October, 2007 - Glebe Report

6 Glebe Report October 12, 2007
The Great Glebe Pumpkin Patch
BY ROSHENE LAWSON
“On Hallowe’en night, the Great
Pumpkin rises from his pumpkin
patch and flies through the air to
deliver toys to all the children.”
—Linus van Pelt, “It’s the Great
Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”
On Sat., Oct. 27 the Great Pumpkin
will rise over our neighbourhood
once again. The Great Glebe Pumpkin
Patch festival was created by
Caren Von Merveldt and is sponsored
by the Glebe Business Group.
Now in its third year, the pumpkin
festival is really taking root. Years
one and two began with jack-o’-
lanterns lighting the windows of
local businesses. Artists and volunteers
handed out balloons, decorated
pumpkins and painted faces outside
the community centre. Inside, there
was a Hallowe’en party with games,
face painting, pumpkin cookies, and
beautifully decorated jack-o’-
lanterns. This year promises even
more excitement! Children of all
ages can visit a haunted house, take a
haunted hay ride, play games, get
their faces painted, decorate pumpkins
and, of course, view the beautiful
pumpkin creations made by people
in our community.
This year we held a contest and
asked neighbourhood children to
draw pictures of what the Great
Glebe Pumpkin Patch meant to
them. There were approximately 50
entries and choosing a winner was
challenging. There are so many tal-
ented young people in the Glebe!
The lucky contestant was Lauren
Aubrey. Lauren’s drawing has been
printed on the children’s sizes of this
year’s Pumpkin Patch t-shirts. The
contest’s three honourable mentions
are Yifeng Wang, Joshua Franchuk
and Kyra L. All entries will be on
display at Starbucks, Kaleidoscope
Books and Mrs. Tiggywinkle’s
throughout the month of October.
Many thanks to these generous local
businesses for their support with the
t-shirt contest. Thanks especially to
the young people who submitted
their artwork!
Join us Oct. 27 for the Great
Glebe Pumpkin Patch festival. The
fun starts at 10 a.m. with local businesses
and ends with a great party
from 4:30 – 7 p.m. at the Glebe
Community Centre.
NEWS
Honourable mention Kira L.
Winning entry by Lauren Aubrey Honourable mention Yifeng W.
Honourable mention Joshua F.
Portraits & Weddings in
Our Studio or on Location
Andrew Balfour Photography
115 Holmwood Ave. (at Bank)
(613) 594-5896
The Rogers Pumpkin Patrol in the Glebe
this Halloween
On Halloween night, Oct. 31,
trick-or-treaters will notice the
Rogers bright red vans out patrolling
Glebe neighbourhood streets, keeping
a watchful eye for trick-ortreaters
in need of assistance.
The Rogers Pumpkin Patrol was
formed 23 years ago when employees,
many of them parents themselves,
rallied together to help keep
Halloween safe by volunteering their
time to patrol in company vehicles on
neighbourhood streets. This Halloween,
the Pumpkin Patrol will be
staffed by over 200 trained employees
driving in 65 vans across the city.
Five vans will be deployed into the
Glebe area after vandalism was
noticed after last year’s Halloween
night. “We have a number of employees
at Rogers who have been out on
patrol since its inception and believe
wholeheartedly that the program
makes a difference,” said Robin
McIntyre, Rogers regional president
and Glebe resident. “In fact, every
year the program gets bigger and better,
because it is our employees who
invest their personal time to make
Pumpkin Patrol a success.”
In addition to the patrol on Halloween
night, Rogers employees
work with local police in the weeks
prior to Oct. 31 educating students in
9 safety tips for Halloween
Halloween is a fun and exciting time, but safety is number one!
1. Wear a properly fitted costume that is bright and non-flammable.
2. Use reflective tape on your costume so you can be seen in the dark.
3. Use face make-up or enlarge the eyes on your mask so you can see
well.
4. When wearing a mask, push it up on your head while walking.
5. Visit the front door of well lit homes and never go inside.
6. Plan a route and a time to be home, and stay close to home.
7. Have an adult (at home) check your treats before you eat them.
8. Younger children should go with an adult. Older children should trickor-treat
in groups.
9. If you need assistance or are scared, speak to a police officer or go to a
Rogers van.
grades 2 and 3 about Halloween
safety. The Rogers Pumpkin Patrol
distributes over 25,000 safety loot
packs to local schools. They contain
a safety tips card, a reflective armband
and other reflective items. For
safety, children are encouraged to
wear the reflective armband over
their costumes on Halloween night.
“It’s amazing how many children
forget about road safety on Halloween
night because they’re having
too much fun trick-or-treating,” said
Officer Kent from the Central
Ottawa Police Station. “With the
help of the Rogers Pumpkin Patrol
and the safety loot packs they distribute
in the Glebe area schools,
more and more children are being
reminded to be extra careful on Halloween,
while at the same time
enjoying themselves.”
It is recommended that parents
review the safety tips with their children
before they head out on Halloween.
As well, parents should
remind their children that they can
approach a police officer or a
patrolling red Rogers van, with the
pumpkin on top, should they run into
trouble or see vandalism while trickor-treating.
The Rogers Pumpkin
Patrol will be patrolling the Glebe
area starting at 5 p.m. on Halloween
night. Halloween is a fun and exciting
time, but safety is number one.