Month: October 2020

The city is seeking feedback to shape its Urban Forest Strategy. 

As you may know, GeNA has a Tree Committee that has pushed for increased funding for urban forestry to benefit Glenelm and the entire city.

We urge you to participate in the city’s engagement opportunities below, stressing the importance of funding pruning, disease control and reforestation of our public trees.

From the project webpage:

Survey

Take the survey to provide input on the vision and strategic directions for the Winnipeg Urban Forest Strategy. This survey will take approximately 15 minutes of your time and will be collecting feedback until November 1, 2020.

Take the Winnipeg Urban Forest Strategy survey now!

Other feedback/engagement opportunities:

• Winnipeg Urban Forest Strategy mapping tool – until November 1
• Winnipeg Urban Forest Strategy discussion forum – until November 1
• Virtual walking tours (details here) – until November 8

On Saturday, September 19, GeNA was pleased to host a fun 2-in-1 event at Hespeler Park: outdoor yoga followed by tree and shrub planting.

Under a beautiful blue sky and surrounded by nature, Glenelm yoga teacher Jen Breckman led us through an hour of gentle stretches and poses. Then, with the assistance of Green Drop, we planted two American elms and two dwarf Korean lilac shrubs.

All told, about 40 people came out for this event and it was a great way to end the summer after so many months of gatherings being restricted. We know that the memories of that great day will sustain us through the next many months of the pandemic!

The event was funded by a generous TD Park People Grant. 

As of this writing, it looks like trick-or-treating on Halloween night can happen, while following the provincial and federal public health guidelines, of course. Some key tips from those guidelines:

• wear a mask (for both giving out candy and trick-or-treating)
• stay home if you’re not feeling well
• wash/sanitize hands frequently
• give/receive store-bought treats with tongs and from a safe distance 
• trick-or-treat with your own household
• take turns going up to each house; give the group ahead of you plenty of space so that you’re not crossing paths in close quarters

If you decide that trick-or-treating is right for your family, please be sure to follow the guidelines for a safe and fun evening!! 

Oct 31: Treats from GeNA & The Big Red Church

For the big night, GeNA is teaming up with our community partners at the Big Red Church to distribute treat bags from their yard.

On Oct 31, be sure to swing by from 6:30 to 8pm to pick up a treat!

Social distancing will be observed, so please move along quickly to prevent congregating in groups!

Nov 1: 2020 Pumpkin Parade

The live version of this year’s Pumpkin Parade is cancelled due to COVID-19. Instead, we invite you to participate in a virtual parade by:

• Showcasing your spooky decorations and terrifying pumpkin carving skills on the GeNA Facebook page, or  
• Sending in photos to glenelmcommunity@gmail.com (or just reply to this email).

We’ll take your photos and turn them into a slide show to be displayed on the GeNA website!

Since the neighbourhood might be too busy on All Hallows’ Eve for some folks to comfortably to enjoy everyone’s decorations, we encourage community members to light up again on November 1st for the benefit of neighbours who’d prefer to participate in a scaled-down celebration with a socially-distant stroll through Glenelm. 

Wishing you all a safe and happy Halloween!

A huge thank you to all the volunteers who served as block captains and all the folks who chipped in to band our neighbourhood’s beloved boulevard trees!!

Glenelm’s first-ever neighbourhood-wide tree banding campaign, which aims to prevent cankerworm defoliation, was a huge success. On many blocks we were able to achieve 100% banding coverage, thanks to the generosity of many who donated a little extra cash above and beyond “their” boulevard trees.

More special thanks to:

• Glenelm School PAC, who covered the cost of banding boulevard trees along the school
• Councillor Jason Schreyer, who covered the cost of banding all the boulevard trees on Beatrice, and
• John Russell, who donated honey as a thank-you gift to each of the block captains!

This was a true community effort, with hundreds of households participating!