Monthly Archives: July 2010

NCC Press Release:

THE ESTATE IN BLOOM IN THE HEART OF GATINEAU PARK THIS WEEKEND

Canada’s Capital Region — The National Capital Commission (NCC) invites the public to the Estate in Bloom festivities at the Mackenzie King Estate on Saturday, July 24 and Sunday, July 25, 2010. From 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm, residents and visitors can celebrate the passion of Canada’s 10th prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, for gardening, horticulture and landscaping.

A variety of activities on the theme of “flowers in the heart of Gatineau Park” will be offered throughout the weekend.

PROGRAM: 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm

• Guided tours with Mackenzie King (portrayed by a guide-interpreter), as he discusses his landscaping plans for the Estate:

in English at 1:30 pm.

in French at 3 pm.

• Guided tours by Jean-Pierre Martel, renowned horticulturist, who will guide you through the floral gardens of the Estate:

in English at 3 pm.

in French at 1:30 pm.

• Tasting workshops presented by local shops Miss Chocolat and Florist Avant Garde, where visitors can sample edible flowers dipped in chocolate.
• Soap-making demonstrations offered by the Olivier Soapery Chelsea.
• Presentation of renowned fragrances from the 1930s and 1940s by Michèle Hamelin, esthetician and expert in the history of European perfumes.
• Activities and games for the whole family at Kingswood and Moorside.
• Classical music concerts by the Atrium Trio at 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm and 3:30 pm at the Moorside gardens.
• In addition to the regular menu, refreshments available at the Moorside gardens:

floral teas and other refreshments available ($).

floral flavoured pastries and sweets ($).

Located in the heart of Gatineau Park, the Estate was the residence of the Right Honourable William Lyon Mackenzie King, who held the office of prime minister of Canada for almost 22 years, between 1921 and 1948. Every year, this national cultural attraction welcomes thousands of visitors who come to admire the beautiful setting and surroundings.

MACKENZIE KING ESTATE HOURS OF OPERATION:

Summer Hours of Operation

From May 15 to September 6, 2010, the Estate will be open everyday from 11 am to 5 pm.

Fall Hours of Operation

From September 7 to October 17, 2010 the Estate will be open:

• weekdays from 11 am to 5 pm, and
• on weekends and statutory holidays from 10 am to 5 pm.

Mackenzie King Tearoom is open every day, from 11 am to 5 pm. For more information or reservations, please call 819-827-3405.

ADMISSION:

• $8 per vehicle
• $30 per minibus (max. 20 passengers)
• $50 per bus
• $65 season pass (access to all Gatineau Park beaches, Leamy Lake beach and Mackenzie King Estate)

VIA RAIL GARDEN ROUTE:

The Mackenzie King Estate gardens are included in the VIA Rail Garden Route destinations, where the public can experience the country’s most astonishing flower gardens and the enthusiasm of Canadian gardening addicts. From Victoria to Halifax, the Garden Route is an invitation to discover 18 magnificent gardens and 27 Communities in Bloom, all winners of the prestigious 5-Bloom award. Green-thumb travellers will enjoy the special horticultural attractions and activities. And everyone will delight in the spectacular displays of countless thriving blooms. For more information about the VIA Rail Garden Route, visit www.viarail.ca/garden.

The Ottawa Bicycle Club had it’s Grand Prix bicycle race yesterday, results can be found here.

An Ottawa Citizen piece here.

Colin McKay tweets that “in the 1930s, a Zeppelin was used to shuttle the Prime Minister from his weekend retreat on Meech lake.”

Hmmm…

A few problems here.

• The Prime Ministerial retreat isn’t on Meech Lake, but Mousseau Lake (Harrington Lake) which is the next lake north-west of Meech Lake.
• The property known as Harrington Lake didn’t become associated with Prime Ministers until 1959 after which Diefenbaker was first to use it.
• The 1930s association between Gatineau Park and Prime Ministers was via William Lyon Mackenzie King whose estate is at Kingsmere Lake, not Meech.

