Scrapbooking 1963: The Kennedy Scrapbook

By Louise Rachlis

As I burst through the door for lunch on November 22nd, 1963, the radio on the kitchen counter was loud with frantic voices.
My mother in her apron was hunched over, listening.
I had been in a grade 12 French class when I first heard the news that President Kennedy had been shot.
Like everyone else, I’d thought it was a joke.
Nobody at Ridgemont High School believed such a thing could possibly happen, and we were overwhelmed when we found out it was true.
Everyone ran home (high school students still ate lunch at home) to listen to more news on the radio, and then on the TV where there was live coverage.
A few days later, on Sunday November 24th, we saw Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald live on TV. GRIEF-CRAZED CLUB OWNER SLAYS SUSPECTED ASSASSIN.
Everybody was in shock for a week, and talked about almost nothing else.
A young and naïve 16-year-old, I automatically kept a scrapbook of newspaper clippings, because even I knew it was history in the making. No other news event in the nearly half century following moved me to do the same thing.
The Kennedy scrapbook is A Hilroy Product No. 707, price 29 Cents. The cover is a cowboy on a bucking bronco, and the words Scrap Book in script writing in the upper right corner.
The clippings are attached to the scrapbook with yellow, peeling cellophane tape. The pages themselves are now yellow too. The scrapbook has travelled in a shopping bag through my childhood in Ottawa, my apartments and houses in Toronto, and back to Ottawa. Many other pieces of paper and memorabilia have been abandoned along the way, but the Kennedy scrapbook remains.
Each day for that week in 1963, I spread out on the living room floor with my clippings and the scrapbook, adding items as I cut them out from the Ottawa Journal and the Ottawa Citizen.
By the end of the week, I’d easily filled the scrapbook:
A paper boy fed papers into reaching hands. He had never been so busy.
He looked at the silver in his hand.
“I feel funny taking it,” he said.
As Ottawa received word of President Kennedy’s death, government offices ground to a halt. Most Ottawans worked for the federal government, where “civil servants laid down their pens. Typewriters were silent.”
As the Journal reported, people in restaurants topped eating. In stores already decorated for Christmas, shoppers froze. They remembered the Kennedy’s visit to Ottawa in 1961. Some wept quietly.
Teenagers passed with transistors to their ears. They were not listening to the hit parade. They were not talking…
Telephone switchboards at radio and television stations and newspapers were jammed with calls from information-seekers.
An ambulance firm said it had handled two cases where elderly people had collapsed at home shortly after hearing word of the President’s death.
The large photographs from the newspaper are all black and white, and framed by giant headlines like DEATH SHOCKS WORLD and ‘MY GOD…THEY’RE SHOOTING AT THE PRESIDENT!’ There were dozens of photographs of Inauguration Day 1961, of “the many faces of John F. Kennedy”, of John and Jackie with Caroline, six, and John Jr., three. And over and over, black and white photos of Jackie, 34, in her pink suit stained with blood.
One of the newspaper stories was about the reaction in New York City: “Sense of doom as N.Y. halts.”
Eerily foreshadowing the reaction decades later to 9/11, the Herald Tribune News Service noted that “No news ever hit New York harder. Or more visibly.”
By now the reaction on the streets was close to a sense of doom. So many people rushed to telephones to get in touch with loved ones, relatives, home and hearth that entire telephone exchanges and long distance circuits were tied up for an hour…Traffic jams cropped up all over town as drivers stopped, often in mid street, to shout to one another or simply stare and try to take stock of what had happened.
It was the same around the world. “Nations mourn, statesmen weep,” reported the Canadian Press. Moscow radio and television interrupted its regular programs to tell Russians the President was dead. The radio then played funeral music.
The Ottawa Citizen noted that the Citizen switchboard was a mass of red light as people tried to call for information, and in many parts of the city the telephone service was out as circuits became overloaded within minutes.
Some classes at Carleton University and University of Ottawa were cancelled Friday afternoon and others were dismissed because students had congregated in hallways to listen to portable radios.
Into the coverage came “the new president”, Lyndon Johnson. “He leans to affability, to back-slapping and shoulder-hugging, but on occasion he can be irascible.” I didn’t really care or pay attention to Lyndon Johnson, but somehow I felt that his clippings had to be in the scrapbook too, because this was history.
Through the United States Embassy doors in Ottawa, a steady procession came to pay respects to the President. Prime Minister Pearson’s name topped the second page. Mayor Charlotte Whitton’s signature is “spotted among those of work-a-day Ottawa – signatures ranging from the shaky scrawl of the elderly to round, childish efforts of youngsters.” The embassy announced Sunday that Ambassador and Mrs. Butterworth have cancelled their receptions scheduled for Dec. 4 and 6 “due to national mourning.”
The discussion that would continue until this day began with stories asking, “Did Sniper Have Help In Firing Fatal Shots?”
On Thursday December 5th, 1963, the Ottawa Citizen reprinted Theodore H. White’s article from Life Magazine, “For President Kennedy an Epilogue.” White quotes Jackie as saying: “There’ll be great presidents again – and the Johnsons are wonderful, they’ve been wonderful to me – but there’ll never be another Camelot again…At night, before we’d go to sleep, Jack liked to play some records: and the song he loved most came at the very end of this record. The lines he loved to hear were: ‘Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot.’”
More than forty seven years later, I put the crumbling “Scrap Book” back in its plastic bag, into the shopping bag, and return it to the attic. Don’t let it be forgot…

Protecting children’s brains: The more concussions you get, the worse off you’re likely to be

By Louise Rachlis

It’s hard not to discuss the timely topic of concussions without the name Sidney Crosby coming up.

“He was the face of the NHL and now he is 10 months out from his second concussion and has yet to play,” says concussion expert Dr. Kristian Goulet. “That really exemplifies the need to be cautious when you return from the first concussion.”

Dr. Goulet and Dr. David Mai provide sport medicine services with a specialty in concussions for paediatric and adult patients at the Pediatric Sports Medicine Clinic of Ottawa and the Eastern Ontario Concussion Clinic.
The first of their kind in Ottawa, both clinics located at the ActiveCare Sport Medicine Centre in Kanata were established to offer the most comprehensive and up to date treatment for a wide variety of pediatric and adult sports injuries.

Dr. Goulet says that the effects of concussion are cumulative, meaning the more concussions you get worse off you are more likely to be.

“You are more likely to get another concussion if you are still
symptomatic from the first. That second concussion is also more likely to be much worse than the first.”

In Boston at the Pediatric Sports Medicine Clinic at the Children`s Hospital, he would often see kids with three, four, six and eight months of symptoms, “and the majority of those kids took a second hit while they were still symptomatic from the first hit.”

“Treating childhood sport injuries and preventing future injuries is my passion,” says Dr. Goulet, who trained at the clinic in Boston and was present for the launch of their Concussion Clinic. “I’m familiar with the most cutting edge treatments and am eager to apply this experience in Ottawa.”
He is currently writing up a paper in association with the Sports Legacy Institute (the Brain Bank). “This organization gets the brains from NFL players after they die. What these brains show is that multiple concussions can cause a condition like Alzheimer’s.”

When he speak to parents or children about concussions, he gives specific examples - such as the fact that only 0.03% of minor hockey players go on to play professional sport - to show the importance of protecting their brains.

“I have been very impressed with the parents of the kids I have seen thus far. The parents understand that the vast majority of kids’ future is with their brain and the parents are happy to be
conservative regarding returning their sons or daughters to sports after obtaining a concussion.”
The goal of the clinics is to help young athletes return to their discipline as quickly and safely as possible, as well as to educate parents and patients to help prevent future injuries, says Dr. Goulet, who founded the OPSMCO and EOCC after completing a Pediatric Sports Medicine Fellowship at Harvard University.
Dr. Goulet is originally from Ottawa and played junior hockey in the area. He did a Sports Medicine Fellowship at Harvard University where he was the head team physician for the Northeastern Huskies Men’s Varsity Hockey program.

