Our Place Society kicked off the holidays in gourmet style this year, treating clients to turkey, potatoes, stuffing and vegetables on Wednesday (Dec. 22) afternoon.
In Christmases past, the downtown Victoria organization has welcomed hundreds for a sit-down meal, but despite new restrictions, COVID-19 hasn’t robbed Our Place of good cheer. This year, a cafeteria-style meal – extended to two hours – accommodated close to 400 diners and left plenty of full stomachs.
“Our chefs are busy cooking turkey, smashing potatoes, mixing stuffing and peeling vegetables,” CEO Julian Daly said in a release. “All to make sure that we deliver a heaping plate of home-cooked deliciousness.”
No holiday meal is complete without dessert, so Rogers’ Chocolates donated treats for volunteers to hand out with dinner.
“Our Place has always been there for people going through difficult times – regardless of the reason,” Daly said. “And this year, perhaps more than ever, people who thought they would never need our services are finding our doors are open.”
The organization will also be delivering Christmas meals to housed clients throughout the region, Grant McKenzie told Black Press Media.
“Bringing that sense of community is so important,” McKenzie added.
Any Victoria residents interested in keeping things cheery into the new year can donate warm clothes, tarps or sleeping bags to Our Place to ensure clients stay warm. Donations can be dropped off at 919 Pandora Ave. any time, or at 94 Talcott Rd. in View Royal from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
Our Place Society kicked off the holidays in gourmet style this year, treating clients to turkey, potatoes, stuffing and vegetables on Wednesday (Dec. 22) afternoon.
In Christmases past, the downtown Victoria organization has welcomed hundreds for a sit-down meal, but despite new restrictions, COVID-19 hasn’t robbed Our Place of good cheer. This year, a cafeteria-style meal – extended to two hours – accommodated close to 400 diners and left plenty of full stomachs.
“Our chefs are busy cooking turkey, smashing potatoes, mixing stuffing and peeling vegetables,” CEO Julian Daly said in a release. “All to make sure that we deliver a heaping plate of home-cooked deliciousness.”
No holiday meal is complete without dessert, so Rogers’ Chocolates donated treats for volunteers to hand out with dinner.
“Our Place has always been there for people going through difficult times – regardless of the reason,” Daly said. “And this year, perhaps more than ever, people who thought they would never need our services are finding our doors are open.”
The organization will also be delivering Christmas meals to housed clients throughout the region, Grant McKenzie told Black Press Media.
“Bringing that sense of community is so important,” McKenzie added.
Any Victoria residents interested in keeping things cheery into the new year can donate warm clothes, tarps or sleeping bags to Our Place to ensure clients stay warm. Donations can be dropped off at 919 Pandora Ave. any time, or at 94 Talcott Rd. in View Royal from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
The east entrance to the Kingsway Entertainment District, which faces a new delay. Gateway Casinos has said it is not willing to proceed with site prep until some matters are cleared up.Photo by Gino Donato/The Sudbury Star file photo
Article content
The only agreements in place regarding the Kingsway Entertainment District pertain to site preparation, the city has formally announced.
Advertisement
Article content
The city issued the statement at its website Monday, adding the assertion is “consistent with previous public comments by staff and members of city council.”
Site preparation work at the KED includes blasting and grading; the installation of intersections; new road construction; as well as the installation of sanitary sewers, and infrastructure for water and stormwater management.
“These activities, financed to date by 1916596 Ontario Ltd., Gateway Casinos and Entertainment Ltd. and the City of Greater Sudbury, are undertaken in contemplation of further site development that will result in a hotel, casino and events centre being constructed on the site,” the city noted.
This declaration from Tom Davies Square was prompted by Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier, who had been asking for years for information on the hotel operator. Finally, Montpellier introduced a motion earlier this month aimed at getting answers to his questions.
In his motion, Montpellier noted senior staff, as well as the city’s integrity commissioner and Dario Zulich, the developer behind the KED, had all publicly confirmed “no legally binding hotel or casino building commitments actually exist for the KED beyond site preparation.”
Montpellier also accused one of his colleagues of “using authoritative overtones” to claim on social media “that such commitments do exist, and that a hotel and casino will be opening in less than two years.”
Advertisement
Article content
Montpellier said the mixed messages were causing confusion and distress. He asked that council direct staff “to issue through public media notification that the only current build commitment for the KED is limited to site preparation.”
