To Knit a Bridge

The Cambridge Arts Council has come up with a really awesome activity that is letting anyone in Cambridge get involved.

We are going to knit a bridge.

You read that right - knitting a bridge. Cambridge is known for some really awesome bridges. It was built around the Nith and the Grand and founded mainly as three different communities. I wrote about them here. Galt and Hespeler were strong textile communities. We harnessed the power of the river and turned it into wonderful fabrics that became known around the world. This fall we get to bring the textiles back to Cambridge.

Cambridge is a really unique community. We have lots of people of all walks of life and interests and this allows some of these niche communities to come out of hiding. Knitting generally is done in private or in small groups right? People who knit are normally older - grandmotherly types don't you think? Well those stereotypes are being blown out of the water with this project.

The young and old are coming out of hiding. They are knitting at the library, in parks and in the mall. They are taking it with them to dinner out or to sporting events. I myself even was found knitting as a passenger in the car tonight. I've found out about a few male knitters who do some absolutely fabulous work.

You may recall that back in January I started to knit again after a 16 year hiatus and blogged about it here. I did touch on the Knit the Bride project but had some incorrect information that I'd like to clear up now. Sure everything can be found on the website but why not share it in more than one location?

How can you contribute?

Knitted pieces of any size will be accepted but at the moment the preference is for:
1. Pieces 21" x 27" to cover the 267 handrails on the bridge
2. Pieces 6" x 8" wide by 50"-60" long to over 303 handrail spaces
3. Pieces as long as you like that are 8", 10" or 22" wide
4. Pieces 30" wide, minimum 12" long, maximum 4 ft long to cover columns

You may use any type of yarn, pattern colour and knitting technique you wish.
Drop off the pieces at the front desk of the Cambridge Centre for the Arts on Dickson Street in Cambridge and don't forget to attach a piece of paper to the knitting with your name, address,phone number and email.

Don't think that your worthy of knitting something? Think again - they are willing to take any knitting or crocheting from all kinds of talent.

What is the deadline for submissions? In order to lay out what is needed, all the pieces need to be brought in by the end of June if possible.

When can we see the finished project? The knitting will be on the bridge from September 9th to 30th.

Wait -that's less than a month - what is going to happen at the end of the month with all that work? The knitters and volunteers are taking the pieces and turning them into scarves and blankets for local homeless shelters.

Are there any other knitting activities I can get involved in? Yes - Worldwide Knit in Public Week is June 12-20th. In Cambridge knitters and crocheters have been invited to come out front of Cambridge City Hall anytime between 8am-Noon on Saturday June 19th. It's going to be a true Yarn Party!

So what are you waiting for - grab your yarn and your needles and get cracking!

A garden full of wipples

Spring is upon us and I've once again decided to put in a garden. This year - I'd like to not get annuals and instead get perennials. Last year my goal was pink and purple. it worked but I really didn't know what I was doing. Went to one of those big box stores as they had a sale on and therefore didn't get any assistance. I saw pictures on the signs and said "This looks nice."

After getting it home I really didn't know what to expect. They all bloomed at different times and didn't really blend together the best. Some things I really liked but not knowing exactly what I had, I ended up throwing out those that died. Some plants close to the house actually stayed green and stayed alive and strong so they are still out there. I believe they were purple so we'll be cool.

This year - I'm thinking white!

We have a white trellis along the house and I didn't do anything with it last year, but I'm highly interested in putting in some clematis and letting it climb. I don't want it to take over the house but it'll be so nice to see it growing up and up. Now I have to find out if it comes in white. My parents had pink at the old house and a very deep purple at the new. I'm hoping I can find white for mine :)

I had a spreading type of plant grow in too last year and it had tiny white flowers but a silvery white leaf. I had it in the wrong spot and it ended up wanting to take over our path. If only I planted it where it should've gone...

What I'd love if I had someone to actually help me. Someone said they would last year but then kind of disappeared for 6 months. Besides, I was too proud to ask for help. However this year, I think with the help of my new neighbour I'm going to have a kick ass garden. We've already started by taking out the ugly red clay stones from around our shared tree and the ugly red clay stones that lead the way to my garage. It's already improved our property values I swear!

As for the flowers, my mother says - pick what you like and you'll be happy with the results. I hope so!

Bring back the news!

There has been a certain amount of discussion lately with regards to potentially starting a local online paper put together by people that are in Cambridge much along the lines of what the Cambridge Reporter was like.

If you are new to the area, or just aren't aware, the Cambridge Reporter was a daily newspaper in the city of Cambridge, Ontario that ran for 157. It's original name was the Galt Reporter as it was based in the city of Galt until an amalgamation back in 1973. That was when it changed it's name to the Cambridge Reporter. Name aside, it was set up much like your regular big city paper. It had reporters covering beats, there were editors and paginators, there was advertising sales and an entire team of people making things work. I may know a little bit more than the average bear, as I worked as a part time editor, sports reporter, photographer and reporter for the paper back in 1998.

I look back at my days at the paper fondly because it was my first job after college. I took Print Journalism at Conestoga and through that I was able to gain employment and am proud to say that I actually brought in some readers. I started out covering local businesses that won the Best of 97 awards. My business profiles brought in advertising dollars - and I provided so much content they did not just one - but three different sections. After that - they kept me on as a sports reporter part time until I was able to do my co-op. During co-op I started doing all sorts of stories, helped layout some pages, worked with the regular photographer that was getting close to retirement. Later I became the weekend reporter and filled the paper with content every Monday and Tuesday.

It was a great experience but it really wasn't me. It wasn't the way I wanted to write. I could do it - but it didn't feel comfortable to me. I'm a bit of an introverted extrovert so it was hard for me to get out there and do all they wanted me to do. I just didn't have the balls for it. I excelled at covering good news stories and just wasn't cut out for the hard news - the deaths and tragedies of the day.