The EOCC is the first clinic in Ottawa dedicated exclusively to the treatment of children up to 18 years of age with concussions.
“The clinic uses the most up to date management techniques to get children back to sport as quickly and safely as possible,” says Dr. Goulet, who also places a large focus on concussion education and prevention. “The clinic uses both conservative measures as well as the latest medicinal interventions.”
Baseline and post concussion neurocognitive testing (IMPACT) are available, says Dr. Goulet, one of a select few Certified IMPACT Consultants in Canada, meaning he has been trained to properly administer and interpret the IMPACT test. “We also offer physical therapy on site designed to treat current concussions, such as vestibular therapy, and to prevent concussions in the future.”
The PSMCO is modeled after the Sports Medicine Clinic at the Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard University.
They specialize in all acute sporting injuries, muscle strains and ligament sprains, all types of joint pain, “Little League Elbow,” “Little League Shoulder,” and many other conditions.
Dr. David Mai completed his Family Medicine Residency, Emergency Medicine training at the University of Western Ontario and Sport Medicine Fellowship at the Fowler-Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic.

He currently oversees the medical care of the varsity athletes at the University of Ottawa.

“Over the past 10 years, several international bodies have come together to bring together all the tools physicians were using,” says Dr. Mai. “Consequently, there are many more tools available for managing concussions than there were a decade ago. As the program director for the University of Ottawa Sport Medicine Training program and the chief physician of the University of Ottawa Sport Medicine and Physiotherapy Centre, I teach my students the best and latest way to treat concussions.”


Dr. Mai sees patients of all ages for primary care concussions and sport and exercise related conditions. Many family doctors refer patients to him, from older people who have slipped on a sidewalk, to children who have had a schoolyard accident. “It’s the whole gamut of the population.”

He says that now all athletes and the general public can now get the kind of treatment that only elites got years ago. “What we’ve learned can be applied to any level of athlete. Health care in Canada does not discriminate.”

Physiotherapy can also help, says physiotherapist Matthew Claxton. He describes the example of a 15-year-old boy who was recovering from his second concussion in two years. “He came into the clinic one afternoon looking horrible. He indicated that he was suffering from a terrible headache after math class. We were able to reduce his headache by about 90 per cent through heat treatments and appropriate neck stretches.”

The boy left the clinic “much happier,” says Claxton. “We all had a sense of how much his headaches were due to poor posture and neck strain in class compared to the cognitive functioning required for math.”

“Concussion occurs from impact of some sort which rattles the brain - but that also means strain to the muscles of the neck,” he says. “Therefore, physiotherapy can help with the pain and loss of movement associated with a whiplash type injury.

Further, he says, “whiplash-type injuries not only cause neck pain but often headaches. Concussions cause headaches, and physiotherapists can help sort out if the patient’s symptoms are neck-related or brain-related which helps us determine how much activity is safe as their recovery proceeds.”

Physiotherapists can provide exercises to address visual disturbances, imbalance and dizziness. “By determining the dysfunctions producing the patient’s symptoms, we can provide patients with short term goals during their recovery,” says Claxton. “Giving the patient a goal to focus on reduces the frustration often associated with the imposed rest required during concussion recovery.

“We also have objective measurements to help us gauge their recovery. This can be a big boost to a patient’s morale during what is often a very frustrating experience.”

All are at the ActiveCare Sport Medicine Centre,
1108 Klondike Rd., Unit 4 Kanata, tel. 613-595-0222.
.
kanata@acpottawa.ca www.concussioncentre.com

If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about concussions, Dr. Goulet or Dr. Mai are available to give presentations free of charge to groups of 40 or more. Contact Dr.Goulet@yahoo.com or dmai@uohs.uottawa.ca .

Bhat Boy receives Lucille Broadbent Award for Artistic Achievement

By Louise Rachlis

“I suggested a doubt, that if I were to reside in London, the exquisite zest with which I relished it in occasional visits might go off, and I might grow tired of it.”
- Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Ottawa artist Bhat Boy has just returned from four months in London, with a cluster of new paintings reflecting the “exquisite zest” of his British sojourn.
“London was an exciting and colourful experience, but I was a bit homesick,” he says. “When I bought catfood in the Glebe recently, the cashier inquired after my cats Elizabeth and Alexander by name; that would never happen in London.”
He has done 10 British paintings, some reflecting his melancholy feelings about leaving one home for another. Others are happy paintings of Hampstead where he was living. One of the paintings is ‘Mum in Flask Walk’; “the view from my flat to the antique store across the way.” “I had known that in the 1950s before my mother married my father she had a boyfriend who lived in Flask Walk, the very same street that I lived on. It was very exciting for me because I knew she used to walk up and down the street there. It gave me a personal sense of comfort and familiarity,” he says, and he included his mother in the painting, walking down Flask Walk.
Some of the paintings are more typical of his fantasy work with goldfish, with the city of the London mounted on the backs of goldfish.
Bhat Boy and his husband Carl were married upon their return back to Canada. “One of the reasons we wanted to be married in Ottawa instead of the U.K. was that it is called a ‘civil union’ there instead of an actual marriage,” he says. “I liked the idea of being married, not just ‘civil-ized.’”
And at the same time he is sharing his wonderful images of London, the citizen of the world is also being honoured by the Lucille Broadbent Award to commemorate the lifelong support to the arts given by the late Lucille Broadbent.

It’s presented to an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to Canada’s and Ottawa’s artistic community.

“I’m very happy to be back in Ottawa and honoured by the recognition bestowed upon my by the Broadbent Award. It’s wonderful to be recognized by the community, and not be just another face in a big city.”

A longtime Glebe resident, Bhat Boy is the founder of Art in the Park, the largest outdoor fine arts festival between Montreal and Toronto now named The New Art Festival. Art in the Park is an Ontario registered not-for-profit corporation established as a platform for emerging artists to exhibit their work without the formal constraints of a gallery. The event has grown from 25 to more than 250 juried artists.
A self-employed painter since 1992, the colourful artist is represented by the Gordon Harrison Gallery in Ottawa.
As a member of the Art of Imagination Society he shows throughout Europe and the United States. His unique style is described as representational but imaginative, often conveying complex ideas and scenarios.
Places you’ll have seen Bhat work range from his Ravensburger puzzle in the Canadian Artists Collection to the large scale commissioned work for the Sunnyside Branch of the Ottawa Public Library.
Bhat Boy has painted dozens of large scale commissioned works ranging from the Limited Partners Lounge in Scotiabank Place in Ottawa to the Brown Derby in Los Angeles. Other public installations of his work in Ottawa include paintings at Bank Street and Third Avenue, traffic calming figures on Bronson Avenue, and numerous large scale commissions for businesses all over the city including pubs, funeral homes, and grocery stores.
As well, Bhat Boy regularly does smaller commissioned works for private homes and businesses.
Some of the places you can see his London work are:

Visions of London
at the Artist’s Studio
53 Strathcona Avenue, Ottawa K1S 1X3
November 11, 12 & 13, noon to 6 p.m.
.
Gordon Harrison Gallery
Autumn Landscapes
495 Sussex Drive, Ottawa K1N 6Z5
November 18, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
November 19-20, noon to 4 p.m.

Fish
at Gallery 240
240 Guigues Avenue, Ottawa K1N 5J2
November 25, 5 p.m to 7 p.m.
November 27, 2 p.m to 6 p.m.

To see his work online, view www.bhatboy.com .

