By Maureen McEwan
Dear readers,
We’re heading back to the polls this month! Our October edition begins with Kitchissippi-ward candidate profiles: Oonagh Fitzgerald, Jeff Leiper and Dan Stringer shared more about why they are running and city- and ward-specific issues ahead of the Oct. 24 municipal election.
In other community news, the Chabad Jewish Centre says it’s ready to make history as the organization prepares to host its first holiday services in Kitchissippi. Rabbi Moshe Caytak spoke with us about his family’s decision to move to the community to run the centre.
Albert Dumont, Ottawa’s poet laureate, has pledged to walk on Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway every Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, until the roadway’s name is changed. We heard from Dumont, volunteer Pamela Naymark and the National Capital Commission on this story.
Ottawa Centre MPP Joel Harden lived on a “social assistance diet,” with a weekly grocery bill of $47.60, for two weeks earlier this fall. We caught up with Harden to learn more about the experience and what he learned.
For 21 years, the Young String Performers’ Foundation has been supporting young musicians across the National Capital Region. Joan Milkson, founder of the local charitable organization, shared more about YSPF’s history and its upcoming concert series.
Maker House Co. has closed the woodshop branch of its business. The company has been making custom-cut furniture for years but decided to stop taking orders Sept. 30 due to rising costs. Owner Gareth Davies spoke with us about the decision.
Over the last months, Westboro has seen several new businesses move in. The owners of Copper Valley Gifts, Presotea and COBS Bread shared how the first months in the neighbourhood have been for their companies.
In Humans of Kitchissippi, we connected with Thuy Do, who shared more about her family’s experience as Vietnamese refugees to Canada, her medical journey and her path as a cyclist with the Canadian Cycling Association. One day, the local athlete hopes to compete at the Paralympics!
150 years ago, the neighbourhood of Mechanicsville was created. Early Days explores the story of Mechanicsville: how it came about, the Bytown entrepreneurial industrialists behind its development and the meaning behind the name.
HOMES is back with stories on the Reno Tour 2022, radon testing and an OREB update.
And, finally, in Kitchissippi Times news: Recently, I made the tough decision to leave my editorial post.
I started as editor at the beginning of March 2020, when I assumed it would be business as usual at the paper. We’ve all got a version of that story, so I won’t bore you; suffice it to say my first weeks on the job were interesting!
I am grateful for all the experiences, lessons and, especially, the stories we’ve heard and shared from this mighty Ottawa community. It was an honour to be a part of this newsroom and neighbourhood.
As I write this last Editor’s Note, it is Sept. 28, World News Day. Thank you for your continued support of Kitchissippi Times and local journalism—it truly matters.
All the very best to incoming editor Charlie Senack and take care, Kitchissippi.
And that’s all the news that’s fit to print!