December/January 2009-2010

Our Dec./Jan. issue is now online!

Here is a look at some of the goodness that rests within:

* Hope Mission Opens Immigration Hall
* McCauley Mural Celebration
* Diversity and Inclusion
* Letters To The Editor
* AGM Highlights
* Volunteer News
* Christmas in Peru
* Homefest 2009
* Community League Updates

To download a copy of the entire paper in PDF format, click here.

2009 AGM Video

Our Annual General Meeting was held on November 18. As usual, I went around with my video camera and filmed some of the fun while we were setting up. This year, I also included the report from our Co-Chairs. I think this video gives a great idea of the wonderful people who make the paper what it is.

November 2009 Online

November's issue is online! Here is a sneak peek at the contents:

* City Revokes York Hotel’s Tavern License
* The Works Moves to Boyle
* The Dedicated Helpers of Innroads
* Letters To The Editor
* Homeless Connect
* Volunteer News
* Rally for Healthcare
* Revitalization Update
* Community League Updates

To download the entire copy in its colour goodness (it's in PDF format), click here.

December/January - The Holidays

December/January is our annual Holiday issue. We're looking for:
- personal stories of how you and your families celebrate the winter holidays
- recipes
- advice (anything from decorating to handling difficult family
members you only see once a year)
- what the holidays mean to you
The deadline is November 12. We prefer stories around 500 words, and we love photos! Send your work and suggestions to: editor at bmcnews dot org!

Edmonton Journal Article

Just in case you missed it, the Edmonton Journal ran a feature story about Boyle McCauley News on October 3. The article focused on our 30th anniversary and the history of the paper and community. You can read it online here.

October 2009

Today's Edmonton Journal had a feature story about Boyle McCauley News' 30th anniversary - check it out here!

The October issue of Boyle McCauley News is online - check out what we have in store this month:

* East Meets West Cultural Event A Success
* Celebrating Our Senior Volunteers
* Letters To The Editor
* Free Guitar Lessons
* Cop’s Corner: Calling the Police
* Inn Roads Coop Celebrates 25 Years of Community Building
* Residents to Be Relocated
* Looking Back
* Shop Talk: New Businesses in McCauley
* Portrait of a Life in McCauley
* Community League Updates

Download a copy of the paper as a PDF here.

Interview with Antoinette Grenier

Our forthcoming October issue is going to focus on the seniors in our community. Antoinnette Grenier is a woman who is going to be featured prominently. Not only is she 90, not only is she outspoken about our community, but she has lived in McCauley for around 80 years! In the same house, no less. We decided to do the interview on video, because we wanted to get footage of this remarkable woman.

September 2009 Online

Our September issue is online - and it is an exciting one because it is our first issue ever to feature four pages of full colour! That's right - we are now publishing with full colour. You can download a copy in PDF format, colour and everything, here. Here is a sneak peek at what's inside:

* Summer Camp Gives McCauley Kids Hope
* More Murals Liven Up the LRT Corridor
* Fabulous Flowers - The Natural Beauty of McCauley
* Shoptalk - three new businesses
* Artist Poster Show
* Getting Excited About School, Again...
* Home Security: A Challenge Inside and Out
* The Happy Wanderer
* Community League Updates
* Community Soccer Update

October's Theme

October's theme is "Celebrating Our Seniors." Do you know a senior in the area who you would like to profile? A neighbour? A friend? A family member? Yourself? We also want to profile the service organizations in the area that help seniors. As well, we’re always looking for community news and profiles of interesting people and businesses in the community. Deadline is September 12. Articles should be no longer than 500 words and accompanied with photos whenever possible. Send your submissions to: editor@bmcnews.org. Articles may be edited for length and clarity. Not everything received is guaranteed to be published.

Fabulous Flowers

Fabulous Flowers
Originally uploaded by raise my voice

I spent much of this past weekend photographing flowers in McCauley for a photo essay in the upcoming September issue. Take a look at many of these shots in colour, including many we won't have room to print, right here.

A Viking Ship in McCauley

A Viking Ship in McCauley
Originally uploaded by raise my voice

Take a look at this Viking Ship that landed near Ansgar Lutheran Church over the weekend. The boat was acquired by the Danish Canadian National Museum and was built as an authentic replica of actual Viking ships. Read the full story in the upcoming September issue of the paper!

July/August Online!

Our July/August issue is online - you can download a copy here.