Masters’ swimmer has overcome hurdles to set world records

By Louise Rachlis
Many in Ottawa know Lynn Marshall from her long experience as head coach at the Carleton University Masters Swimming club, and from her presence on the pool deck at the Early Bird Triathlon giving the 10 second signal to “go” into the water.
Others admire the six-foot-tall blonde swimmer as a masters’ record holder recently inducted into the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame. She has been among the world’s top 10 masters swimmers every year and she has set 11 long course and 30 short course world records from 1986 to 2011.
But behind those records the Carleton computer engineering professor’s tale is one of adversity overcome, of discipline and perseverance.
On July 25th, 1993, in her third season as a triathlete, Lynn was doing the Kingston Triathlon. She was the first out of the water, and heading out on her bike behind the lead police car when a driver unexpectedly pulled out and stopped in front of her, causing her to crash into him.
Her bike was in pieces, and accompanied by fellow triathlete Rudy Hollywood, she was taken to hospital, where to her dismay she overhead a resident say, “She used to be a swimmer.”
She was x-rayed through her mouth and elsewhere, the x-rays were misread, and she was released and just told she’d be sore for a few days.
With only a bathing suit to wear, she put on some hospital scrubs borrowed by Rudy, and found someone to drive her car most of the way home. Then she stopped at the pharmacy for painkillers, with her hair still full of blood, and made what turned out to be an erroneous call to her parents to say that she was okay.
On the following Monday she didn’t go to work because she was picking up a new car. She arrived back home to a ringing telephone: The hospital in Kingston had re-read the x-rays, and she’d wrongly been sent home with a broken neck. She was advised to go straight to the hospital in Ottawa.
It was summer, and the hospital was on half-staff; it took six hours to admit her and finally do more tests. A CAT scan and x-rays revealed a Jefferson fracture of the C1, the same area of fracture that happened to Christopher Reeve the following year.
She called her parents back and told them she wasn’t okay after all. They drove to Ottawa from Winnipeg to see her during her week in the hospital.
Because her ligament was in good shape, she was able to wear a lighter aluminum neck brace instead of a halo, but she had to wear it for three months. “Sleeping was the worst.”
Nevertheless, after her accident, she went right back to her regular routine, at the same time of day. She couldn’t swim, but still did water running and poolside stretches and the stationary bike. “Not to do it would have been harder. My goal was always to get back to swimming. It never occurred to me not to try.”
There was still a long way to go. “I felt as if the brace were still on when I finally got it off,” she says. ““I’ll never have the same mobility I had before, but things could have turned out much worse so I’m grateful.”
The year before her accident she’d had a spectacular swim at the 1992 Master’s Worlds in Indianapolis. Less than a year afterward, she was in Montreal swimming for the Worlds again. “I was glad to be there swimming, but it was upsetting to hear comments that I wasn’t swimming very well, when they didn’t know what had happened.”
She still sees a chiropractor ever month or so. “The first six months the mobility was coming back, and then I reached a plateau. Now it’s not perfect, but it’s not too bad. I can swim. I get tight, but everyone gets tight.”

The part-time professor in Carleton University’s department of systems and computer engineering swims herself with the Ravens of Carleton Swimming triathlon group and the Carleton University swim team.
With a doctorate in formal methods of software engineering, she teaches one or two programming courses a term. Her students call her Dr. Marshall or Prof. Her swimmers call her Lynn.
She usually swims in the morning before she coaches her first class at 7:30 a.m. “It works out nicely, because it’s one trip to the pool.”
Over the years she has also found time for other pastimes such as trapeze and judo.
The interest in trapeze began when in 2003 six women from the Carleton Masters team went on holiday together to the Dominican Republic. There was a flying trapeze at the resort, and Lynn was entranced.
For a year afterward she took the bus to and from Montreal on Friday nights once a month to attend the closest trapeze school to Ottawa.
She also has a black belt in judo, an interest which began in England in grad school, and ended quite a few years later after it became exhausting to do the judo after a long swim workout.
In 1999 she had another set-back, with a pinched nerve called Brachial Neuritis and couldn’t move her arm for a week. It took months to get her swimming back to normal and she had to build the muscle back up. One bicep is still smaller.
This summer she was away from swimming for three weeks with cataract surgery, and it took her six weeks to feel better in the water again.
Most of the time she loves swimming, “and other days you feel you’re flogging a dead horse.” Because she trains with younger swimmers, she is aware that at age 50 it takes her longer to recover for a tough workout session.
For her 50th birthday she joined her sister in Las Vegas. “We did so much walking that I felt a lot older than 50,” she laughs. “But with any age group competition, milestone birthdays are less traumatic. I set higher expectations for myself when I enter a new age category.”
Her own experience gives her insight into the varied motivations of the swimmers she coaches. The coaching training she learned the most from was a segment called “why different people do sports.”
Some want the team atmosphere; others need goal setting such as attendance milestones, she says. “Decide what your goals are – social, cross-training, competition in master’s swimming. People know what motivates them. I try to make it so everyone has something they can aim for. As a coach, you want your people to have stress relief and some exercise.”


A large part of sport success is scheduling, she says. “Some people are there in class all the time, some are there so rarely that I forget their names. The more regular you are with your training, the more satisfying it is. Whatever sport you’re in, find something that fits into your schedule well. If it doesn’t fit, it’s not going to happen. You have to find a way to go.”

Ottawa woman writes tribute to ‘Least-expected Heroes of the Holocaust’

By Louise Rachlis

In 1944-45, Ottawa resident Vera Gara and her parents, like many other Hungarian Jews, were rounded up by the Nazis, deported to a forestry work camp in Austria, and then taken to Bergen Belsen concentration camp, where her father died.
Now Vera has written a memoir, Least-expected Heroes of the Holocaust. It’s about her experiences as a girl in Austria and Hungary during the period of Nazi domination of Europe in which 6,000,000 Jews died, and some of the people who tried to help.
“The only reason I’m doing this is that these heroic people have to be acknowledged,” says Vera, her brown eyes flashing. “They could have shot them right then and there.”
In her book she mentions Swedish businessman Raoul Wallenberg whose heroic actions helped to save Hungarian Jews. In recognition of her work bringing Ottawa’s Raoul Wallenberg Park into being, she was awarded the Swedish Order of the Polar Star in 2004.
“Since then, thinking about my wartime experiences and Wallenberg’s heroic deeds, I became convinced that I must do something to honour the people who were not ambassadors or of other high rank,” she writes, “but who tried to help me and my parents during our awful journey in 1944–45. People in ordinary walks of life showed themselves to be extraordinary by taking risks and acting like decent human beings during those dark days. They are just as important as the heroes we read about in the history books. I cannot honour them all with parks and monuments, though I would if I could. Instead, I have written about some whose lives touched mine, to convey my gratitude.
Today, Vera still lives with her husband George in their home on Island Park Drive where they’ve been since 1975. They have two daughters, Susan and Judith, and three grandchildren, Daniel, Mara and Rebecca. Vera, 78, is a former nurse, and George, 79, was an engineer at Northern Electric, later NorTel Networks.
Twice a week for the past 30 years Vera has been a volunteer at the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital.
In another book, by Ruth Latta published in 1993, The Memory of All That: Canadian Women Remember World War II, Vera was the only Jew and the only survivor included. In arranging the stories for that book, Ruth Latta started with the least horrific wartime experience and ended with what she felt was the most horrific.

“The last one,” Ruth says, “was Vera’s story.”

Decades later, Latta was honoured to play a role in “getting an important story on paper and into book form.”

At first she thought Vera should have chosen someone Jewish to help her tell her story. “I am not Jewish so she had to explain a great many aspects of her religion to me,” says Latta. “But, since her intended audience includes people from all religious and cultural backgrounds, she knew she would have to explain, so my lack of knowledge was actually an asset.”
For years, Vera’s relatives had listened to her stories and told her, “You have to write them down.”
And so she has, with the purpose of paying tribute to the ordinary people who tried to help her and her family. These “unexpected heroes” include Josef and Theresia Lagler, now deceased, and their daughter Maria (Mitzl), an Austrian farm family in Loitzendorf near the forestry camp, with whom she is still friends and speaks to regularly. Mitzl’s daughter Margit is planning to come to Ottawa for her book launch.
“Today at 79, Mitzl is still milking the cows morning and evening, and feeding the animals,” says Vera, who speaks Hungarian, German and English.
As Vera writes in her book:

Life on a farm requires an appreciation of the natural world, and a lot of hard work. The Laglers have struggled for many years to make a living on the land and I think that created in them sympathy for others struggling to survive. It was probably second nature for Mitzl and her family to help us back in 1944.
When I thanked her again for what she, her mother, and grandmother did for us, she said, “Oh, we just did what anybody else would have done.”
I said, “Pardon me, but not everybody else would have. Not everybody was decent back then. At age 12, maybe you didn’t understand what was going on. I didn’t. But I know that most people would just have gone along with the crowd.”

Vera’s positive outlook has touched many who have read advanced copies of her book. “This book blew me away with the beauty of the soul of its writer,” says Sherrill Wark of Crowe Creations who designed the book.

