Alpine Community

Neighbourhood
Association
ACNA Newsletter - October 2015
(Printed in co-operation with City of Kitchener)

Regional Council Says "No" to Building a Walkway Between Alpine Road

and Homer Watson
Recently, the Region of Waterloo was considering building a pedestrian & bicycle path which
would run behind Alpine Court commercial properties, and which would start at the curve on
Alpine Road and lead to the intersection of Homer Watson and Hanson Avenue. During the
spring, there were presentations of the plan at a public open house, at a special ACNA meeting,
and to a group of local homeowners.
The walkway was proposed as a way to make St. Mary's High School, the library, Activa
Sportsplex and businesses east of Homer Watson more accessible to residents in our
neighbourhood. It would also shorten the distance between local government services on
Hanson and Ardelt Avenues, and the nearest GRT bus stop.
During a September 15th Council Meeting, they decided to not build the walkway; at least not
for a number of years.
Regional Councillors realized that there is too little demand for it from our neighbourhood, and
access to the Family Center and to Family & Children Services will be better served by
improving bus access directly to their front doors. Council has asked for a review of transit
options.

ACNA Christmas Decorations Recognition

For the past few years, ACNA volunteer judges have gone out each December to pick the best
decorated property in our area. This year, we will still recognize those who decorate their
homes in lights this winter, but may pick more than one winner this time. We appreciate
everyone who adds a little light to a less sunny time of year.

The Future of ACNA

Over the past couple of years, our neighbourhood association has seen a decline in the number
of volunteers who come out for our meetings and to support our events. So, at our September
ACNA meeting, we reviewed the things we do as a neighbourhood association and why we do
them. We've not finished discussing these things. Your input is still most welcome...
We started off the meeting with asking ourselves what kind of neighbourhood we want to be.
Here are ideas we came up with:
- A community that is interactive; a place where you know your neighbours
- More face to face interaction; more opportunities for the neighbourhood to interact
- Provides information to neighbours
- Great to have more neighbourhood input into our needs and issues.
- Community gatherings; making Alpine Park a more welcoming place to meet; where people of
all ages have a place to get together
- A neighbourhood where it's easy for people to get around (example: some streets still dont
have sidewalks)
Then we asked ourselves how ACNA can help make this happen. Here are some ideas we had some examples of what we could do if there was enough interest and support...
- Have more events: community BBQ, Box Car race, community treasure hunt
- Promote improvements to sidewalks / infrastructure
- Posters to help promote community activities
- Invite the elementary schools (Alpine, Our Lady of Grace) into the conversation
- A place in Alpine park for activities like table games, bocce ball.
- Add picnic tables, community gardens
- Access to a school gym for a neighbourhood games day
- Adult events, like craft night, book club, community perennial plant & seed exchange
- Community walking group
Those who attended our meeting are interested in maintaining our current ACNA activities...
- Communication through this newsletter and online (Facebook, Blog)
- Supporting the greater community, like through the Food Bank
- Litter clean-up day in the spring
- Best garden contest and the Christmas lights contest - perhaps with a revised format
- Community garage sale - possibly together with Country Hills Recreation Association
- Collaborate with other neighbourhood associations on events like: Cinema Under the Stars,
Family Fun Day at Country Hills Community Centre, and the new Family Day community
outdoor skating party
- Continue monitoring community issues & provide information to the community
What do YOU think? What sort of activities and events would you; 1) come out to attend?
2) volunteer for? 3) help organize? Let us know at 519-578-9603 or gwjeffery@rogers.com.

Halloween Haunted House!

The Haunted House at 52 Lucerne will be back this year and accepting your Food Bank
contributions. Drop by on Halloween Night, or during the few days before, and drop off your
non-perishable packaged foods. There are many in need who will appreciate it.
Our neighbourhood association will not be going door-to-door on Halloween night to pick up
food, due to a lack of volunteers in recent years, but if you call Graham at 519-578-9603 he will
come to your home to pick up your donation - one week before Halloween to one week after.

Disposing of Your Autumn Leaves

For our Alpine area, here are your options:
1) Mulch or compost them at home
2) Place them out for pickup, properly bagged, on the Region's Yard Waste pickup days.
3) Take them to a drop-off site. Our closest site is at Lions Arena at Rittenhouse Road, which is
open for drop-offs between October 2nd and December 4th.
4) Rake them to the curb loose for pickup. Move them there for 7 am on November 16th. The
pickup will take place sometime between November 16-20.
For details you can go to the following web page on the City of Kitchener site....
https://www.kitchener.ca/en/livinginkitchener/leafcollectionlandingpage.asp