VOLUME 30 NUMBER 6 - July-August, 2009

* EPSB Opens Public Discussion Over the Fate of Our Schools
* McCauley Cleans Up
* Heart of the City Wraps Up for Another Year
* Community League Updates
* Community Soccer Update
* Dining Out: Nyala Ethiopian Restaurant
* Cop’s Corner: Summer Safety
* Plan to End Homelessness will address housing needs of most vulnerable citizens

Accident on 95 Street and 107a Avenue

Accident on 95 Street and 107a Avenue
Originally uploaded by raise my voice

This will likely be too dated by the time September rolls around, but this afternoon there was a huge accident in Little Italy. It took place around 12:30 near the intersection of 95 Street and 107A Avenue. There have been no details yet as to the extent of injuries, but I saw an ambulance pulling away as I approached to take pictures.

Looking Towards September

Well, the July/August issue is at the printer. We don't publish again until September, so for those of you who want to take a sneak peek ahead, our them is going to be "Inspired to Learn." It’s Back to School with a twist, as we remember those teachers who had a positive influence on us. We’re also going to talk about how we teach others, whether as parents, friends, or professional teachers ourselves. As well, we’re always looking for community news and profiles of interesting people and businesses in the community. Deadline is August 12. Articles should be no longer than 500 words and accompanied with photos whenever possible. Send your submissions to: editor@bmcnews.org. Articles may be edited for length and clarity. Not everything received is guaranteed to be published.

Heart of the City Videos!

If you want to re-live some of the great musical moments from this year's festival, check out these videos from our YouTube channel!













And yes, I performed once again during the Song Circle - here I be:

June Online

The June issue of Boyle McCauley News is now online - here is a look at some of the contents:

VOLUME 30 NUMBER 5 - June, 2009

* Eagle Staff Transfer Ceremony at Bissell Centre
* Frank Rossi: A Man of Honour
* Local Artist Profiles
* Arts Organizations in Our Community
* Community League Updates
* Learning for Life
* McCauley Revitalization Update
* Cop’s Corner
* Art Makes Medicine Better at U of A Hospital

You can download the entire issue in PDF format here.

Boyle McCauley News Distro Box

Boyle McCauley News Distro Box
Originally uploaded by raise my voice

Coming soon to a street near you! This is the official Boyle McCauley News distribution box. It has been a long time in coming. Now, you can be sure to always have a copy of the paper at hand, just by waling over to this conveniently-located box. We're working on getting our City permit to put it out, but expect it will be located near the Italian Centre.

Looking Ahead to July/August!

July/August is our combined summer issue. The theme is "Our National Holidays." Where are you from? What is your national holiday? How do you celebrate it? Do you still mark the date somehow here in Canada? Deadline is June 12. Articles should be no longer than 500 words and accompanied with photos whenever possible. Send your submissions to: editor@bmcnews.org. Articles may be edited for length and clarity. Not everything received is guaranteed to be published.

How the May Issue Hit the Street

Distribution is an essential part of BMC News. A portion of the papers are mailed via Canada Post to most of Boyle Street, while the rest are delivered by our block carriers in McCauley. For the past several months, thanks to a very dedicated volunteer, distribution has been very smooth.

We expected that this month would be the same as all the others: he would go in his van to the distribution centre to pick up the paper in his van. Then, he would take the papers to his garage where he would bag, label, and sort the papers, before loading them back into his van. Finally, he and I hit the road to the neighbourhood to mail the Boyle Street papers and bring the rest to the homes of our valued block carriers.

Alas, this month it was not to be. The paper was picked up, bagged, labeled, sorted, and loaded as per usual. However, after driving a mere couple of blocks we heard a bizarre popping sound coming from under the van, followed by a sound similar to a tin can scraping the ground. We drove the van back to his place. Although we could not visibly see anything wrong, we knew better than to continue to drive a vehicle with an unknown mechanical problem. Therefore, distribution was temporarily halted.

Fortunately, I do have several people on backup. However, Colleen, our industrious co-Volunteer Coordinator was at work. And Tim, a co-chair extraordinnaire, was out of town on a meditation retreat. Not to be discouraged, I called Kylee, Tim's daughter and a good friend of mine. She was home with her three children -- and mini-van. I was ever so grateful that she was able to come scooting along, children in tow. We packed up the papers for the post office, and took care of the Boyle mailout that afternoon.

Kylee was gracious enough to let us use her van the following afternoon. So, my ever-faithful volunteer took a bus to get to her house, drove back to the west end where we live, unloaded his van and loaded up Kylee's, got me, and off we went to McCauley for an afternoon of delivery goodness. It was not without challenges - the driver's side door would not open, but my friend easily fixed it. Good thing, since his knees don't bend well enough to keep crawling in from the passenger's side.