Part of the book chronicles Vera’s efforts over the past 30 years, going from school to school across the region to talk about her experiences. She prefers the higher grades, because their questions and better understanding. “I don’t want to scare them.”

She has had thousands of questions from hundreds of schools, including Carambeck Public School in Carleton Place where she has gone for the past 10 years.
Questions like that of a grade seven boy who asked her “what kind of facilities did you use in the cattle car when you had to go?”
She answered, “We took our little bit of food out of our bowls and used the bowls.”
On another occasion, one of the high school girls gave her a candy; “I wanted you to have something sweet.”
“I’m not emotional in the class,” says Vera. “I feel the kids don’t need more than they can take. When I go in and look at the group, I can make up my mind what I should tell them.”

In the ghetto in Szeged, Hungary, in 1944, there were 17 people in three rooms; women, men and families, she says. “It is very difficult for the kids here to understand when now we have separate bathrooms and bedrooms for everyone. They can’t imagine it, rightly so.”

There were 4,000 Jews in her town, and less than half of them came back. “In the small cities, nobody came back.”

To purchase a copy of the book, which is $15, you can e-mail Vera at vgara33@gmail.com.

Visiting the sick: Raising spirits and giving hope

By Louise Rachlis
The first time we visited, we were so relieved. It wasn’t as bad as we thought it might be.
And that’s because Barry made it so.
We say we visit for the person in the bed or the wheelchair, but I’ve come to realize that the process of visiting the sick and shut-in does so much for the visitor as well.
For about a year I was part of a group that visited our friend Barry before he died of ALS. We each had a day to drop by, and usually brought over lunch. Barry was so cheerful and appreciative right until the end. We had been afraid of how it would be, but it was part of life. It was Barry’s gift to us.
If I hadn’t been visiting Barry, I don’t know if I would have had the strength to visit Linda, another friend who is in Saint-Vincent Hospital for rehabilitation after a brain aneurysm.
Linda’s husband Carl has been amazing in so many ways, and one thing he does is send out a regular newsletter on Linda’s progress, and how to visit her. He advises and encourages her friends to visit, and to let him know how it went. He wants to keep her as part of the world.
That’s what visiting does; brings the outside world in.
When my daughter in Toronto went for her regular visit with my 92-year-old mother, my mother looked up as Naomi walked into the room and smiled, “Don’t you have something better to do?”
But no, the process of visiting my mother for many more years than she thought she’d have the opportunity, has made a difference in my daughter’s life as well as my mother’s. My daughter has even gone back to school to get a Master’s degree in Music Therapy.
There’s nothing better to do than making a visit.
Saint-Vincent Hospital offers programs and services to patients suffering complex medical conditions, such as Parkinson’s or Multiple Sclerosis, those in need of respite care, who are ventilator-dependent, neuromuscular, and those in need of dialysis.
There is a plaque on the floor of the entrance to Élisabeth Bruyère Hospital, another Bruyère Continuing Care site, which reads, ‘J’étais malade et vous m’avez visité,’ or, ‘I was sick and you visited me.’ This seal from the Sisters of Charity congregation, was placed in the floor of the hospital in approx. 1950.
“That plaque illustrates the importance of visiting sick and ailing loved ones,” says Andrea MacLean, communications manager at Bruyère Continuing Care. “Even if they can’t respond, more often than not, a patient or resident is aware of voices or the presence of loved ones in the room and it raises their spirits and gives them hope.”
“One of the residual - though unintentional - consequences of being in an institution is a loss of one’s self or personhood,” says Patrick Marshall, a former chaplain, now the client relations advisor at Bruyère Continuing Care. “This this is especially true for Saint-Vincent Hospital because of the chronic illness component. I think that family and friends play an important part in restoring and maintaining that essential link, instilling hope, even if hope of recovery is not possible, and - if I can steal Carl Rogers - ‘unconditional positive regard’. Family and friends don’t appear with any checklist or agenda.”

Mr. Marshall is preparing a presentation for caregivers of people with dementia. “At one point in my research, I found a reference to the slow progression to burnout - the erosion of hope - that folks can naturally feel. It’s kind of scary, but it made sense,” he says. “I’ve seen many family members look completely broken-hearted by chronic disease. Many eventually fall off the radar.”
Here’s some of his advice about visiting the sick:
Do call ahead: This allows the person to feel prepared. “Nothing’s worse for a patient than realizing their family or friends are waiting while they have their scheduled bath, or finding a note on your bedside table saying you were at physio - we’ll come another time.’ Yuk.”
Do keep things light and hopeful. “Face it: if you were sick, your view of the world might change. Be prepared to hear about the changes; it might not be as bad as you’re anticipating.”
Do listen: “You have two ears and one mouth – use them proportionately! Some folks are so nervous about saying the wrong thing or hearing about the illness, they try to fill the air. Relax! Enjoy the person’s company the way they are enjoying yours.”
Do have a sense of humour. “Although illness, disease and accidents are not funny, no one is asking you to make them so,” he says. “Humour is a huge source of support, says the research. Did you laugh together before the patient was hospitalized? Then laugh together now. Laugh hard, laugh loud.”
Knock, wash your hands, and behave yourself; model good etiquette and a positive outlook.
Do limit yourself. “Try to focus on quality - not quantity - visits. This respects the patient’s fatigue level, and your own need to refuel. Shorter, more frequent visits are often better than spending the weekend once a month.”
Finally, listen to yourself. “I’ve seen many family and friends be blinded by this. Your loved one needs connections; take care of yourself so that you can remain connected. This means taking time out for you, exercising, eating well, socializing, etc.”
“Your involvement in their lives is more important than you could imagine,” he says.

Vital to support Riverside South Community Association if benefits are to continue, warns president

By Louise Rachlis
After many hard-working years with the Riverside South Community Association, John Bruce is stepping down this fall from his position as president.
The busy volunteer is proud of what he and his executive have accomplished, and hopes all the good work will be continued by new blood.
Working with Mackie Research Capital, one of Canada’s largest full service privately owned investment dealers, Bruce was a natural to take over the treasurer’s position when he moved to the community from Toronto in 2007.
“I was tired of Toronto, and remembered Ottawa as a nice place which I used to visit growing up in Montreal,” he says. “I knew before I moved here that it was one of Canada’s fastest growing communities demographically, with among the most children under the age of 12. I thought it was a great place to raise a family.”
According to the Riverside South Community Association website, Riverside South is currently home to just over 3,300 households as of May 2011.
The first homes were built in 1996. It is projected to be the fastest growing community in the City of Ottawa through 2011 with an anticipated 13.5% annual growth rate. For comparison, Kanata/Stittsville is expected to have a rate of 6% and Barrhaven is expected to have a rate of 7%.
The boundaries that will eventually form the edges of Riverside South are Leitrim Road to the north, the Rideau River to the west, a line half-way between Earl Armstrong and Rideau Road to the south and Bowesville Road to the east. It will eventually contain 17,600 units in 15 to 20 years, with a population of over 50,000.
Once Bruce took over as treasurer, it was a hectic time for the association. The current president couldn’t continue due to health problems, and from 2007 to 2008 the association operated without a president. With little guidance, he acted as both president and treasurer. Another man who took over as president didn’t stay long because he had to leave the country for his employment, and Bruce took over once again as both president and treasurer.
In February 2010 he became the official president. “I had guidance from Scott Hodge a previous president who came back as vice president,” he said, “but we still had many vacancies on the board.”
He decided to get them filled, and to improve the treasury.
“When I took over as treasurer there was $7,000 or $8,000 in the coffers, and that has increased dramatically.” He introduced sponsorship and advertising to businesses through the website.
He cleaned up the discussion forum where local home businesses had been using it to promote their businesses at no cost. “Many of those businesses saw the benefit of our demographic and started to pay a small fee to advertise.”
Another accomplishment was to set up attendance rules for the Friday night youth drop ins at the Rideauview Community Centre. “That gave children better protection and parents were aware of children who left the building during events and were no longer being supervised.”
He says that attendance is varied, and many of those parents who send their children to the Friday night drop in aren’t members of the Community Association, which is only $10 per family per year.
He negotiated the use of Bernard-Grandmaître elementary school for badminton and obtained free use of the school after the school board had raised the price to $1,300 making it a cash generating and fun activity for the community association which was able to charge $5 a night.
He also increased assistance and support for the community watch program through the Riverside South website and community policing with Nicole Gorham, the community Police Officer; filled the vacancies on the board; discovered a lost $5,000 deposit at a bank; raised the enrolment of membership in the community association to 10 percent of the community from its previous 4 to 5 per cent; used direct mail to raise awareness of RSCA in the community and increased traffic flow to the website, and paid for and had installed additional lighting in Mountain Meadows Skating Rink; solicited and negotiated a discounted rate for the winter use of a heated ATTO structure for the skating rink on Spratt, and paid for transportation to Saunders’ Farm for teens for Halloween.
“What’s still left to be done is to get the community to be aware that if they choose not to be members of the association and do not offer their support, many of the things they take for granted will be lost - such as the skating rinks. There will be nobody available to manage the rink. If we lose the grant money from the city, once the budget is cut it will be very difficult to get back.”
If families that enjoy the Friday night youth drop-in, the badminton, the skating rink, the Canada Day celebrations and so much more - including proper representation at City Hall in times of hardship such as water ban, school issues, and construction - don’t support the association, those benefits may be jeopardized, he says.
Bruce, who turned 50 in May, has a 22-year-old stepdaughter, Danielle, who has completed a degree in political science and has just finished an internship at a hotel in Dubai over the summer, and a six-year-old daughter, Bridget, “who keeps me busy and active.”
His wife Louise, a translator, also assists him as a researcher and with the administrative aspect of the business.
As for the future of the Riverside South Community Association, “a community is very much like a living organism,” he says. “If you do not inject new life, new ideas and new activities, it will stagnate and decay. We have a wonderful community in Riverside South, and if the community gets involved much can be done. When a few hands need to move big objects, it is a demanding task, but when very many hands do the same, it makes the work fun, social, and enjoyable. And that to me is what a successful community looks like - people helping each other to enjoy the place we call home.”
As for his own future, “I have a fairly well balanced life between working and enjoying time with my family,” he says. “I love fishing - Bridget is my little fishing buddy! - camping, golf and being outdoors, and so I will be looking to spend more time on those activities.”
For more information on helping out the association, view www.riversidesouth.org .