I moved on in another direction, but find it so intriguing that people are thinking of bring a semblance of it back and that I might be able to be part of it. Sure TorStar stills owns the Reporter - so the name can't be used, but the idea of current content available online is very interesting.

Some of the crew currently talking about it have a bit of a slant on the news, and I hope that if this does start to fly, that we'd be able to actually have a non-political view. Sure we can have a political section and then they can all write and rant all they want. But I've always been non-judgmental when it came to such things. (And probably why I won't talk about Wal-Mart with certain people.)

It seems the main thing missing from the news coverage in Cambridge is that the Times is mostly advertising with a few stories thrown in for good measure. As a free paper, I get it. I completely understand that they wouldn't have much content and that the advertisers would be king. Someone has to pay for the printing and staff. But with the Record mentioning Cambridge rarely on the local pages - we are missing out on local news. Sure we have Snap - but that's monthly. The people of Cambridge are missing out on so much going on and it would be a great opportunity for people to get out there and cover what's happening and for all of us to find information online every day.

Now comes the tough part - who's willing to work for nothing and who's willing to put it together every day? Are we to expect people to work for free all the time? Are we looking at making money from this venture? Or is this something people really want and need and would be willing to get involved?

It'll be interesting to see if this project will fly. For our sakes, I hope it does.

Go Canada!

I'm very proud to be a Canadian.

There I said it.

Then again, if you follow me on twitter you know that I've been wearing my Canadian toque for weeks in prep for the games. I'm so excited for us to be in the games but I'm almost more excited that we are hosting them!

It's sad that we are hosting in Vancouver which is known for weather changing every five minutes and not much snow. But I'm still really proud to hear when records are broken on our soil. Just yesterday the Olympic record fell in the Men's 3000m Speed Skating. Something to be so proud of even though it wasn't a Canadian.

There are those that only cheer if their team is winning. But for me it's more about the sport and being your best. My dad, brother and sister used to officiate different sports and we'd go to the games to cheer. We didn't have a home team per se, so we would cheer on the moments of the games that stood out. We'd cheer on the strong moments and the great teamwork. Through my family I've been able to see that it's so fantastic to witness great moments in sport.

Last night we earned our first medal in the games. A silver in moguls on the very first day! And by a woman from Alberta! So proud to be Canadian. So proud to be there with her when she walks on the podium even though I'm not in Whistler. But in my heart I'm there. I'm cheering on our athletes and all the best of the best in the world.

To the Olympians in the 2010 Vancouver Games - I salute you and your awesomness that got you to this level. I hope Canada is good to you!

This city I call home

If there is something that I know, it's that I will not be swayed on my opinions of my fair city.

I was born into and raised in Cambridge, Ontario. Really I was born in what I deem to be Preston and raised in Galt but that's a mute point.

Back in 1973 Cambridge was forced into creation. The province wanted to save a little money and it made sense to join people who lived somewhat together into a big city. It's worked out in a lot of ways in that it gave us more power as a collaborative. We had more people in our population and were able to have more clout on the provincial stage. We were able to have a central hospital, share our police and fire services.

But it really hasn't been all roses and sunshine in Cambridge.

Cambridge has three main parts. Galt - was the county seat for North Dumfries. It was already a city in it's own right and had things pretty good as it was strongly connected to Dundas and Hamilton. Preston was a town and had it's name on the map for a few other reasons. The main reason people went to Preston had to do with the rejuvenating springs that were the home to the world renowned Preston Springs Hotel. Preston and Galt were connected by streetcar so that many of those needing the healing waters were able to find them. Hespeler, the third party in this wonderful city, was a village by the river. Fiercely loyal to their roots, Hespeler was strongly connected to Guelph.

All three were textile communities and used the rivers running through them to their advantage. All three were unique and special in their own right with interesting histories.

Joining them together might have made sense on paper, and yes it brought some good things to the area, but there ended up being a strong disconnect away from the small community feel you had to a joint hustle and bustle. We went away from the downtowns and focused so much on building up our central area that the downtowns started to suffer. You no longer saw shopping and commerce in the core areas - instead everyone was at the mall or worse yet, leaving town to go somewhere else.

The City of Cambridge has been so afraid to offend any one segment of the community, that they need to do something in each down town or not at all. For years you never heard the name of each piece of the puzzle. It was only a hushed word said here or there.

What they don't realize is that the downtowns are what make us unique. This amazing history has been lost. Our city has grown to over 125,000 people that came here for many different reasons. But what we need to understand is what it's going to take to make them stay here.

People come for cheaper land than in the big bad Toronto - but they stay for the good schools and nice neighbourhoods. They make friends here and like the shopping. They enjoy hopping on the 401 to get anywhere and being not too far from cultural events and activities.

The sad thing is - they are completely missing out on what makes Cambridge - Cambridge. The pieces make up the city and they are all unique and special and should be celebrated. I know I focus a lot on the downtowns, but it truly is indicative of the way the city is put together and the way it is looked upon by the world. When I was a kid we shopped downtown Galt on a Saturday. Made a day of it - going in and out of shops and getting everything we needed. We ate lunch there, maybe took a stroll down by the river. I'm sure kids in Preston and Hespeler would say similar stories of their youth. Instead now you go downtown and see half the stores empty or wanting to be rented out. Preston is the only exception to the rule by having a strong core. Businesses have stayed in Preston for decades and there truly is a sense of community there.

We need to get the sense of community back for each of the areas in town. We need to celebrate what we have. It's going to take a lot more than just putting up signs to indicate where the cores are. We need to promote what we have. The old buildings, the history and our uniqueness.

It's entirely possible that we can save our City but it's going to take work and passion. I wonder how loud we need to yell in order to be heard.