If you have attended a community event that was free of charge, participated in a public meeting where you learned more about a project or issue affecting the Hamlet, rented the community hall, played in the splash pad, admired a local mural, skated on an outdoor rink, watched your children play in the newly raked sand at the playground, or needed support advocating for an improvement to our community, such as lowering speed limits, then you have experienced firsthand what the community association does.
The Blackburn Community Association (BCA) is a grassroots, volunteer-run organization that supports and advocates on behalf of residents, businesses and groups in Blackburn Hamlet, Ottawa, Canada.
The BCA receives funding from the City of Ottawa, revenue generated through the administration of the Blackburn Community Hall, the sale of annual memberships, and through sponsorships.
The BCA is run by a volunteer Board of Directors who regularly consult with, and work on behalf of, the community.
A few of the programs and groups supported by the BCA include:
- Family Events: Fun Fair, Bike Rodeo, Hockey Day and Santa’s Pancake Breakfast.
- Environment: Spring Clean Up Day, Annual Garage Sale and park cleanup in the summer.
- Businesses: publishes the BANAR and provides opportunities for partnerships with local businesses to support BCA events
- Our community: Cancer Chase, Beautification, Outdoor Rinks, Ongoing improvements to Parks and Facilities in the Hamlet, Community Safety, Transportation, Seniors, Youth and operates the Blackburn Community Hall.
Please see our directory of community groups for information about other organizations in the Hamlet.
About our logo
Alan B. Beddoe wrote concerning the meaning of the elements in the logo design as follows: The black wavy diagonal stripe edged with white is a symbol for a stream of running water, the word “burn” being an Old Country term for a brook or stream. Naturally, this “burn” is black in colour, for Blackburn. The hornets or wasps (bees) as well as the black wavy stripe are derived from the Arms of Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The bees are an emblem of skill, perseverance and industriousness and may, in our badge, be regarded as an indication of the ambition of the members of the Blackburn Community Club to express these qualities not only as participants in sports but as spectator-supporters. Colours are red, white and black. The name “Hornets” seems appropriate for the senior team, while the junior or midget group might be called the Blackburn Wasps—a smaller but equally effective counterpart of the bigger “Hornets”.
Source: Alan B. Beddoe (1893–1975), Blackburn resident, Canadian artist, war artist, consultant in heraldry and founder and first president of the Heraldry Society of Canada in 1965. The Alan Beddoe collection at Library and Archives Canada contains designs and studies for the Book of Remembrance, postage stamps, posters, crests, money, architecture, and coats-of-arms.