December 2008 Archives

After several snow storms (more here), some rain and a rapid thaw, the banks of the Nith River are swelling once again. Several streets in New Hamburg have been closed. The GRCA reports that levels should peak this afternoon and then begin to recede.

I’ve uploaded several photos to Flickr.

Update: A report from the GRCA states:

Flows have peaked through the town of New Hamburg in the 425 m3/s range at 7 p.m. this evening. This flow magnitude has only been exceeded once in the past 57 years of gauge records.

Update (2009/01/05): The New Hamburg Board of Trade has setup a flood relief fund. Please contribute if you can. For more information, visit http://www.nhbot.ca/news-flood.shtml.

I’m typing this note at my father-in-law’s residence in Lincoln, Nebraska where the weather is an unseasonably high (but still very welcome) 65’F. Those of you suffering from Snowmaggedon in the Region of Waterloo and County Wellington should take some heart that this warm weather may be heading your way in a couple of days. Keep your fingers crossed that it will come with bright sunshine and clear skies, enough to put a dent in all of the snow on our lawns.

We’re still getting up and running on turning the Waterloo Wellington Bloggers Association from a mere blogroll to a community group blog, but I’m pleased at the writers’ we’ve gathered and the enthusiasm they bring to the table. In the New Year, I hope to have more writers joining us, bringing their own unique perspective about the community they live in to the diverse collection of articles others have posted.

Until then, enjoy your holiday season here in Waterloo-Wellington, have a Happy New Year, and stay safe!

Sincerely,
James Bow

Reader and fellow Waterloo-Wellington blogger Paul Langan writes to tell me about a public meeting being set up by a group of activists hoping to improve the transportation picture in southern Ontario. In his words:

High Speed Rail Canada has invited representatives from industry, government and the media for a one day symposium on high speed rail in Canada. The date is January 31st, 2009 in Kitchener Ontario.

“The time is right for high speed rail in Canada. The USA government is asking for proposals to build 11 high speed rail, Canada will be left far behind. Its time to reinvest heavily in high speed and higher speed rail in Canada” states Paul Langan, founder of High Speed Rail Canada.

The symposium will be held Saturday, January 31st, 2009 at the Region of Waterloo Council Chambers, 150 Frederick Street Kitchener from noon to 5pm. It is free to attend. Guest Speakers to be announced in early January.

High Speed Rail Canada is a national citizens advocacy group dedicated to the implementation of high speed rail in Canada.

For more information contact - Paul Langan 519-654-0089. High Speed Rail Canada website http://highspeedrail.ca

I personally believe southern Ontario could use high speed rail, especially between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. More is being done to improve rail transit in the region and, for me, the changes can’t come soon enough. I’ll write more on my thoughts when I’m able.

It was not fun driving today, let me assure you. This shot was snapped on Westmount Road on the way up to the University of Waterloo. About the only good thing about this day is that it seemed as though a lot of people heeded the warnings to stay home, and traffic was light — at least, in Kitchener-Waterloo. The University stayed open early in the day, but then shut down around noon, as did a number of other stores, even a medical clinic and pharmacy.

As bad as this storm was, it was hardly “snowmaggedon”, which is an assault on all that is good and decent in the English language. Shame on Environment Canada for coining that term! Shame!

And it wasn’t really accurate, either. Unless this storm is followed up by others (and it might be), it pales in comparison to the hijinks of the Storm of ‘99, when we actually had more than a foot of snow fall within a 24 hour period. Though Mel Lastman was pilloried for his reaction (saying “I’m terrified!” on national television and calling in the army), it wasn’t unjustified. Compared to that storm, this Friday’s was an (annoying) walk in the park.

The sun even decided to show itself this afternoon before it set, which made the walk to the pharmacy (the closed one I mentioned before) a beautiful but cold experience.

Tomorrow is a travel day. We’re flying to Des Moines to spend Christmas with the in-laws. And, with luck, we’ll have caught the lull in the storm just right to have a fairly uneventful day, weatherwise (unlike other poor saps who had to fly out today). Still, it should be an interesting time all round. Wish us luck. We’ll let you know when we’re in Des Moines.

I had today off and was planning to do some shopping and maybe some baking. You know what I did instead? I shoveled. Quite often. Thanks Colorado. Love your mountains. Don’t like your weather systems.

(…but particularly not this New Year’s Eve.)

In all of the discussion about whether or not the Toronto Transit Commission will be offering free transit service for New Year’s Eve, the local media hasn’t really mentioned that Grand River Transit will be offering the same thing on New Year’s Eve after 6:00 p.m., including extended transit service later into the night on several routes.

More and more, this service is becoming standard on transit agencies across North America, as local governments search for ways that people can party and still arrive home safely. And, don’t forget, your local taxi companies are more than willing to serve. So, if you’re going to drink this holiday season, leave the car at home.

That is, of course, assuming we can get to the parties after this weekend. The local media is warning us about a series of snowstorms that will bury us between tomorrow and next Tuesday. Fun. Looks like Erin and I picked the right time to head south of the border to visit the in-laws for Christmas. The fact that they’re getting this weather too (since, in our case, “south of the border” is more due west than actually south), just a couple of days beforehand, should keep people from feeling jealous that we’re escaping this.

In times like this, all you can do is take it slow and, if you can, settle yourself down for a day in, though I’m sure the kids will be loving their toboggans this weekend.

The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) is warning of possible flooding in New Hamburg early Tuesday morning due to the heavy rain and melting snow in the last while. According to the GRCA, Waterloo Regional Police are expected to inform affected residents of the “Warning Level 1”.

