The Our Town - Clarenville Blog by Paul Tilley

If there is one thing that Clarenville is noted for in the rest of the province it is the fervor in which its sports teams take to the ice, the field, the Hill, the trail or the gym.   This does not happen by accident.   In fact it is the dedication of key volunteers in each sport that has made Clarenville athletes so dominant in their fields.    The coordination of this tremendous pool of volunteer talent is embodied by the Clarenville Area Recreation Association – CARA.   Now in its 41 st year, CARA is a an association of sport leaders and sports visionaries who work with The Town of Clarenville to help ensure that the right people with the right resources contribute to making organized recreation work and grow in this town (even more, they contribute greatly to the high quality of life that makes Clarenville such an attractive place to live and work).     Each year CARA celebrates its success (our success) with an Awards Night . ...

Last week, I attended the Town’s branding review meeting . While there, there was a clear recognition of the potential that exists in this town...I’ve been thinking about that. On this beautiful Earth Day, my wife and I took a walk along the short, but picturesque trail that runs from the Shoal Harbour River Bridge, up the river, to Riverview Drive Extension.  (Watch the video and come with us along the trail!) It’s a lovely trail with all kinds of potential.  The Friends of the Shoal Harbour River (FOSHR) recognized and acted on this  potential of this trail a few years back. They upgraded the trail head, installed a couple of heavy duty trash containers and a picnic table.    Now this area gets lots of use and in the summer it’s become a real mecca for kids and their parents who want to cool off in the river on summer days.    FOSHR has done a great job, and most importantly,  their work has proven the worth of doin...

Paul's post about a community centre for Elizabeth Swan Park reminded me of  this article by Taryn Sheppard I read in The Scope about a community centre in Denmark.   The community centre pictured here serves a neighborhood of 600 families. The bottom of the structure has a half-pipe skate ramp and going up one side there's a climbing wall.  Herstedlund Community Centre in Albertslund, Denmark. Photo by Adam Mørk The inside includes multi-functional spaces that could serve many different groups at the same time. With spaces on various levels with many entrances, there's lots of ways to access various rooms and to create different spaces with moving walls and hatch doors. A kitchen can transform into an outdoor patio or bar. A performance space has a stage that can be divided into smaller stages by sliding walls. The top level of the facility is an open roof terrace and basketball court, which can be acces...

CBC Picture In the trade they are called Vehicle Management Systems.  I call them a good idea. The Town of Gander has just purchased this sign.  It’s portable and it can serve a number of roles including making people aware of just how fast they are driving (it has a speed radar). It's particularly good for those drivers who insist in driving through our town at rate of speed that shows little regard for live (you, me and our children) and Newton’s laws of physics. I first saw these signs used by the RCMP’s highway patrol in Halifax a few years ago and I am told by good authority (my Mountie brother-in-law) that they work. They aren’t cheap at $19,000, but the fact that they work so well as a proactive driver education tool, coupled with the fact that they can serve many purposes including communicating key traffic or event messages (Targa Day: ROAD CLOSED, Clarenville Day: FIREWORKS TONIGHT, or CONGRATULATIONS CARIBOUS) means that such a sig...

It's Volunteer Week in Clarenville. One of the biggest and most successful Co-ops in Atlantic Canada - the Clarenville Co-op embodies the spirit of volunteerism. Further, Clarenville Co-op is a key corporate sponsor of the 2014 NL Winter Games - which will be hosted by Clarenville.  Many Volunteers will be needed and we want you to get involved. The Host Committee is looking for volunteers.  Here's some Questions and Answers about this volunteer opportunity. Hope you can join us - it will be an outstanding opportunity for our town. How do I get involved? People interested in volunteering can contact the Games committee by: - Phone: Caroline at 466-4165 or 427-2433 - Facebook: www.facebook.com/Clarenville2014 - Twitter: Clarenville2014 @nlwg2014 - Email: clarenville2014@gmail.com Isn’t it early to be recruiting for volunteers? The NL Winter Games is a major undertaking. Our town of almost 6,000 will host 1,500 athletes, coaches and officials...

