AGM for Community Centre Committee

On Monday, April 30, the GLBTTQ Community Centre will be holding a meeting in regards to shutting the organization down. If, after more than a decade, we have not made headway towards this goal, it’s clear that we should move on and focus on what matters now.

But we need your help one last time in order to do that. Please come to our final Annual General Meeting on Monday April 30 and support us as we move to close the project down.

Event: GLBTTQ Community Centre of Ottawa Annual General Meeting
Date: Monday, April 30, 2012
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: City Hall- Colonel By Room

To be eligible to vote at the AGM, you must be a member for at least 30 days. To facilitate this, memberships will be sold for $1. Sign up by March 30 to have your say! E-mail us at glbttqcommunitycentre@gmail.com. Collections of the $1.00 will be collected on April 30, 2012 where you can fill out the proper forms but you must register to become a member by March 30, 2012.

Thank you
Daryle Gardipy AKA Giselle Gotti
Treasurer
GLBTTQ Community Centre

Historic moment as the Village in Ottawa becomes official

On Friday, November 4, 2011, Ottawa joined many world capital cities in boasting a GLBT-friendly Village. After six years of advocating and lobbying, the Village has received official endorsement from the City of Ottawa when six street signs, featuring the Village’s and City of Ottawa’s logo with a round rainbow decal, were installed on Bank Street on three intersections at Nepean, Somerset and James Streets. The final decision to install  the signs was green-lighted by Somerset Ward City Councillor Diane Holmes, with the approval and support of Mayor Jim Watson.

The debate over whether to mark the six blocks of Bank Street from Nepean to James as a Village had met opposition, mainly from the business sector, but received wide-reaching support from three levels of government, community advocacy groups such as the Centretown Citizen’s Community Association, community groups and partners, businesses, and the community at large. The street signs cap off an historic year for the Village, with two public art projects unveiled in August, and more signs and flags installed than ever before in the Village area.

“This is something the community can take an enormous sense of pride in,” says Village chair Glenn Crawford. “We now, for the first time, have an officially designated Village in Ottawa. That’s huge and it’s just beginning to sink in for me how big this is. We’ve known this has existed for many years, as we’ve seen the area grow and become more GLBT-friendly, but now, after years of hard work, the Village has become recognized by the City as a unique area of specific cultural importance, on par with other areas such as Chinatown and Little Italy.”

Achieving this milestone is exciting, but the Village Committee recognizes that this is only the beginning. “It’s time to enter a second major stage for the Village; one of growth,” continues Crawford. “Now that we’ve created the designation, it’s time to grow it. This is an exciting time for the community to reflect on what we want the Village to become—discover what services we are lacking, what businesses we’d like to see. I hope that these signs will inspire people to demand more from us, from the City, from the community at large. We know that there are many areas for improvement, such as feeling safe in our schools, workplace and communities. We need better services for our elderly, trans community, and people living with HIV/AIDS. I know many people would like to see a more active nightlife. We believe that the Village can, by partnering with other exemplary organizations and businesses, contribute to making Ottawa a safer, happier, more exciting place to life, work and play.”

The Village’s Second Euchre Fundraising Tournament

We’re back with everyone’s favourite card game,as we host the second of our euchre fundraising tournaments.

Join us at the Montgomery Branch Legion Hall in the upper hall on Thursday, December 8th at 7pm, bring the $20 entrance fee and enjoy a full evening of card playing and help raise funds for the Village and our awesome events and projects.

Cash bar with really cheap drinks served by the Hall, with food and snacks provided for.

Prizes:
· 1st prize – 50% of ticket sales, up to $200
· 2nd and 3rd prizes
· Special prizes for most loners and last place

See you there!

PLEASE REGISTER IN ADVANCE AT communications@villageottawa.com.

VOTE NOW for the Village street signs!

Councillor Diane Holmes is conducting a residential survey to see the public’s interest in the Village’s official street signs. Now is your chance to have your voice heard on this important and exciting new development, as Councillor Holmes has stated that if approved, the signs could be installed as soon as November, 2011.

The form takes seconds to fill out… please follow the simple instructions below:

1. Download the Street Sign survey form

2. Email it back to Councillor Holmes’ office at bankvillage@ottawa.ca

Thanks so much for your support of the Village!

Speeches at “We Demand” mural unveiling

At the August 26th unveiling of the “We Demand” commemorative mural, Village chair Glenn Crawford and special guest Charlie Hill made some empassioned speech about the civil rights movement in Ottawa and in Canada. Looking back on 40 years of activism, much has changed but there are still so many fights to be made on our communities behalf.

Here’s what Crawford had to say as the mural was presented to the 1pm and 5pm crowds (Charlie Hill’s speech hopefully to be added shortly)