Reopening of Roy Duncan/Van Lang Park

June 10th, 2009 1 comment

Date -  Tuesday June 23rd
Time – 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. rain or shine
Location – Roy Duncan/Van Lang  Park, 299 Churchill Avenue North

Join us in celebrating the reopening of Roy Dunan/Van Lang park.  Over the last year considerable effort has been invested in improving the Roy Duncan/Van Lang Park.  Councillor Christine Leadman will be hosting the event along with the Dovercourt Recreational Association, Carlington Community Health Centre, City of Ottawa Parks and Recreation, Ottawa Community Housing and the Westboro Beach Beach Community Association.  Special thanks to the Kiawanis Club of Ottawa West and WBIA (Westboro Business)

How can you help?  We are looking for volunteers to help with activities and serving food.  If you have the time and the desire to volunteer for this event, contact the WBCA at info.

Categories: Community Events

Paddling on the Ottawa River

May 31st, 2009 No comments

Date – Saturday, July 4th
Time – Westboro Beach at 10:00

Proposed Route
What to bring: Boat, water shoes, lunch, life jackets and safety equipment.

The Ottawa River is a major fixture in our community.  Many people launch canoes and kayaks from Westboro Beach to enjoy a relaxing paddle on the river.  Lets take this opportunity to celebrate the river and get to know one another.

Besides enjoying an activity on the river, lets take this opportunity to make the event as colouful as possible.  Decorate you boat with stickers, streamers, paintings, etc.  Dress up as your favourite characters.  Adopt a theme for decorating your boat and costume you and your family can dress up in .  The story of Peter Pan is a good example.  You could decorate your boat as a pirate ship and have you and family members dress up as pirates, princesses, fairies, first nation warriors/princesses, etc.  If the story of Peter Pan does not work for you, then chose another theme.  The idea is to decorate your boat and dress up, not which story theme you have selected.

Read more…

Categories: Community Events

Westboro Beach Opening Barbeque

May 31st, 2009 No comments

Date – Saturday June 20th,
Time – 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. rain or shine
Location – Westboro Beach

The annual beach barbeque is a longstanding tradition that we hope you will attend.  Not only is it a good way to meet your neighbours for an afternoon of fun in the sun, but this is also the WBCA’s primary fundraiser.  We need your support to continue to host community events and to provide community feedback on issues that affect both our neighbourhood and the city.

For the last several years we have had the Beach Café to deliver the barbeque.  We would like to thank Moe Atallah for his support and generous donation over the years, and which he continues to provide for our community. This year the WBCA will be hosting the barbeque ourselves.  This means we will be cooking and serving the food.  Not only will we be having the traditional activities we have offered in the past (barbeque, scavenger hunt, plant sale, book sale, and bake sale) but this year we will be hosting a sand castle building event.

The barbecue’s activities are as follows:

  • Barbeque
  • Plant, book, and bake sale
  • Scavenger hunt
  • Sandcastle building

How can you help?  We need the following materials and volunteers to make the Westboro Beach Opening Barbeque a success:

Read more…

Categories: Community Events

Neighbourhood and Post-Victoria Day Beach and River Front Clean-up

May 7th, 2009 No comments

Date/time – Saturday May 23rd at 10:00 a.m.

Rain date/time – Sunday May 24th at 10:00 a.m.

This clean-up kicks off the 2009 WBCA community events calendar   In the past we have focused on the beach and riverfront, but this year we would like to expand this activity to cover the entire community.  How can you help?  Just show up and pick up trash.  The WBCA will supply garbage bags and small boxes for glass.  We are providing small boxes so that bottles and broken glass are recycled and do not end up in the garbage.  All you need to provide are sets of willing hands and gloves to protect those willing hands from the trash.

This year we are setting up three collection stations (see attached map).  The collection stations are located at Westboro Beach, the CBC pathway, and the park near Remic Avenue.  You can go to the collect station closest to your home and pick up a garbage bag and/or box.  We have scouted the area and noted areas that require special attention.  They will be marked on maps at each collection station.  You can select an area that appeals to you and away you go.  If you are aware of any problem areas that we missed, please let us know and we will add them to the list.  Once you have finished cleaning up your area simply drop off the trash at one of the collection stations and we will arrange to have the garbage disposed of and the glass recycled.

We look forward to seeing you at this event.