Planned for the KED are an events centre valued at $100 million or more, paid for by taxpayers; a $60-million casino Gateway Casinos is to build; as well as a hotel. There have been passing references made to other amenities and facilities, but nothing has been confirmed or advertised. The complex is scheduled to open in 2024.
Zulich announced recently Manitoba-based Genesis Hospitality has signed on to operate the hotel. In an interview last week with The Star (story forthcoming), Kevin Swark, executive president of Genesis, said his company would own, build and manage the hotel. He could not share many details as he said the deal is in its nascent stages, but he did say Genesis was open to working with partners. Swark said his company has still not identified a franchise for the hotel, but he said it would be an upper scale, mainstream brand.
Despite these commitments, there is still no progress on site prep at the KED. Gateway Casinos informed the city on Nov. 29 – the day work was set to begin – they were putting a pause on the project until a few outstanding issues were resolved, including a bribery investigation and a legal challenge. They said they had already spent nearly $4 million on the KED, and ground has not even broken yet.
Advertisement
Article content
“It is not commercially reasonable for Gateway to continue to provide additional significant funding to the next phase of the project until these ongoing challenges are resolved and the entire scope of the project is confirmed to be moving ahead,” Jagtar Nijjar, executive VP of development and construction for Gateway, wrote to city CAO Ed Archer. “We hope for a quick and successful resolution of the outstanding issues, and in the meantime we continue to work collaboratively with other project stakeholders.”
Montpellier published an open letter on his Facebook page earlier this year in which he alleged representatives for Zulich and Gateway approached him before the events centre vote in June 2017 in an effort to sway his decision. An OPP investigation was launched after Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer introduced a motion to have the Greater Sudbury Police Service look into the matter.
Secondly, the Minnow Lake Restoration Group launched in August a divisional court action seeking a judicial review of a July 2021 decision to move forward with the KED. They want that vote declared null and void, and as Nijjar pointed out to Archer, the matter will not be resolved until mid-2022 at the earliest.
The city has not indicated how this delay will impact the KED, its projected timeline and the much-anticipated ribbon-cutting ceremony.
While councillors Robert Kirwan (Ward 5), Rene Lapierre (Ward 6), Mike Jakubo (Ward 7), Sizer, Bill Leduc (Ward 11) and Joscelyne Landry-Altmann (Ward 12) voted against Montpellier’s recent motion, it was carried 7-6.
The Boston Bruins have placed forwards Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol, the team announced on Saturday.
The two forwards join Brad Marchand (placed in protocol on Dec. 14), Craig Smith (Dec. 14), Patrice Bergeron (Dec. 15), Jeremy Swayman (Dec. 16), Trent Frederic (Dec. 16), Anton Blidh (Dec. 16) and Oskar Steen (Dec. 16).
Earlier on Saturday, the NHL postponed all games involving the Bruins before the Christmas break. There was no immediate word on when the postponed games would be rescheduled.
Boston was originally scheduled to visit the Ottawa Senators on Sunday, then return home to host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. The Bruins' home game Thursday against Colorado had also been previously postponed by the NHL due to a COVID-19 outbreak on the Avalanche.
Detroit recalled goaltender Calvin Pickard and forward Riley Barber from the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League. The team also announced Griffins head coach Ben Simon and assistant coach Todd Krygier will join Red Wings assistant coach Doug Houda on the bench when they host the New Jersey Devils.
The Red Wings are also missing Robby Fabbri and Michael Rasmussen, who were both put into COVID-19 protocol this past Wednesday.
Detroit is fourth in the Atlantic Division with a 14-13-3 record.
The Panthers also placed an unnamed member of their travel party into COVID-19 protocol.
Verhaeghe has 22 points in 28 games this season. Bennett has 14 points in 24 games. Gudas and Montour average 18:40 and 16:48 of ice time per game, respectively.
A new hockey league in B.C.’s Lower Mainland is giving older women a safe place to lace up their skates once again.
Athletes in the women’s division of the Adult Safe Hockey League range in age from 45 to 68, and they say — playfully — that some of the team names reflect that.
“My husband came up with the name ‘Hot Flashes,’ which I thought was very appropriate for our age group,” said Gretchen McConnell, who plays for the GeriHatricks.
Their passion for hockey is just as strong as ever, they said ahead of a game last month.
“I have to try and settle it down a little, you know, because I’m getting older,” said Susie Pattee, who plays defence for the Vintage Edition. “It’s not an easy thing for me to do.”
