If you prefer a print edition, then you can find it in the centre fold of the Oak Bay News!

We had a great time riding (and walking) in the 48th Annual Oak Bay Tea Party Parade yesterday! We had more members come out to join us, and the crowds were fantastic! It sure helped that the sun shone, and we all got a welcome (albeit brief) reprieve from the cold, wet weather that has marred this Spring.

We decorated with some balloons, ribbon, fresh flowers, and some very creative minds. The crowd-pleaser was the bubbles, so this will definitely be a tradition to carry on for years to come.

We also handed out cards with a link to how to host a Block Party in Oak Bay. We are encouraging Oak Bay to connect with their neighbours by having a block party this summer. There’s no better way to build community than by organizing a party together, and having some fun!

You can see some photos of our cycling community association sensation on our flickr photostream.

Your Community Association needs you to join us with your bicycles, wagons, or even just your feet. We hope to have a good number of members out to have fun, and draw new members. The more, the merrier! We had a great time in the parade last year, and hope you’ll come out and join us in raising our community profile.

We’ll be handing out cards with our website address, and a link to how to plan a block party. Our mission is to build community by neighbours getting to know each other at their annual block party.

We’ll also be blowing bubbles.

Please meet us on the street beside Windsor Park Pavilion at 9:30AM. We’ll bring some extra decorations for your bicycles. The parade begins at 10:30 AM. Here’s a map of the parade, in case you’re curious.

When: Saturday, June 5, 2010
Where to meet: Windsor Park
What time: 9:30AM
What to bring: Your bicycle (what a way to wrap up Bike to Work Week!), your kids, your wagon, and bubbles if you’ve got ‘em.

See you Saturday!

Thanks for your support,

Michelle Kirby

Earlier this year, the Municipality solicited volunteers to form the Alternative Transportation Sub-Committee of the Community Initiatives Committee. We’re pleased to hear that a selection process was completed in March and the following citizens have been selected to serve on the sub-committee:

Corey Burger
Neil Jackson
Gary Law
Victor Lotto
Steven Toleiki

Councilor John Herbert serves as Chair, and other council members include Hazel Braithwaite, Nils Jenson, and Mayor Chris Causton.

There are no formal terms of reference for the Community Initiatives Committee or the proposed sub-committee. However, the group will be tasked with focusing on alternative transportation priorities and proposed improvements for Oak Bay Village, including issues such as sidewalk widening, parking, potential cycling lanes and beautification, and making recommendations to Oak Bay Municipal Council in this regard.

Sub-committee members Burger, Jackson, Law, Lotto and Toleiki are invited to introduce themselves to the citizens of Oak Bay by contacting the Community Association of Oak Bay by emailing the Oak Bay Connector. We can publish your email here, as a means of sharing your voice with the community.

We look forward to recommendations and a defined implementation schedule that will help keep our community members safe and mobile, as well as generate improvements to link with those made by adjacent municipalities.

If you would like to have a block party this summer, now’s the time to put in your email requests to Oak Bay Council! If you want the freedom of a street closed to traffic for your party (street hockey, bicycle races, and people in general enjoy a street without cars!) then you’ll need permission from Council to do it.

All you have to do is send an email to Oak Bay Council at

obcouncil@oakbay.ca

indicating the date of the party, times and duration of the street closure that you are requesting.

Once you’ve figured out a date with your neighbours, have asked and been granted the street closure from Council, try checking out our Oak Bay Block Party Checklist (42) and get started on your party plan!

Neighbours Project Block Party 101

The Basic Block Party: How-to throw a party in Chicago

Edmonton’s Block Party Planning Checklist

Our Blocks: 10 Reasons to Have a Block Party

Nils exceeded his fundraising goal of $4000 – which meant he took the TALLEST heels available, avoiding the comfortable flat ones- as promised in his fundraising pitch. He shared some photos from before, during, and after taken by his wife, Jean who walked to support him, literally.

Great job Nils!

In the next phase of CAOB’s efforts to involve the community in this exciting once-in-100-years-project, we brought the Oak Bay High School Project to the Willows PAC meeting tonight. We were very happy to see 40 parents come out to learn about the project.

We invited Oak Bay Parks and Recreation Director Lorna Curtis, School District 61 Trustee Michael McEvoy, Oak Bay High Principal Dave Thomson and VP Garrett Brisdon to the meeting to share progress updates on the project with the parents of future Oak Bay High School students.