Balancing her own life in Barrhaven, Tracy Beardsley trains clients for a lifetime of fitness

By Louise Rachlis
For many people, a treadmill used as a clothes rack is as close to home fitness as they get.
But the recreation room of Tracy Beardsley’s Barrhaven bungalow contains 12 stationary bikes, a universal machine, and a free weight rack of weights.
And as the president of home-based TJ Fit, she’s responsible for turning a lot more people on to bicycles and exercise.
“When we moved into the house in 2002, we painted, but the basement was ready and we didn’t have to do anything. We never expected that that’s what we’d do, but it has worked out great.”
Always passionate about health, fitness and physical exercise, Tracy began her career in fitness downtown in 1994.
In 2005, when she was pregnant with her second child, the certified personal trainer decided to “move it home.” “I needed to balance my family and work life and ‘moving it home’ was the best thing I ever did,” she says. “It has allowed me the flexibility to raise my three children and yet still contribute to my family and the community.”
Her husband of 10 years, Peter Pearson, is a big cycling fan too. The couple biked to their wedding, and recently to Perth for their 10th anniversary. Their children are Ben, five, Katie, four, and Cloe, eight.
While she has developed a strong clientele from the neighborhood, she also has some devotees who come from downtown to spin.
She loves to work with people at a personal level, focussing her approach on “helping individuals to believe in themselves, set realistic health and fitness goals, and achieve them.”

In the spring, fall, and summer months she takes the indoor rides outside where she runs a cycle club. “We have local rides that take us to the Gatineau, Merrickville, Perth, along the paths in the city, as well as overnight trips to the Eastern Townships, Finger Lakes, Vermont, Mont Tremblant and Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.” They do spring training on Steeple Hill Road near Fallowfield, and there are lots of pleasant bike routes from Barrhaven to Richmond, North Gower, and north of Dunrobin, she says, and they typically coordinate a lunch with their rides.
Winter is the busiest season for indoor spinning.
As for her own fitness, “I find I’m less fit now than I was years ago. I’m in a maintenance phase. It’s not about my workout, it’s about the participants. I can’t coach and work out at a high intensity.” She’s frequently off her bike, checking riders’ form, providing water, and looking after the class.
The bulk of her clientele are between 30 and 70, and many are couples.
She has two other instructors, Murray Kronick, and Karen Wheeler.
“Sometimes it has been hard,” she says, “but I wouldn’t change what I do. I love watching people change in fitness. With the growing obesity levels, heart disease and diabetes, we have to get people moving.
“I look up to my clients who are in phenomenal shape in their 50s, 60s and 70s. They are inspiring. It’s never too late to get active.”
Contact TJ Fit at tracy@tjfit.com or view www.tjfit.com.

Vacancy rates in Ottawa lowest in Ontario as community housing wait list grows

By Louise Rachlis
A new report on housing issues shows that it is especially difficult for low and modest income people in Kingston and Ottawa to find affordable rental housing that is appropriate for their families.
The Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada Ontario Region have released the 2011 edition of Where’s Home? The report analyzes 22 separate housing markets and highlights the need for more affordable rental housing across the province.
According to the report, vacancy rates in Kingston (1.0%) and Ottawa (1.6%) are the lowest in Ontario and well below the 3% vacancy rate threshold for a healthy rental housing market. Affordable homes are needed for more than 152,000 households on community housing wait lists across Ontario.
Among the report’s main findings were:
• Vacancy rates across the province and particularly in urban centers have tightened with the provincial average now at 2.9%.
• One-in-five Ontario renter households are spending more than half their income on housing.
• There is a growing gap in the incomes of tenants and homeowners.
• Median tenant incomes have actually declined by $5,000 over the last 20 years from $41,000 in to $36,000.
• Demand for affordable units is conservatively estimated at 10,000 homes a year for the next decade and at best we are adding only a few thousand units a year.
• An astonishing 94% of the housing starts in the last five year period were in the ownership market, with rental accounting for only 5%. Just 15 years ago, rental construction accounted for over a quarter (27%) of the market.
• Food bank usage is up as many low and modest income households must choose between paying the rent and putting food on the table.
Mary-Ann Schwering is Executive Director of the Co-operative Housing Association of Eastern Ontario. Although she was not involved in producing the report, she has certainly experienced its findings.
“It’s pretty clear that housing charges are on the increase,” she says, “and there is a lot of pressure on people living in the co-ops to pay more than they feel able to. As well subsidy pools are shrinking.”
That means that “everybody is feeling the pinch.” “Coops themselves are aging, and people living in the housing coops who don’t qualify for subsidies are finding that they are paying the same as other rents around in another complex. It’s not because co-ops might not want to provide lower rents, but they can’t. The expenses are the same as in the private sector and they are forced to put their rents up. There always seem to be more people in need than there is housing available.”
Ottawa’s newest co-op housing is Maclean Co-operative Homes, occupied since 2007. Maclean has a group of townhomes and apartments, with slightly lower rent. Blue Heron in Kanata, also with townhomes and apartments, has been around slightly longer, since 2006. “There could be so many more,” she says. “People call us seeking supportive house and we refer them back to the website www.chaseo.org . There is a vacancy report there, but very few geared to income, and they fill up pretty quickly.”
Amanda Shaughnessy is the Manager of Coop Voisins, a 76-unit apartment building in the Sandy Hill neighborhood. “I get calls all the time from people with very low incomes, who are desperate to find an affordable apartment,” she says. “It’s hard to tell them that they will have to wait three to four years due to the long waiting list.”
The Coop’s members are families, students, seniors and singles. Forty-five of the units are subsidized. In 2010, six of the subsidized units changed hands. The turnover is low because members won’t normally move unless they can find another affordable or subsidized unit, and the waiting list for these is long.”
The new members were referred from the centralized waiting list, the Registry. There are over 10,000 applicants on the registry’s waiting list.
“Some of the households came from priority categories,” she says, “such as Special Priority (victim of domestic violence), Urgent Safety and Homeless. A couple of others came from the chronological waiting list. Families sometimes live in motels while they wait for safe, affordable housing. Others wait in shelters.”
Since moving into the Coop, most of the members have experienced a positive change in their lives and have gone back to school or found jobs. “The members find that having a safe, affordable home in a friendly community allows them to get on with their lives.”
The average gross income of all the Coop’s subsidized families is $16,451. The average income for all singles is $10,329. Even with a lower housing charge (rent), she says it is still a challenge for them to pay their monthly bills, especially Hydro bills, since the Coop apartments are heated with electric baseboard heating.
“And yet, the members realize that they are better off than the thousands of people with low incomes who are trying to find an affordable apartment in the marketplace.”