Fortunately for us Colin McKay includes in his tweet “#fridayfactsijustmadeup” which if clicked brings one to a long list of other BS.

Just for the record it was 1935 when King became PM and 1937 when the Hindenburg was photographed as the hydrogen that made it lighter than air did what hydrogen always wants to do, join with oxygen to become water.

I saw a tweet from Benmore Longboards that they were having a “longboard session” in Gatineau Park on Sunday afternoon. I wasn’t sure what the rules were in the Park for skateboarding so I shot them an email and Jamie was kind enough to reply.

Hi Charles,

I feel the first thing I need to do is clear up the difference between a skateboarding and a longboarding, they are not the same thing.

Skateboards are small boards designed for quick manouvers and easy to manipulate, they are designed specifically for doing tricks. Longboards on the other hand, are pretty much how the sound. They can start at around 32″ (and that’s small for a longboard) and can reach up to 7′. There are also many different types of longboards for different disciplines. The main ones are:

• Race Boards – designed to be fast, aerodynamic, heavy and low to the ground and extremely stable for high speed (80+ km/hr). They are very stiff and can be quit awkward when trying to go on flatland.
• Cruise boards – flexible, lighter, higher off the ground and can get VERY long and are amazing for just cruising around.
• Hybrid/All around boards – are a cross between the two. Flexible but shorter, can be ridden downhill but aren’t as fast, etc.

We follow the same laws as the cyclist, however we rarely use the roads unless they’re closed to cars. That’s why you’ll see many longboarders using the park in the spring (before the roads open) and in the fall (when they close).

We are a bunch of friendly boarders who are out to have a good time and promote the sport. Most of the group are in they’re early twenties and there’s a few of us in our mid thirties, so we’re a good mix of people whose main priority is to just have fun.

So the session (at an undisclosed location?) is at 3pm on Sunday.

Jo-Ann Holden (musician on skis) posted an out of focus (unusual for her) image of a Bald Eagle she spotted at Lac LaPêche.

Aren’t those fuzzy images reserved for yetis and UFOs? This flying object was real I trust!

Kyle Kemper has posted a series of pictures from a Frisbee golf session at Camp Fortune

Press release from the NCC

TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF GATINEAU PARK PARKWAY NETWORK

THIS SATURDAY, JULY 17

Canada’s Capital Region — The National Capital Commission (NCC) wishes to inform the public that the Gatineau Park Parkway Network (Gatineau, Champlain and Fortune parkways), will be temporarily closed to traffic on Saturday, July 17 from 6 am to 11 am, for the 13th Annual Ottawa Bicycle Club Grand Prix. The section of the Gatineau Parkway located north of Lac-Meech Road (between parking lots P8 and P9) will remain closed until 1:00 pm.

For more information about the event, please visit the Ottawa Bicycle Club website at www.ottawabicycleclub.ca/grandprix.

Ottawa Magazine suggests a little bird watching at Pink Lake for something to do this weekend, but only after they’ve pointed you to The Arrogant Worms as leadup to Lynn Miles in Perth.

Thanks to Marcel for pointing out that Trail #1 is being closed starting August 2nd in order that the NCC be able to work with the Ottawa Mountain Bike Association (an affiliate of the IMBA) to adjust this portion of the trail so as to be a mountain bike trail conforming with the standards of IMBA.

This project was talked about at the NCC – Mountain Biker meeting May 31st.

It is a bit of a pilot project aimed at collaboration between the NCC and user groups and if you have any interest in seeing that succeed, or in mountain bike trail riding, you are encouraged to keep an eye on the project and jump in if there are openings for volunteers.

The NCC and the International Mountain Bike Association have re-announced their Memorandum of Understanding. I wonder why.

The MOU was originally signed in November 2009, the IMBA re-announcement comes May 1st and the NCC’s July 8th.