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The weather outside is frightful!

But we knew it would happen….
We can’t avoid thinking about Christmas any longer! The weather has made sure of that. So let’s look at all the things happening in and around the village we can enjoy with the holiday season.

The Village Community Association Christmas Party

Date: Friday, December 14, 2018
Time: 7 pm
Location: The Courthouse, NOTL

Appetizers and Desserts
Wine and Beer available $5 each
Cost: $55 per person for VCA Members, $65 for non-VCA members (guests)

Tickets are available from the following VCA Social Committee members

Marg Churchill, 416-805-9846, margiec1@hotmail.com
Judy Huntington, 416-317-2700, judymack1951@gmail.com
Heidi Brown, 416-802-4466, hbrownsev@gmail.com
Cathy Saytar, 289-834-2400, csaytar@gmail.com
Cindy Durdan, 905-572-0139, jcdurdan@sympatico.ca
Mary Taylor, 289-868-9511, mtaylor34@cogeco.ca

The Lights are going up!

I saw a couple of elves this week before the snow fell. They were putting up the Village Christmas lights and decorations. Save the Date to join us for the tree lighting ceremony. Cookies and warm cider served!

Date: Sunday, November 25
Time: Around 5:30
Place: Deitch Park (Brock Street & Garrison Village Drive)

Thank you to the Village Elves – under the direction of Dale DesIslets and the Social Committee for treats.

Benefits of Membership in the VCA

As you know the VCA has several mandates:

Advocacy on behalf of village residents with various levels of government
Social Activities
Enhancing the appearance of the village

The VCA Website provides more details on these topics and how to join. Membership is only $30 per household each year and these fund allow us to work on your behalf.

And did I mention Discounts for VCA members?
One of the benefits of membership is discounts are various local businesses.
Including Mori Gardens in Virgil. A discount is great in the spring and summer when we are all gardening. But did you know it works year around? And this weekend there is the Christmas Palooza happening.

Your Discount still works – and you are Supporting a local business – who supports us!

Volunteers Please

This fall, a survey was sent to all Village residents. Four priorities were identified from this survey:

Future Village commercial development
Parking
Speeding
Traffic on Garrison

In order to move this files forward, we need volunteers to work on those issues. If you have a few hours a month to dedicate to these important causes, please contact Mona Babin at mtmbabin@gmail.com

Christmas tip for garbage collectors

Message from Jane Chapell

As most of you know, it has been a tradition in the Village for the last 10+ years to show our appreciation for the excellent work our garbage collectors do for us throughout the year by giving them a Christmas "tip". We are very fortunate to have this service that comes into our laneways as many developments such as ours have to take their garbage and recycle bins to the street for pick up.

In the past this project was handled by the VCA, but as The Village has grown it was determined that it made more sense to manage this on a laneway by laneway basis. Ideally, a volunteer from each laneway emails or delivers a letter to residents in their laneway inviting them to be involved and offering to act as a drop off point for those interested in participating. Of course, residents are under no obligation to participate and some may choose to handle this on their own or not at all. As a guideline we have suggested a $20 donation per participating household, although you are welcome to donate any amount you wish. This amount is then divided between the three collectors (on two trucks) who work in our community throughout the year.

Residents of Col. Cohoe, Elizabeth and Samuel Streets have laneway associations in place that handle this. In the Brookfield area of The Village there are volunteer collectors for the Garrison Village Dr./Blackbird/Brock laneway, and the Blackbird/Norton/Brock laneway. We are looking for volunteers in each of the other Village laneways.

If you live in one of the laneways that does not currently have a volunteer collector and you are interested in volunteering to head up the collection in your laneway, please contact Jane Chapell at jane.chapell@gmail.com or Carol Fraser at carol.fraserg@gmail.com for more information.

In past years the Brookfield laneway volunteers have coordinated their efforts by combining the funds collected and presenting them to the three garbage collectors at one time. The kick off date to begin the campaign this year for the Brookfield laneways will be December 1st, with Monday, December 17th as the date we present the drivers with their tip. The drivers and collectors who have received these gifts in the past have been most appreciative.

No matter where you live in The Village, if you would like to participate and have not heard from a volunteer in your laneway by December 4th or 5th, you are more than welcome to drop your contribution off at the home of Jane Chapell, 82 Garrison Village Dr., or Carol Fraser, 12 Blackbird St. by December 16.

One last point

With cold weather there is an urgent need for warm clothing at both Newark Neighbours in NOTL and Community Care in St. Catharines.
Please have a look in your closets for any extra clothing to drop off. They are happy to receive any gently used and clean clothing.
For more info on each:

VCA Website