The report “Where’s Home?” can be found on www.onpha.on.ca or www.chfc.ca.

Grounded grows in downtown popularity

By Louise Rachlis
When Amir Rahim runs or walks from his home at Metcalfe and Lisgar to his restaurant at 100 Gloucester near O’Connor, he’s well aware of the joys of living and working in Centretown.
All week long, at noon hour Grounded Kitchen & Coffeehouse is packed with neighborhood office worker dine-in-ers while a line of dine-out-ers snakes up to pick up their meals to go.
Some sit alone in the comfortable location, with their pocket novels or newspapers; others chat in small and large groups.
The restaurant is also busy for breakfast from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., and dinner from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“I’ve been in restaurants my whole life,” says Amir. “Everything I’ve done has led to this.”
He came from Toronto with his family when he was seven, and has “seen Ottawa grow from a quiet town. I love Ottawa.”
Both his parents began running a Swiss Chalet restaurant in 1979, and he and his sister “grew up” there.
Now his own daughter Nazlin, six, has the same opportunity to grow up in a restaurant just as her father did. She even has her own menu of “roast beef, cucumber and Swiss cheese” which she has named “The Nazlin Special” and sells for a dollar.
“I get real pride when she says ‘let’s go to Daddy’s café,’” says her father.
He is also grateful for the help of Andrea, his life partner. “I wouldn’t be here without her. She has been by my side since the decision to do this. She gets free bagels and cream cheese - her favorite - for life.”
And he says he couldn’t have done it either without his business partner and friend Gabriel Pollock, who is the restaurant’s co-owner and chef.
In the summer of 2010, their “lifelong dream” to open a restaurant with quality food and all natural ingredients came to fruition.
“I was looking for a business for a year and a half,” says Amir. “When this location became available, I decided to make a go of it. I’m super grateful it has turned out as I planned.”
Just like the meals that are created completely from scratch, he is proud that his furnishings are “built from the ground up” too.
The open-kitchen at Grounded serves from behind two wooden carts, former Museum of Civilization exhibition items they picked up from Cohen & Cohen Re-use Store. The bar is built out of whiskey barrels, and there’s a glass table made from an old door.
After deciding on their location in the former Hair Junkie Salon, Amir and Gabe enlisted the help of friends to build the coffee bar, scrape the ceiling, and paint the walls.
Gabe and Amir decided on the concept of an outdoor market, indoors, and the menu and their business evolved from there. “I’ve seen a lot of restaurants and I’m confident in what we’re doing. Customers can use real plates and cutlery, but not spend a fortune.”
Most of their customers walk in from within a five block radius, but some come “all the way from Kent Street.” “The response was all from word of mouth. We had to show up and be all we could be, and the word travelled.”
He has learned that “real estate is key” and would like eventually to have multiple locations. “There are a lot of condos going up and it’s not as risky to set up in a less ‘congregated’ location,” he says. “Ottawa is becoming more of an urban city. It’s not Montreal or Toronto, but it’s getting there.”
View www.groundedkitchencoffee.com .
Amir laughs. “Daniel [a friend] met us at the store with a bunch of change. We all got toghttp://groundedkitchencoffee.com/our-story.htmlether and pulled out of our pockets whatever change we could

Student shares her experience in academics and sport

By Louise Rachlis
At this time of year, the University of Ottawa area is bustling with new students from near and far.
Elisabeth Messner, 23, is just starting law in the common law program in French. University of Ottawa is only one of two universities in Canada that offer that program.
She’s looking forward to the challenge, just as she did when she competed for 13 years in artistic gymnastics, a discipline of gymnastics where gymnasts perform short routines and vaulting on different apparatus.
While she stopped gymnastics at age 18, she started coaching others when she was 16, at her club, Cornwall Gymnastics Club. “I decided to volunteer initially because I needed volunteer hours in high school - but I found I loved coaching. It’s a way for me to give back to that Cornwall gymnastics community which has made me what I am today.”
Elisabeth lived just outside of Cornwall, and moved to Ottawa when she was 18 to start her studies at in chemistry and the University of Ottawa.
In her first year she helped organized the first 90U Stairclimb for AIDS. In her summers she went back and volunteered in Cornwall. “On those occasions I did other volunteer work, essentially because I wanted to explore other things as well,” she says. “In the end I went back because it was the most rewarding for me, since that community had had such an impact on me in the first place.”
Then in the fall, she came back and was a mentor at University of Ottawa. She mentored first year students in general and organic chemistry, and organizing study groups for them.
Through the mentoring, a student approached her for one on one help, and she got into tutoring.
The past year she has still been coaching in Corwall, but has stopped this term because of school demands.
As a competitive gymnast in elementary and high school, “my priority was to do all of my homework on the days I didn’t do gymnastics,” she says. “I trained three days a week. You have to find a good balance between school and what you want to do.”
With her experience in coaching and mentoring, Elisabeth has learned a lot about success in academic and sports endeavours. She shares some of her advice:
Don’t give up.
“The one thing that I notice most often is that people get frustrated easily - and I'm guilty of that too,” she says. “Whether it’s a new skill in gymnastics or a concept in chemistry, people just ‘give up’ if they don’t get it right away, which is a huge mistake. Everything comes in time, it requires effort and practice.”

Find the tools.
Secondly, she says, you have the tools to get where you want to go. “And if not, you have the tools to get those tools! There’s not a coach in the world who would ask a gymnast to try something they didn’t know they had the skills and discipline to do. You always work your way up. The same goes for school. You have the tools to do what seems to be impossible at the time.”
Some more of her suggestions:

Use resources at your disposal.
“You have an endless amount of resources at your disposal,” she says. “I noticed in my study groups that students in first year are a little bit scattered when it comes to the basic knowledge they have because different teachers teach different things, at different schools. So while one concept was easy for one student to understand because of his or her basic knowledge, it might not be so easy for another student who doesn't have that same knowledge. This is sometimes frustrating and intimidating for students, but they have to remember that there will be areas where the roles will be reversed.”
Teamwork is important.
“People generally feel that they need to excel, which is valid, but you don't have to do it alone. Gymnastics is an individual sport, but I succeeded the most when I had my teammates, who I sometimes competed against, or even competitors from other clubs, cheering me on, supporting me, and offering constructive criticism. I excelled in my chemistry studies when I studied with other people, when we helped each other rather than each trying to do it alone.”
Take advantage of study groups.
“There are some organized study groups in first year through the residences at Ottawa U (check out CASPAR). And in upper years, you can just start your own. I encourage students to do this, and to look into what resources are available to them, there are an infinite amount! In short, perseverance and teamwork are key, you have everything you need to succeed, and it's just easier to do so with other people. Take advantage of what other people have to offer, and offer what you can in return, it can only bring everyone up.”
In gymnastics, Elisabeth did open invitations at the provincial level. “It’s a very demanding sport and a very dangerous sport at time,” she says. “I suffered through many injuries. To have gone through that and to still have gone back has made me a stronger person.”
On one occasion, she sprained both ankles at the same time, was in a wheelchair, but didn’t miss a practice, doing the upper body training. She also sprained her back and when she was able to train again, she was convinced she had to do the same skill at least once more.
After chemistry, she decided to study law because she didn’t want to continue in research. “I was looking for a different challenge and will see where it takes me.”
Elisabeth loves downtown Ottawa. “I love the fact that the university is downtown. I was surprised when I moved here that I can speak to people in French or English, and there are so many services.”
Now she’s busy getting to know people. “With Law, they take all of the 300 students and essentially tell you to mingle.”

