BCA Annual General Meeting

The BCA AGM will be held in-person at the Community Hall (190 Glen Park Drive) on Thursday, March 21, 2023 at 7pm.  Participation is open to all residents of Blackburn Hamlet, however, only residents who have renewed their BCA membership at least seven (7) days prior to the meeting are eligible to vote (https://blackburnhamlet.ca/about/bca-membership/). 

In addition to the review of the BCA Budget and 2023 activities and the election of the board, there will also be a vote on changes to our articles of incorporation and a meet and greet/social activity that will be announced in early March.

The motion is for BCA Members to approve the following addition to our articles of incorporation in order to comply with the new Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA).

Blackburn Community Association has two types of memberships: Regular and Associate

Regular members reside within the boundaries of Blackburn Hamlet. Membership gives them the right to vote on motions raised at Members' Meetings and to vote on the election of the Directors.

Associate members reside outside the boundaries of Blackburn Hamlet. Membership gives them the right to vote motions raised at Members' Meetings. Associate members are not eligible to vote on the election of the Directors.

You will find all documents for this AGM on website at:

https://blackburnhamlet.ca/event/bca-annual-general-meeting-3/

We look forward to your active participation in this year’s AGM!

Blackburn Community Association

Blackburn Seniors Breakfast Get-together

When: Wednesday, February 7, 2024, 9:00 AM

Where: Broadway Bar & Grill, 1615 Orleans Blvd.

Calling all Blackburn Hamlet seniors aged 55+! Please join us on February 7 at 9:00 AM for our first Seniors Breakfast of 2024!

Come and share the laughter and exchange a story or two.

Ample parking is available.

Please RSVP to Shirley at 613-841-7691 by February 2, 2024.

Seniors Walk and Talk 

The Seniors Walk-and-Talk outings are back for Winter 2024, with a new time, a new meeting location, and several new dates. 

To take advantage of the wonderful trails around us, the winter walks will begin at the end of Tauvette Street, where Pathway E begins. 

Walks for February and March will start at 1:00 PM and will be held on the following Wednesdays:

• February 14, 2024
• February 28, 2024
• March 13, 2024
• March 27, 2024

Water bottles and traction aids (crampons) for boots are recommended.

Should we have inclement weather on a scheduled walk day, check the BCA public Facebook page at https://facebook.com/blackburnhamlet/ for walk updates. Please note that you do not need to have a Facebook account to view the public page.

Looking forward to walking with you!

Questions? Please send an email to seniors@blackburnhamlet.ca

Hockey Day in the Hamlet

When: Family Day, Monday, February 19, 2024 

Where: Norman Johnston Rink, 2401 Cleroux Crescent.

More details will be posted on the BCA Website and our Facebook group when we are certain the ice conditions will be suitable for an event. 

February Discovery Café 

Nuclear Family: Growing up in Ottawa at the beginning of the nuclear age

When: Thursday, February 22, 2024, 7:00 to 8:30 PM

Where: Blackburn Community Centre, 190 Glen Park Drive

Author Jean Van Loon is a life-long resident of Ottawa. Her poems, stories and reviews have appeared in literary magazines across the country, most recently in the Queen's Quarterly and (forthcoming) The New Quarterly. She is a graduate of Carleton, Queen's, Humber Graduate School of Writing, and UBC's MFA program in Creative Writing.

Jean will read from her second poetry collection, Nuclear Family (McGill-Queen's 2022), winner of the 2023 Ottawa Book Award for fiction. The book's details of 1940s and 50s Ottawa and the role Canada played in the U.S. nuclear development program may invite discussion of other people's memories of the time. 

Jean presented her first book a few years ago at Discovery Cafe. That book (a finalist in 2019 for the same Ottawa award) was Building on River (Cormorant Books, 2018). Its evocation of the life and times of J.R. Booth, greatest of the Ottawa Valley lumber kings, provoked many audience recollections.

Admission is free and refreshments will be served. No registration is required.

Questions or Suggestions? Please email barbara@blackburnhamlet.ca.

Emergency Preparedness Plan

When: Monday, February 26, 2024 7pm to 9pm

Where: Blackburn Community Centre, 190 Glen Park Drive

Science is proving that climate change is affecting the frequency, duration, and intensity of many climate-related hazards and disasters occurring around the world, including Ottawa. In Canada, 2023 was the warmest summer in 76 years, dating back to the start of national record-keeping in 1948. Canadians in cities, including Ottawa, suffered with some of the worst air quality on Earth. Ottawa experienced five tornadoes, including an EF1 storm on July 13, that struck Barrhaven. In April, Ottawa had nine hours of continuous freezing rain. Many were still without power after two days. There were numerous vehicle accidents; sidewalks were coated with treacherous ice and Ottawa’s light-rail transit went down leaving dozens of commuters waiting hours to be evacuated. These events, at times, overwhelmed the city's emergency services. The city is now requesting their communities act in a larger support role to such events. Blackburn Hamlet has been chosen as one of the first communities for this new concept. 

On the evening of February 26, at the Community Hall, the BCA will be holding a community event to highlight the Blackburn Hamlet’s Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP). This event is a joint effort between the City of Ottawa's Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and the BCA and will include representation from community stakeholders, such as police, fire, medical, and businesses. 

A more detailed review of the night will be provided in the upcoming Banar. Queries should be directed to Don Kelly at safety@blackburnhamlet.ca.

BANAR Editor

The BCA is currently looking for someone to take over as Editor of the BANAR. The BANAR is a key communication tool for the BCA and is one of Blackburn's longest running traditions.

Responsibilities include: working with the BCA Board of Directors; collecting and proofreading articles; communicating with advertisers; and working with the Production Manager to approve the layout and final version of each issue.

If you are interested in learning more about the role, please reach out to Kendra Brett at banar@blackburnhamlet.ca.

Community Closet Leader

The chair of this annual event has resigned. In order for the event to continue we need an energetic and organized leader to take over the planning and preparation activities. If you are interested taking the lead for this event, please contact Jenny at jenny@blackburnhamlet.ca for more details.

Blackburn Library Activities

There are a variety of activities scheduled at the Ottawa Public Library, Blackburn Hamlet Branch throughout the month.

• Wednesdays Feb 7, 14 & 21 @ 10:30am Family Storytime
• Feb 3 @ 2:30pm From Sheep to Sweater
• Feb 5 @ 2pm How to Take Better Vacation Photos
• Feb 7 @ 7pm ConsumerReports.org Online Resource
• Feb 10 @ 2pm Travel Series - Portugal, Italy, Spain, Croatia
• Feb 12 @ 2pm Blackburn Hamlet Book Chat
• Feb 15 @ 10:30am Hot to Secure a Home Wireless Network
• Feb 17 @ 10:30am Comment devenir un super auteur
• Feb 20 @ 2pm Watercolour Connect/Aquarelle
• Feb 24 @ 2:30pm Rubik's Cube at BH
• Feb 29 @ 10:30am Social Hour/Heure Sociale

More details can be found on the Ottawa Public Library Website.

Upcoming BCA Events

February 7 Blackburn Seniors Breakfast Get-together

February 14 Seniors Walk-and-Talk

February 15 BCA Board Meeting

February 19 Hockey Day in the Hamlet

February 22 Discovery Cafe

February 26 Emergency Preparedness Plan

February 28 Seniors Walk-and-Talk

The BCA gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the City of Ottawa / Le ACB remercie sincèrement la Ville d’Ottawa de son soutien financier.