Thanks to all who came out to clean up our community

By Kathy Rowe

I’d like to thank families in the Centennial community for coming out to our Earth Day celebration on April 27. Many volunteers arrived at the Port Union Community Centre to pick up gloves and bags for the area cleanup. Many bags were filled thanks to you! The birdhouse workshop was once again a hit with children and their caregivers. Zane Biblow and Bob Lalonde were instrumental in preparing and organizing the birdhouse workshops and they both deserve a big thanks.

The barbecue lunch was enjoyed by many volunteers and I’d like to recognize Gerry Divaris and Mark Campbell who flipped burgers and hot dogs. The Port Union Seniors’ team helped to register volunteers and serve the lunch. A special thanks goes to RBC for its kind donation to Earth Day. As well, Lynn Gilchrist of RBC volunteered in the kitchen and her help was much appreciated.

As usual, the 2nd Highland Creek Scouts did a terrific job putting together the drive-through recycling depots in the Port Union parking lot. We hope they raised a good sum of money for their organization. Last, a big thanks goes out to Barbara Broadley, president of West Rouge Sports and Recreation, and Rob McMulkin, recreation programmer with the City of Toronto. Without their hard work, Earth Day would not have been possible.

On April 10, two important public meetings were held regarding transportation. Read Rob Elbertsen’s report on the drop-in to present plans for bike lanes on Lawrence Ave. E. and the meeting on the much-needed but unfunded Eglinton East LRT.

Also in April, I attended our quarterly area association presidents’ meeting. Presidents from Highland Creek, West Rouge and Guildwood came together along with councillors Jennifer McKelvie and Paul Ainslie. We discussed current and future projects relating to construction/bike lanes on Lawrence Ave., Port Union Road, and plans for GO Transit. In addition, I raised the issue of public use of the vacant land on Bridgeport. I hope to meet with both the Catholic and public school board partnership development staff this spring to see if this land can indeed be made available for our use.

May is membership month for the CCRA. Your paid memberships are what keep us going! Denise Bacon, our membership chair, is working hard on this campaign. If you would like to help out, please contact her.

The CCRA has two more board meetings before we break for the summer: Tuesday, May 7 and Tuesday, June 4 at 7:15 p.m. at the Port Union Recreation Centre. May and June are busy with community events and we encourage you to come and find out more about what’s happening in our community.