Barrhaven busy bastion of sports of all kinds

By Louise Rachlis
When I was looking for information on sports in Barrhaven, I was told “you have to start with Rob.”
“Rob” is Rob Raistrick, owner of Barrhaven Source for Sports, and delighted to be immersed in such a variety of sports activity.
“Barrhaven is thriving with sports right now,” says Rob Raistrick, owner of Barrhaven Source for Sports. “There is every sport you can imagine - the Nepean Redskins Football; Ottawa South United Soccer; Nepean Knights Lacrosse; Nepean Raiders Hockey, Barrhaven Scottish Rugby, you name it, it’s going on in Barrhaven.”
He says Barrhaven associations do really well with start-up, grass roots programs for young children. There are over 7,000 kids in Ottawa South United Soccer alone. Nepean Redskins have a team at every level plus a couple hundred in their flag football program.
“Ottawa South United has purchased fields,” he says. “There are fields everywhere. They know there’s such demand for sports; there are new fields going up every day, and in 2013 there will be a new facility with a two pad ice rink in the Stonebridge area just south of St. Joe’s high school.”
And it’s not just the team sports thriving, it’s individual sports like swimming, running and golf. “We’re turning into such a great sports community. It keeps kids out of mischief.”
A co-founder of the Run for Rogers House, he loves all the sports himself. “We raised over $29,000 and shut down some of the Barrhaven Streets for the 19k, 5k, 2.5k and family fun run.”
The next Run for Rogers House will take place June 9th, 2012.
Rob purchased and took over the Motionware Source for Sports store in 2007 after working as a manager for that company for more than 10 years. He renamed the store and runs it as an independent, community based sports store. He is proud that he and his wife Lyane and children Emma, seven, Callum, four, and Taylor, two, live in the community he serves. “My kids play soccer, I play hockey in the community, and I’m also president of the Ottawa Sooners - because I didn’t have enough on plate already,” he laughs. “When you enjoy what you’re doing, it makes it so much easier to do.”
He starts work at 8 a.m. or earlier, goes home at 5:30 p.m. to be with the kids, and frequently comes back once they’re in bed to work some more.
This fall, watch for the weekly Nepean Redskins Football games, nightly Ottawa South United Soccer matches, and check the Ottawa Sooners website for upcoming games.
His advice for parents: “Let the coaches coach, and let the kids have fun.”
For more information and links to all the sports organizations, view barrhavensourceforsports.ca .

New Shoppers Drug Mart pays homage to architecture of department stores of the past

By Louise Rachlis
It’s not the da Vinci code, but if you look up at the new Shoppers Drug Mart on Rideau Street where Nate’s used to be, you’ll find a puzzle to intrigue you.
The puzzle is hidden in the 15 precast concrete caps that adorn the tops of the architectural pilasters of the building.
Each cap features a medicinal plant - Pacific Yew, Roseroot, Fireweed, Evening Primrose, Tundra Rose, May Apple, American Ginseng, Black Cohosh, Golden Seal, Echinacea, Seneka Snakeroot, Cascara, Witch Hazel, Bearberry and Calamus Sweetflag.
Each of the 15 plants is arranged in sequence from east to west with a cryptic puzzle in the sequence of the names, says architect Barry Padolsky who designed the project. “It’s a subtle thing and people will have to figure out what the message is.”
thing and people will have to figure out what the message is.”
“I’ve always thought that architecture should stimulate our interest at a variety of levels,” he says, “including the more esoteric. The medicinal plant project is a Dan Brown puzzle that will add some whimsy and intrigue to Rideau Street.”
Barry Padolsky Associates Inc., Architects is an Ottawa-based architectural, urban design and heritage consulting practice founded in 1969. With commercial and residential, public and community projects, bridges, heritage and urban planning, they’ve received a multitude of awards for excellence in architectural conservation.
In keeping with City of Ottawa objectives for a mixed use building, the new Shoppers Drug Mart will have medical offices and apartments on the upper floors.
Padolsky says his architectural design was inspired by the legacy of iconic family department stores along Rideau Street, like the Ogilvy’s department store, Caplan’s and Laroque’s, and also by the former Bell Telephone building on the corner of Besserer and King Edward, and the hydro substation on King Edward Avenue. “They form a family of early 20th century buildings,” he says. “I wanted to honour Rideau Street’s heritage.”
“If you look carefully, the design also picks up the art deco spirit of Laroque’s department store, with its ornamented vertical pilasters caps,” he says.
While the City of Ottawa has a policy to promote public art and in publically funded projects, the private sector is not compelled to comply.
Nevertheless, “in terms of the Rideau Street store, it was obvious to us that given the location, Shoppers Drug Mart was going to have to address the unique architectural aspects of this part of the city,” says Chris Stoyanovich, Director of Planning and Development for Shoppers. With BPA and Delcan Consulting, Stoyanovich led the process of obtaining City of Ottawa development approvals.
“With Barry Padolsky’s experience and understanding of the neighborhood, he provides some great advice and design creativity which is self-evident when you have a chance now to see the finished product,” he says. “The precast concrete caps with the medicinal plants were a perfect example of how a new building can be made to address the street, while at the same time helping to symbolize the new pharmacy use.”
“The reliefs show Canadian medicinal plants from every province and territory,” says Padolsky. “The plants have all been uses by aboriginal societies in Canada and have been used in the pharmaceutical industry.”
“Shoppers Drug Mart has been very conscientious in this location,” he says. “There is a public footpath from Besserer to Rideau, and a linear park all along Besserer to give a soft edge. It will be very attractive for the streetscape.”
“From a locational standpoint, this site gave us an opportunity to improve our retail store facilities,” says Chris Stoyanovich, “and to provide increased product lines in a very vibrant inner city neighborhood.”
For information on products and services at the store itself, view www.shoppersdrugmart.ca .

Artist helps art flourish in many Ottawa places and spaces

By Louise Rachlis
Energetic Ottawa artist Jennifer Cook “Will Work for Food” - and that’s just one of her many artistic endeavours in the community.
Jennifer Cook is an Ottawa-Gatineau-based artist, designer and educator with a diverse art practice in a wide range of media.
She creates sculpture, both traditional and digital photography, painting, drawing, assemblage, print-making, silk-screening, paper-making, sewing, knitting, weaving, public intervention, movement and performance.
She also designs and sews clothing out of forgotten fabrics under her re-claimed fashion label.
Jennifer describes the themes of her practice as “community, connection, love, self-sufficiency, sustainability, recycling, reclamation, cycles, flow of energy and respect for the environment.”
The choice and usage of materials is important in her work, often reclaiming or transforming waste into art or using natural materials. “More and more I am drawn to installation, intervention and public space. I am interested in the power of art and the inclusion of community in art making.”
She believes that art is “hope.” “Art is essential to creating healthy and happy individuals, communities and societies… The more art we have, the more health, happiness, individuality, diversity, inspiration, joy, love, connection, and dreaming we will have on this planet.”
Last winter, Jennifer’s proposal to create a site-specific edible garden was selected by the Ottawa Art Gallery and a jury of six representatives from their community partner organizations.
While designing aesthetically-patterned garden beds, the ever-ebullient 27-year-old said she aimed “to explore ideas of food security and urban agriculture, to engage the community in creating a creative and accessible space where food is produced, and to use this space as a catalyst for self-sufficiency, sustainability, community, art and creative expression.”
Will Work for Food is described as a community art collaboration exploring small scale urban agriculture. It focuses on food issues of the community surrounding the Ottawa Art Gallery, such as the complexities of food production, access to food, and its cultural significance.
Last spring, community partners and others moved 28 cubic yards of soil onto the grounds of Arts Court. Together they created garden sites for growing fruit, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers.
Jennifer has also encouraged creative expression in the garden through collaborative community art workshops in which the public has produced a colourful banner, funky garden signage and in the fall paper will be made from the vegetables growing in the garden.
The artist with the long dark hair and imaginative clothing cycles everywhere, including to the Hintonburg Community Centre where for the past two years she has been working as the coordinator for The Art Studio for Artists Living with Mental Illness.
Since graduating from the Fine Arts program at the University of Ottawa, she has also been teaching with the Ottawa School of Art Outreach Program, offering barrier free art programming to marginalized and at-risk populations.
In September, Jennifer is starting a new job as the new BeadWorks Coordinator at Operation Come Home. OCH provides programs and support “to prevent homeless youth from becoming homeless adults.”
The social enterprise BeadWorks represents one of the six pillars of programming offered to youth at OCH to provide opportunities for at risk and homeless youth to become healthy, happy, contributing members of our community.