Update 2008/12/17: The GRCA has lifted the flood warning as of 1:30 PM today.

Weather happenings such as this remind me of the need for accessing forecast and warning information in a timely manner. Here are a few links that are useful for our area:

Environment Canada 5-day forecast for Kitchener/Waterloo

Southwestern Ontario road conditions from MTO

Southwestern Ontario road closures from MTO

GRCA Newsroom

Let me start by saying I like fish and chips. I have fond memories of going to a true “chipper” in Toronto and getting an order of fish and chips wrapped in newspaper to take into the Saturday matinee. You got a choice of fish and the movie house actually let you bring in food back then.

That particular “chipper” is long gone; the whole north east corner of Carlton and Yonge long ago lost its small buildings and shops. But I remember that “chipper” with fondness so, I’m always on the lookout for a new fish and chip place here in Kitchener Waterloo.

I ate at Golden Fish and Chip (94 Bridgeport Road East Waterloo, ON N2J 2J9 (519) 888-6660) last Friday. It was a little disappointing. The décor was pleasant, more upscale than your usual fish and chip place. There was a large selection of fish just like at my childhood “chipper” but they were rather expensive - the cheapest was Pollock at $7.50 (two fillets, fries and coleslaw) and you were not given a choice of sides. The sides on the menu included that British favourite mushy peas.

My order was nothing to write home about; most pubs do fish and chips better and the fries were not anywhere as good as the family favourites for fries - Swiss Chalet and New York Fries. Joey’s Only Seafood Restaurants (370 Highland West Kitchener ON N2M 5J9) is much better, less expensive and you can choose your sides from a much more extensive list.

If you are looking for upscale and a good choice of seafood dinners then you could try Baker’s Cove Family Seafood Restaurant (355 Erb St W Waterloo, ON N2L 1W4) or near Golden and less expensive, Granny Bonn’s Fish N Chips (90 Weber St N Waterloo, ON N2J 3G8) Our favourite remains Joey’s or one of the brew pubs.

I want to thank James for inviting me to this party. I live in Waterloo and work in Cambridge. I commute down highway 7/8 and the 401 daily and suffer along with the rest of my fellow drivers, the indignities of sitting and staring at the rear end of the car in front of me. I hope to share some stories of daily life here in the region with all of you. I hope I don’t put you all to sleep.

I like beer. Specifically, I like dark ales. Whenever I can, I love to sample a brewery’s effort at creating the ambrosia of the gods. Last night I got to sample a local product from the Grand River Brewing Company, the Mil Race Mild. This is a lovely dark ale, smooth, mild and creamy. It has a very pleasant nutty aroma and the finish is not at all harsh. Sad to say, I had never heard of this small brewery before last night. Now that I have, I intend to sample more of their wares. Cheers.

Here is a photo of Candyland on King Street in Cambridge as part of Christmas in Cambridge. It runs until December 14th.

Brian Gardiner, one of the voices behind At Home in Hespelar, was kind enough to allow us to use the photograph above as one of the banner images of the website. He snapped this picture while on a walk in his home town of Hespelar, I believe, which means that he’s looking west, and the Speed River is on his right. This is just one of the many beautiful scenes you can photograph while wandering around the Region of Waterloo and County Wellington. Count on seeing Elora Gorge photographs on this site, sometime.

Hello all and thanks to James Bow for the invitation. I’ve lived in the tri-city ever since I started at the University of Waterloo in 1991. I lived in Waterloo from 1991 to 1996 and then moved to Cambridge in 1997. From 1998 to 2002 I lived in Kitchener and since then I have lived in Cambridge (Preston to this who pre-date the merger, but I won’t get into that…yet).

I have two daughters and one of the plays hockey in the Cambridge Roadrunners Girls Hockey Association. In trying to teach her more about the game I decided to take her and the family to see a Cambridge Fury Jr Women’s Game. I have watched a lot of hockey in my life and I must say that I was very impressed. It was a very fast paced game with plenty of intensity. Much more physical than I expected a jr women’s game to be. However there is no actual bodychecking so there is none of the goon-stuff that I worry about bringing my kids to see. Without bodycheckign the game is more skilled as the players are allowed to make plays and get into areas on the ice where they would get creamed in the men’s game. It is a welcome change and my wife and I both said we would definately go back for another game.

If you are looking for a quality sporting event, that is very affordable (it didn’t cost us anything to get into the game in Hespeler) then I recommend checking out either the Cambridge Fury or the Waterloo KW Rangers of the Provincial Women’s Hockey League.

I should mention that one of the banners for this website has been cut from this picture above, entitled Grand River 5:55am.. The distinctive arched bridge is one of the symbols of the region, in my opinion, linking Kitchener to Cambridge more visibly than the Highway 8 bridge does.

The photograph used here with the kind permission of the photographer Phrenzee. Many thanks!

This venture began when I noticed that, while there was no central blog for the region of Waterloo or its neighbours, the City of Guelph and the County of Wellington, other smaller communities were passing us. So, inspired by the work of International Metropolis, I’ve decided to turn the modest Waterloo-Wellington Bloggers Association into more than just an aggregator of local blogs.

The aggregator will remain, and local blogs are more than welcome to sign on, but I’d like this page to become a repository of local and regional content. For this, I need writers. Do you have a review of a local restaurant? Post it here. Do you have comments on the goings on at your local council? Write it up. Do you want to wax poetic about the scenic wonders of Mennonite country? Go right ahead; I want to hear from you.

It’ll take a little while before this blog is ready for prime time, but until then, keep an eye on this space.