Rouge Sports and Recreation Association President Louise Bonnycastle has been busy organizing several events this spring, including an Easter Egg Hunt, partnering with CCRA for the Community Earth Day Event, the intriguing Star Gazing night on the waterfront trail, and the upcoming West Rouge Parking Lot Sale.

These three associations are close by and they each offer so much to our area communities. I hope you will visit their websites or follow them on social media and learn what they are up to over the summer months and beyond.

Summer Fun Coming Up

As you saw on page 1, we have an active summer this year. The Highland Creek Heritage Day Festival will be held on June 18 and the Port Union Waterfront Festival will be held on June 25.. Both festivals promise to be filled with fun activities, entertainment and food.

We are also gearing up for some enjoyable live music in July at the Port Union Community Centre on July 10, 17 and 24. NEW this summer will be a matinee performance for children on Sunday, July 10. Hope to see you at all these great community events!

Fond Farewell to Varuhn Anandaraj

Varuhn has been with our board for just over three years now. He has been our youth/social media chair extraordinaire! In September, he will be attending the University of Waterloo and we will miss him. Please read Denise Bacon’s article about Varuhn and all his achievements on page 4. Congratulations, Varuhn. Your future is bright!

I want to wish all our community residents a safe and happy summer!