Since April 2008, youth between 16 and 30, who are clients of Operation Come Home, have been crafting beaded and assembled jewelry in the BeadWorks studio. When youth sell a piece they have made, they receive 75 per cent of the sale, with the other 25 per cent going back into the BeadWorks program. Since its creation over 100 youth, both male and female, have participated in BeadWorks which provides all of the materials, tools and instruction to them.

The BeadWorks studio is situated in Operation Come Home at 150 Gloucester Street at Bank. The studio and store front is open for jewelry creation and shopping from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

Jennifer’s “Will Work for Food” project culminates this fall with a public feast, and the project is always looking for more community participation. Once a week the project hosts a community work bee with Jennifer Cook on site.
The resulting produce is being harvested for use by the Ottawa Mission and the general community. Everyone is welcome to participate in the cultivation, harvesting and eating of food on the site.
The Ottawa Art Gallery is located at Arts Court, 2 Daly Avenue in Ottawa.
For more information on “Will Work for Food”, view www.ottawaartgallery.ca/news/2011/willwork/index-en.php
http://willworkforfood-oag.tumblr.com/ or find them on Facebook.

Salvation Army at Gladstone Community Church wants to welcome new neighbours

By Louise Rachlis
The Salvation Army at Gladstone Community Church has joined the Centretown Citizens Community Association.
The church in downtown Ottawa aims to reduce poverty by addressing the health needs of the poor and marginalized in its community.
“We invite people to drop by and see what we do and get to know us,” says Captain Ginny Kristensen, corps officer. “We want to help our neighbours as well. There are also many opportunities to volunteer to help disadvantaged people in the community.”
“If any groups would like us to visit and explain about parish nursing, we’d be happy to do that,” says outreach nurse Judy McIntosh, the other full-time employee at the church at 391 Gladstone Ave., near Bank Street.
“Health ministry is a natural fit with spiritual care,” she says. “People who come for the walking group can receive counselling during the walk. People who come to get their blood pressure checked can get prayer at the same time. Most of the people I’ve surveyed say that nursing makes the church more relevant to them. Addressing people’s physical, emotional and spiritual health shows that we care about people totally.”
As an article by Rochelle McAlister called “Soup, Soap, Salvation and Scrubs,” on Salvationist.ca describes, poor health is both a symptom and a cause of poverty, which means that marginalized people often have difficulty accessing adequate health care.
Outreach nurse McIntosh has been at Gladstone for the past 14 years, serving full-time for the past three. Some days, she is making house calls behind dumpsters or washing people’s feet in a basin. Other days she is running the corps’ Fit for Life women’s group or holding health assessments at the drop-in centre. One-on-one counselling, flu shot clinics and health advocacy work are also a part of her ministry, in addition to updating a bulletin board with current health information and holding group sessions on current health issues.
McIntosh’s experience is that some people who are shy about baring their souls will ask for their temperature or blood pressure to be checked. While that is being done, emotional and spiritual issues are often shared. The corps also connects with a variety of health, housing and inner-city networks.
“Gladstone is a mission church where people find community, reducing their social exclusion and poverty,” says Captain Kristensen. “Every person that comes is poor or marginalized in some way, and we show each other unconditional love. If you’re looking for nice pews and the standard Salvation Army, we’re not it!”
The Salvation Army has a dignity project to educate people about what it’s like to be poor.
As winter approaches, donations of men’s socks, warm clothing, tuques, scarves and long underwear are greatly appreciated, says Captain Kristensen, and financial donations are always welcome as well. “Being in our location for 100 years in our heritage building is a milestone but presenting challenges. The building needs major renovations in order to serve the people the way we want to.”
“We have to be visually acceptable to our neighbours,” adds Judy. “We want to be friends with residents of the condos going in around us and to make Centretown life even better. We want to improve life in the community by working together.”
The church plans to hold a barbeque or street party with the neighbourhood to celebrate the completion of basement renovations in the new year.
The Canadian Association of Parish Nurses Ministry will be holding its Canadian conference and annual general meeting in Ottawa May 10-13, 2012 at the Lord Elgin Hotel. “We’re hoping for around 100 delegates from across the country,” says Judy, “nurses, faith community leaders and pastors. The theme is ‘Parish Nursing and Social Justice - a Capital Idea.’”
Keynote speakers will be Dr. Jeff Turnbull, current president of the Canadian Medical Association and founder of Ottawa Inner City Health, and Reverend Dr. Barbara Robinson, an Anglican priest who founded parish nursing in Ottawa.
For more information on the conference, view www.capnm.ca.
For more information on Salvation Army at Gladstone Community Church, call 613-232-2952.

So successful Somerset BIA looks forward to improved streetscape once construction is done

By Louise Rachlis
Peter So has been chair of the Somerset Business Improvement Area for three years, and he was a board member for many years before that.
“I was reluctant to join at first,” says the busy restaurateur, “but quickly realized it’s a valuable group of merchants who give each other ideas and together can negotiate with other stakeholders. We’re the voice of Chinatown merchants. The BIA is very important for negotiating with the city and construction people. Without them, nobody can do anything. Without the BIA there would not have been the hugely successful Somerset gateway to Chinatown.”
There are 14 BIA members, including city counsellor Diane Holmes.
Peter So has been in Canada since 1971, after leaving Hong Kong to come here for high school. He graduated from nursing school in 1977 and worked as a nurse at the Riverside Hospital for 17 years before he started So Good restaurant at 717 Somerset Street West.
“I picked the name So Good in 1994 because I wanted something simple people could remember, rather than a traditional Chinese name,” he says. “It reflects me and also the restaurant. Other companies have now taken the catch phrase on lots of their products.”
In the 1990s he was eating a lot of vegetarian dishes for his own health, and he realized that other Chinese restaurants weren’t doing much to respond to that preference. He added just seven vegetarian dishes at first in his restaurant to test the market, and now offers as many as 100. “Many vegetarians come and bring their friends,” he says. “Vegetarians can be very particular. If you don’t make a dish the way they want it, they won’t show up. Both vegetarians and non-vegetarians can equally enjoy the good food in our restaurant.”
Hugely popular dishes are anything with peanut sauce, and wu se vegetables (“it means ‘many coloured vegetables’, and also ‘delicious’) and the extensive variety of tofu dishes.
On the BIA front, So is enthusiastic about what’s to come on Somerset once the construction is complete. “Even though we have a lot of construction on Somerset now, when we finish we’ll have a new section from Rochester to Preston Street with new street lanterns and benches. There will also be Chinese zodiac symbols on the new sidewalk.”
He says they liked the design of Preston Street and are looking at getting Chinese sculptures along the street as well.
Despite delays, the BIA hopes the construction will be finished this year. “Construction is hurting a lot businesses because shoppers don’t like to walk long distances through a construction zone to get to a merchant.”
The BIA is proud of the Chinatown Gateway that won an Ottawa Tourism Award and many other design awards. Built totally with concrete, the gateway is one of kind outside China.
“It also won first prize for North American infrastructure under $5 million, the first time an Ottawa project has won,” he says. “The award went to Ottawa and to China, because workers from Beijing came in to work on it.” Seven officials from Beijing are travelling to Denver, Colorado to accept the award this fall.
The Chinese delegation will stay in Ottawa for a few days enroute to Denver to check out the archway. They will also help celebrate the 40th anniversary of relations between Canada and China.
The Somerset BIA hopes to persuade the City of Ottawa to give them a hand next year in putting in new benches and lanterns on the rest of Somerset to match the new section. “We’re also talking about expanding our developing area on Booth Street, so we’ll have more streets to serve the public.”
Meanwhile, this month So is renovating the So Good kitchen and taking holidays, including an Alaska cruise.
You see the BIA website at www.ottawachinatown.ca .