his year marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Old Firehall as the Ottawa South Community Centre. We occupied the new (then) community centre in January 1978 when it was officially opened after a conversion and renovation. A new firehall for the area had been build in the Glebe on Fifth Avenue and we were fortunate to get a very centrally located heritage building as our community centre.
We have evolved and grown a lot since that event 25 years ago, but the Old Firehall has remained pretty much the same and now we are bursting at the seams. None the less it is a time to celebrate 25 years of growth and accomplishment as a community.
We will be branding all our communications with a 25-year anniversary logo and putting up a banner at the Old Firehall later this year. But to mark the event in a really inclusive fashion, we have decided to hold a community street party outside the Firehall on the last weekend in June before the Canada Day holiday weekend. We hope to have a dance band, events for kids and a big cook out as well. Planning has started already and I will have more details for you in a couple of months time.
Many of you weathered the line ups to register for OSCA's winter programs last month. I am glad to say that enrollments have held up and while a few under subscribed programs had to be cancelled, we have also added capacity to a number of programs as a result of increased demand. Many of you who registered will have noticed that we asked you for your email address and whether you might be interested in volunteering to help with special events and other OSCA activities.
We will also be doing this at the spring program registration and during the membership drive. Our goal is to increase our ability to communicate more effectively and
rapidly with our members, notifying them of community events and specific issues that may interest them. Getting the message out to such a large membership base can be a slow and expensive process using such traditional methods as regular mail or through posters and notices. This is particularly the case for emergency issues, which often fall between OSCA issues, and where we have no easy way to get time sensitive information out to members. We have a good email address base now which will allow us to get messages to you in a timely fashion. We will use it prudently, so you will not be getting "spam" from OSCA, but we do hope you will appreciate the improved communications when they arrive.
Last year's Spring auction in aid of redeveloping the Firehall was a spectacular success raising over $12,000 for the redevelopment fund. With a success like that needless to say we are planning a repeat for Friday evening, May 23.
The MC will be Jim Watson and we are rounding up an impressive array of goods and services, which we hope will attract at least as much interest as last year. There will be an article on the auction in an upcoming issue of OSCAR giving you details on what will be on offer and on the specific time and location of the event.
Just a heads up that our annual winter carnival will be held on Sunday, February 2 from 11 a.m. to about 2 p.m. at Windsor Park. There will be sleigh rides and games for the kids and food for all so do try and make it and find out how much fun you can have with friends and neighbours - even if it is cold!