Categories: Community Events

WBCA Spring/Summer/Fall Community Events

May 7th, 2009 No comments

The days are getting longer, the trees are budding and the flowers are starting to bloom.  Yes, Spring is definitely here.  Accompanying Spring is the Westboro Beach Community Association’s (WBCA) calendar of community events for the Spring/Summer/Fall of 2009.  The WBCA has hosted a number of events over the years with the aim of keeping our community clean and green, providing venues for neighbours to get to know one another, and to raise money to run the Association.

The events we are sponsoring for this Spring/Summer/Fall are:

  • Neighbourhood and Post-Victoria Day Beach and River Front Clean-up (Saturday, May 23rd, 10:00 a.m.)
  • Westboro Beach Opening Barbecue (Saturday, June 20th, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.)
  • Reopening of Roy Duncan/Van Lang  Park (Tuesday, June 23rd, 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m)
  • Paddling on the Ottawa River (Saturday, July 4th, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.)
  • Westboro Beach Closing Bonfire (Saturday, September 12th, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m)

Other events at Westboro Beach include:

  • BOB.FM movies at the beach (check the BOB.FM website for movie schedule)

As you can see from the events listed above, we plan to continue a number of the events that the WBCA has hosted in the past as well as launch a new family paddle on the Ottawa River that we hope will be a success. We are always open to new ideas so if you have any thoughts on events that you think would benefit the community, feel free to contact anyone on the board or send us an email.

What can you do to help make WBCA community events successful?  There are many different ways to help.  Participating in the events is the easiest way to help.  Another way to help is to volunteer a bit of your time.  The more volunteers we have, the easier it is to organize and host events.  Finally, you can participate by donating goods (books, CDs, baked goods, plants, etc.) for community fundraisers.  To find out more about the events and how you can help, click on the event articles.

Well that is it for the spring/summer/fall activities for 2009, unless one of you comes up with ideas for any other events.  If you do, feel free to contact us at info  We have a few ideas (toboggan day, winter bonfire, snow/ice sculpture) planned for the winter of 2009 and those will appear in out fall/winter newsletter.  Lets all work together to in 2009 to make our community all it can be.

Categories: Community Events

Container Gardening

March 22nd, 2009 No comments

The refurbished Roy Duncan Park will have a community garden, run by members of the community, where neighbours can meet and work together to care for the garden. In addition to helping with food security and nutrition, residents of Van Lang are interested in having container planting on their balcony. A workshop on successful container gardening is being planned and is open to everyone interested. And it’s FREE! The workshop will be held on:

Monday March 23, 2009
9:30 to 11:00 a.m.
All Saints Anglican Westboro
(entrance on Madison)

Categories: Van Lang Community

Zoning Participation

March 11th, 2009 No comments

Westboro Beach is experiencing increased development which means the Executive is spending more time on zoning issues including applications to the City of Ottawa’s Committee of Adjustment and the Province’s Ontario Municipal Board.

In this section we will provide background documents on City development criteria and overviews of recent zoning decisions. It is a complex procedure but we are building a base of knowledge in our community on how to respond to development.

The Executive makes every effort to attend all Committee of Adjustment meetings for applications pertaining to Westboro Beach.  However should the WBCA be unable to attend a Committee of Adjustment meeting it in no way implies an endorsement of the application by the WBCA.

Should you wish to discuss a zoning issue please contact any member of the Executive.

Winter 2009 Newsletter

February 11th, 2009 No comments
Categories: Newsletters

Community Design Guidelines

February 11th, 2009 No comments

The Westboro Beach Community Association (WBCA) is starting work on
Community Design Guidelines (CDG). The CDG will evolve over the next several
months by actively seeking input from neighbourhood residents. The intent of the
CDG is to allow neighbourhood residents to formally indicate what constitute desirable and appropriate changes to the neighbourhood to keep and enhance the characteristics that make it such a desirable place to live. It further refines at the neighbourhoodlevel what is included in the Richmond Road/Westboro Community Design Plan.

Read more…

Thanks to the Beach Tree Bucket Brigade!

February 11th, 2009 No comments

Last June, seventeen young trees were planted along the beach using funding from the city’s Community Tree Planting Program. Many volunteers diligently watered these trees throughout the summer by carrying countless pails of water from the river. Thank you volunteers for keeping the trees healthy!

Transplanting

Two of the trees were relocated in early November to avoid potential interference with tobogganing runs. Paul Smith, a landscaper in our community, kindly provided his expertise and equipment to assist with the relocations.

Another season of regular watering is recommended for the trees so we hope to see our volunteers again this Spring.