On Monday the Town of Clarenville held an information session to update people on the progress and direction of their efforts towards developing a new “Brand” for Clarenville.  For the layman this means that Clarenville is working to find a way to better talk to people and for people to talk to it.  Branding helps contribute to the sizzle that helps promote the steak – us. Towards this goal the Town has contracted with Pilot Communications.  Over the past few months Pilot has consulted and developed a new Logo, designed a new Website and is developing a communications strategy for the Town. The Sizzle Pilot’s research has revealed some key points that most of us would easily agree with such as: Clarenville is growing and there’s lots of economic potential in the town There is not a lot of “push” of information about Clarenville out to the rest of the world. We have a good balance of urban pleasures and rural tranquility. We have a great hockey ...

It was an interesting day today.  I ended up in jail! Oops Yes, it was JAIL AND BAIL-Catch and Release day here in Clarenville on Friday the 13th, sponsored by the  Clarenville Area Citizens' Crime Prevention Committee .   Y ou are either on the "let's get someone arrested" side of the fence (jail cell) or the other "let's lay low and hide" side to keep from being arrested.  I  as sitting on that fence early this morning.... Then I became an instigator and with our students we managed to help get my friend and collegue Rick Martin arrested.  Then I hid. The Mounties always get their man. All too shortly after getting Rick in the squad car, I found myself in the back seat of another one.  I was charged on two counts: - Too Vocal on Council matters     (I wonder who put me up to this....hummm? ) - Decorating without a licence.      (Not sure on this one!) Anyway, an hour or so later, Rick and I raised ...

Summer's Coming! And when I think of summer in Clarenville, I think about some of the great community events that we hold in Elizabeth Swan Park on Tilley's Road.  Elizabeth Swan Park has proven to be a hub for Clarenville town based activities.  During the Summer, Canada Day, Clarenville Day and Arts Under the Stars events take place there and during the fall and winter, Bonfire night and Winter Carnival activities take place in the park.  I’m sure if you were out to any of these events you enjoyed yourself - each of them bring a greater sense of community to the people who came.  Then there’s the weather. Rain, sleet, snow, wind and cold have plagued the turnout of too many events and as many of our townspeople age access to the park is becoming more restricted.   Rather than a problem, this presents a wonderful opportunity to make the park space more user friendly by building a larger shelter to replace the small one that has served its...

In 2007 Clarenville was designated an "Aged Friendly Community" and since then the Random Aged Friendly Board has been engaging seniors in numerous activities and advocating for seniors on numerous fronts.  One of the most successful initiatives has been the "Computers for Seniors" classes that are offered at the Clarenville Campus of the College of the North Atlantic. In Fall and Winter semesters, Random Aged Friendly and the College offer a free 8 week evening course to seniors that teaches basic computer skills such as searching the internet, composing and sending emails, Google earth, on-line banking and many other computer functions. Each evening, 5-8 volunteer facilitators from the College, the Community and the local High School work with the class of 12-16 seniors - who come from all over Clarenville and surrounding communities. On March 27, 2012 another 17 seniors graduated to bring the number up to 127 graduates since the program was launched. ...

Co-contributer Paul Tilley wrote an excellent posting about the issue of the Clarenville Fire Department providing fire protection services to the Local Service District (LSD) of Milton/George's Brook. I didn't think there was much to add to the topic until I read this week's Packet . The story doesn't seem to be posted on the website, however, the article is about the request of the LSD for a tanker truck from the provincial government. The LSD had requested that Clarenville Fire Department provide them with services and one of the conditions was a tanker truck to be stationed in the area to ensure adequate water supply. The Minister responsible indicates that should Clarenville become the regional fire department, an analysis would then have to be completed to determine the necessary resources required.  Fair enough. What caught my eye, however, was the last few paragraphs. The article indicates that "while the final decision to negotiate comes down to council...

While spring means bulbs will start to appear in the garden, it also means that something  has disappeared from our streets. The snow and ice on the roads have disappeared as have the road markings.  Each year, road surface markings seem to disappear almost as quickly as they are painted on. You are taking your life in your hands while driving down Manitoba Drive these days. While the regulars know where the lanes are, there are many people coming off the TCH who have no way of knowing. Over the past few days, it has been a free-for-all with cars in turning lanes going straight and straddling both lanes. This has been a problem in many towns for the past few years.  Surely there's a solution to increase safety on our streets?