The excitement is certainly continuing to build and spread throughout the community, as we see both the political will and action on the part of our elected representatives, and the staff of both the Oak Bay Municipality and the School District, working collaboratively to get the ball rolling on a Neighbourhoods of Learning Grant Application.

The concept of a Community School was raised early in the consultation phase of the project, and this has transformed somewhat with the Ministry of Education promoting and funding Neighbourhood Learning Centres.

The Municipality is applying to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) for $30,000 to fund hiring a Community Planner that will consult with the community and build the grant application for the Neighbourhood Learning Centre to be included in the final plans of the new school. We will know by June 30, 2010, if they were successful in getting the $30,000 to get a professional consultant to write the grant application.

The plan is that this consultant will plan and host several meetings in September to hear from the Community. I hope you will find time in that generally ridiculously busy month to attend the meetings, write emails/letters to the Oak Bay Council, and share your priorities for the Neighbourhoods of Learning funds.

In the meantime, please stay informed on the project, by visiting us here at caob.ca, and the Oak Bay High School Redevelopment blog as well.

A big thank you for all of you that participated in the initial event for the Friends of Uplands Park!

About 200 people attended Sunday’s event and more than 60 people (and families) signed up as “Friends of Uplands Park” to help conserve this endangered cultural Garry Oak Meadow Ecosystem.

We look forward to more events and will contact people in late September. We want to do some “weeding”!

Yours naturally,
Margaret Lidkea and Kathleen Matthews, Friends of Uplands Park

If Uplands Park inspires you, bring your creations…art, poetry, photography, music…and share with your community. Everyone is invited by the newly formed Friends of Uplands Park.

Information tables will be at the grassy entrance to Cattle Point at Beach Drive. Join a nature walk, sing songs, read your poetry, create some art and let us know your personal connection with the park. Join the Friends of Uplands Park and commit to preserving this jewel in our community. Bring your family, a picnic lunch and your sense of joy.

Nature walks with Matt Fairbarns & Margaret Lidkea

Music by Jim Moffat, Ron Carter, Brian Saunders & Sian Elen

This event is supported by Oak Bay Parks Dept, Girl Guides and the Community Association of Oak Bay.

Contacts: Margaret Lidkea 250-595-8084 and Kathleen Matthews 250-598 7995

WALK, BIKE, BUS OR CARPOOL!

We have two new Directors, Corey Burger and Gail Price-Douglas. We are thrilled to have both of these committed, active community members join the Association Executive. President Tom Croft, Treasurer Claire Eraut, and Director Kathleen Matthews were re-elected to their positions. Thanks to each of them for continuing their commitment to the CAOB. All Executive Directors elected at this AGM will stand for a two-year term.

We had a report from Maeve Lydon, Director of Community Vibrancy, on the Green Mapping Project. She hopes our Oak Bay Green Map will be printed by the summer.

Sonja Ruthe, Director of Social Safety reported on her work with Emergency Preparedness Oak Bay, building resiliency and lowering vulnerability of our Seniors, and the successful education work they have done this year.

Michelle Kirby, Director of Special Events gave a quick review of the successful events held this year. She will be focusing on encouraging residents to organize block parties this summer, to get to know their neighbours, and build community street by street.

Fundraising Director, Lynne Milnes has a particularly challenging job in these difficult economic times, but has still found some money for the Green Mapping Project.

We learned some fantastic news from Pam Copley, Acting Mayor of Oak Bay, that we are going to receive some funding assistance! We had submitted a grant application to Oak Bay Council in December. Today we learned that we will be receiving $1,500 as seed money to help us build as an organization. This will allow us to reach continue to reach out to the community, while helping to cover the costs of hall rentals, printing costs, or fees for the registration of the website.

Oak Bay Councillors Nils Jensen and Tara Ney were also in attendance, and shared some good news about increased funding for improved cycling infrastructure, as well as the Oak Bay High School Redevelopment Project/Neighbourhood Learning Centre Proposal.

We had a presentation about our communications strategy for the ongoing community consultation on the redevelopment of Oak Bay High School, and the Neighbourhood Learning Centre process, by CAOB member Margaret Case. She has made this process much more manageable, by breaking down the process into smaller tasks, so no one volunteer feels overwhelmed by the weight of the project.

All in all, a fantastic turnout, and a great afternoon! Thanks to Jill and Tom Croft, and Donna and Claire Eraut, and Kathryn MacLean for all their hard work organizing the Annual General Meeting.

Thanks again to our generous sponsors, Willows Park Grocery, and Fairways Market!