Snow Clearing and Winter Parking - Let's Do Our Part to Help Everyone Get
Around
Homeowners are expected to clear the sidewalks in front of their own homes within 24 hours of
the end of a snow fall. Only after that time has elapsed can you call 519-741-2330 to report an
un-shovelled sidewalk.
"If you cannot clear your walk due to health or mobility restrictions there are agencies who can
help. For details call The Working Centre (Job Caf) 519-513-9225, Community Support
Connections 519-772-8787 or House of Friendship 519-742-8327. Fees and eligibility
requirements may apply - call for details." (From the City of Kitchener website)
Between December 1st and March 31st, parking on City streets is prohibited between 2:30 am
and 6:00 am. On-street parking is also prohibited for all 24 hours of a day a "Snow Event" is
declared by the City due to a large snowfall or expected snowfall. Offending vehicles can be
fined and towed. Check with the media or City website to be notified of snow events.
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Important Changes to Ontario Traffic Rules

On September 1st, the Government of Ontario updated some of our traffic laws to improve our
safety, whether we are drivers, pedestrians or cyclists.
1) Drivers caught driving while distracted face higher fines along with demerit points. Those
with G1 or G2 licenses may be suspended for 30 days on the spot.
2) Drivers have to slow down or move over for tow trucks in operation, just as we do now for
emergency vehicles.
3) When passing cyclists, we have to leave 1 meter between our vehicle and the bicycle. If we
open our car door carelessly causing a cyclist to crash, that's a fine of $365 and 3 demerit
points.
4) Cyclists will be fined if they do not have the required front and back lights and reflectors.
5) Starting January 1st, any car stopped at a school or pedestrian crossover must wait until the
pedestrian has reached the side of the road before driving on. The current law only requires
the driver to yield half of the road to the pedestrian.
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Garden Contest 2015

Two ACNA volunteers went out and selected the winner of the garden contest for our
neighbourhood this summer. The winner is the beautiful display of flowers which runs along
the entire front of the property at 6 Lucerne. This is at the corner of Lucerne and Kingswood.

More Fun!... When ACNA Cooperates With Nearby Neighbourhood

Associations
ACNA is cooperating more with the neighbourhood associations in the Country Hills and
Chandler-Mowat areas. There are three co-operative events coming up in 2016, and we will
need volunteers for them, or you can simply come and enjoy them. More information on each
of these events will be provided as we get closer to the date each one happens.
February 15 - The Family Day Skate will take place at the Country Hills Community Centre
between 1 pm and 4 pm on the Family Day Monday holiday. There will be skating at the
outdoor rink, and activities indoors.
April - Family Fun Day is an event that has been running for many years. It is focused on
children, with games, face painting, free popcorn and other things to see and do.
Summer - For several years, Cinema Under the Stars presents a family movie on the big screen Free. We try to show it outdoors, but the gym at the Community Centre has been a useful
backup option.

A Couple of Jokes
Customer: I'd like some coffee, please. Without cream.
Server: I'm sorry, you'll have to have it without milk. We have no cream.
At the job interview...
Recruiter: What is your biggest flaw?
Job seeker: I'm very honest.
Recruiter: I don't think honesty is a flaw.
Job Seeker: I don't care what you think!
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Newsletter Publisher Volunteer Opportunity

Just a few hours on a few days each year
As you can see, the newsletter looks different this time. That's because the person who was
formatting our ACNA newsletter for publication cannot do so any longer for health reasons. So
we need someone to take his place.
Newsletter contributors provide unformatted text and images and the person doing the
publishing inputs the text and photos into a newsletter format, and then creates a pdf file to send
on for review and printing. The finished newsletter of 4 to 8 pages is published online in colour
and is printed in black & white.
The process should be very straightforward, and we do not ask the publisher for advanced
design expertise. The newsletter is published 4 times a year, and is prepared in March, May,
September, and December.
If you have any questions about this volunteer opportunity please contact me. I am happy to
respond.
Graham Jeffery (gwjeffery@rogers.com; 519-578-9603)

More Jokes
Q: How many cavemen does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Six. One to ask what a light bulb is, and five to fight off the wolves trying to eat them.
Q: What's green, fuzzy, and if it fell out of a tree it would kill you?
A: A pool table.

Alpine Community Neighbourhood Association - Who are we?

We are the Neighbourhood Association for the area bounded by Block Line Road, Homer
Watson Blvd, Strasburg Road and Ottawa Street. Anyone living within these boundaries is
welcome to join. We volunteer to ensure a better social, economic and business climate in the
neighbourhood. We publish this newsletter, organize events, hold an annual food drive, provide
our neighbours with useful information, and focus on problems in the neighbourhood. We meet
once a month during the school year, usually on the first Tuesday of each month, in the Alpine
School library, at 7:00PM. Feel free to come to a meeting! For more information contact 519578-9603.

Contact Us:
Graham Jeffery, President - 519-578-9603
gwjeffery@rogers.com
Website: http://alpine-cna.blogspot.com/