We also were puttering along at one point, which we assumed was due to overheating. Not good, since the afternoon was relatively cool. After breaking for lunch, the problem remained, and we barely got to the Mohawk station on 97 street to put some gas in the tank - which seemed to take care of the problem. The gas gauge must have been faulty since it was not showing as empty, and putting only $20 worth of gas in the tank raised the gauge quite a bit. Which it should not have, according to my friend who is far more mechanical than I.

In the end, everything turned out all right. The papers reached their destinations, Kylee's van has a fixed door and $20 of gas added to it, and I can focus on working on the June issue. Once again, our wonderful volunteers came through. We just would not be able to function as a newspaper or organization without our volunteers.

May Online

It isn't quite yet May (and the weather certainly is not in step with the season), but May's BMC News is online and available to download as a PDF.

Here is a look at what is inside:

* New Program Manager at McCauley Apartments
* Security Patrol A Bust
* Meet Our New Community Liaison Constable
* McCauley Plant Exchange
* Getting Active
* Going Organic In Cuba
* Slim, Trim, and Fit
* A Bike Ride a Day Keeps the Doctors At Bay
* Community League Updates

BMC News On Twitter!

Boyle McCauley News is now on Twitter. Twitter is a microblog allowing for short updates - excellent for news and announcements. Follow us here: www.twitter.com/bmcnews. For those of you on Twitter, you can add us to your follow list with our user name: @bmcnews.

April Online

Our April issue is online, so you can check it out here. The highlights:

* Clarke Athletic Grounds Set for Major Expansion
* Nicole Chapdelaine Moves On
* Neighbourhood Matching Fund Guidelines
* Ben Henderson on the Bicycle Transportation Plan
* Learning for Life
* Jim Gurnett Leaving EMCN
* Dining Out: Pho Tau Bay
* Housing is More Than Shelter
* Community League Updates

March Issue

The March issue of Boyle McCauley News is online. Here is look at what's inside:

* Heart of the City Pumps Up for June Music Festival
* Family Day at the Rink
* Looking Back
* Soccer News
* A Tour of Edmonton’s Net-Zero Home
* Dining Out
* Chinese New Year Celebrations
* Volunteer of the Month
* Community League Updates

Download a complete copy in PDF format here.

Family Day

February 16 was Family Day here in Edmonton, and McCauley was celebrating with lots of food and fun! Chris was serving up burgers, Dan was handing out toys to the younger kids, and lots of people were eating, skating, roasting marshmellows, and enjoying getting to know their neighbours. Besides taking pictures for the March issue of the paper (which is in production right now), I decided to strap on my skates and hit the ice.



You can also see some pictures from Family Day here.

Chinese New Year

I attended Chinese New Year celebrations in Chinatown for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I was there to take some pictures for the March issue of the paper, but I was also there to enjoy the sights, sounds, colours, and excitement that was all around. Those firecrackers were so loud I was afraid I damaged my hearing! It was also a blast to be able to walk down 97 street, right on the road. In addition to still pictures, I shot a couple of videos, which I uploaded to our channel at YouTube. Here they are.

February on the Web

The February issue went online last evening - here it is!

The highlights:

* We’re Thirty!
* Transitional Housing Community Gets Boost From Province
* Feedback Wanted on Garbage Fees
* Skating Programs Announced
* Transportation Features
* Classic Valentine’s Day Greetings
* Riding the Rails and Riding the Trails
* Planning for Redevelopment Around the Stadium LRT Station
* Community League Updates

February Issue

We're thirty!

That is the headline on the front page of the new issue of Boyle McCauley News. It hit the street last week, and should be online soon. I'll post the link when it is up.

Our First Issue

I felt like I was living in a time capsule this week. I was going through a stack of old papers laying around the office, filing them accordingly in our office archive. Lo and behold, within that pile was sitting a copy of our very first issue. January 1979. Pages very yellow and brittle, typesetting very old-fashioned, and layout very bare bones. We found some other very old issues as well. I felt like I was holding the history of the community in my hands. I am hoping that eventually we will be able to put some of those classic issues online.

Finding Hidden Treasure

We've been in our current office space for over two years, and we still have some things in boxes. Most of it are old computer manuals or packaging that are not of real importance. Earlier this week I decided to investigate some of those boxes, and found one containing hundreds of old photographs, some dating back twenty years or more. Old photos of people, places, and events in the neighbourhood. What a find!

Unfortunately, the box was so damaged by water, the bottom of it was literally stuck to the floor. The envelopes of photos were carefully extracted. There is a lot of damage, as many of the photos are stuck to each other, but most are salvageable. Now comes the fun part: going through everything and seeing what we have.

This find is especially valuable since we have just entered our 30th anniversary year. I am trying to scan as many pictures as I can - this very well may be my personal project over the next while. At the paper, we are making and recording history. What an impact we can make when we try to protect and preserve these precious memories.