Merry Christmas Allison Park Residents

Ho-Ho-Ho, Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope that Santa has been good to everyone and that there where not to many lumps of coal in your stockings this morning!

If you have kids, I hope you got some great pictures of them opening up there presents, its great to see their little smiles and amazement when they open their presents isn’t it!

Christmas is all about giving, let’s not forget that, if you have not done something for the less fortunate, it’s not too late, drop some money into a kettle at the mall for the Sally Ann, drop some bags of groceries off at the food bank, or give generously to your staff or neighbours.

And speaking of neighbours, I challenge everyone right now to pick up the phone or knock on their doors, and wish them a Merry Christmas. If you don’t get along with your neighbour, today is a “ truce” day, be the bigger person and go by, knock on their door, extend your hand and wish them a Merry Christmas, go on, you can do it!

http://www.allisonpark.org

Christmas Light Decorating Contest in Allison Park

Just a reminder to everyone that my Annual Christmas light and house decorating contest is underway and the final judging will be on Christmas Eve.

Lets just say that a judge has already told me that there will be some new winners this year :)

New this year will be how also the interior of the house looks in relation to its effect from the outside also, and the overall theme of everything.

So, make sure that you have all your lights on also, some common ( whoops we forgot) items are that people are away at a relatives and forget to turn them on, and also forget to turn on all the display lights.

http://www.allisonpark.org

Allison Park Christmas Party

Once again we had an incredible time at our annual Allison Park Childrens Christmas Party which I was proud of hosting and organizing.

This year even with the storm of the century bearing down on us, we had a record turn-out with over 200 people showing up and having a lot of fun.

This year I pulled out all the stops, we had face painting, The huge 45 foot Chuggy Choo-Choo was there, we also had animal stuffing, and t shirt painting, a live puppet show, Hot Dogs, Cookies, and of course Santa Claus himself showed up with a sack of toys, every child received a new toy.

Many thanks for Councilor Scott Duvall coming out also.

Also many thanks for the " Oskeewheeler" for coming out. The oskeewheeler is the name of the Hamilton Tiger Cats Bus.

Christmas House Decorating Winners at Allison Park

I will soon be posting the winners from last years contest, so stay tuned for this!!

Also just a reminder that the " official" lights on is the usual December 1 at 5 p.m.

Each year I sponsor and organize a fun contest, and prizes are awarded for 1st to 5th place.

This year the winners where 2 new people details to follow!!

http://www.allisonpark.org

No Parking Signs going up around Allison Park

I just got a call from Councilor Scott Duvall whom is our representative at City Hall for us being in Ward 7.

He regrets to inform me that due to an on-going neighbourhood dispute, that " No-Parking" signs will be going up around Allison Park.

These signs will make it illegal to park Monday to Saturday from approx 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Be sure to check the signs for the exact times and dates when they go up.

The unfortunate thing is that nothing can be done to stop this.

The signs will start to go up with a 1 -2 week period, so be forewarned so that you dont get a ticket.

http://www.allisonpark.org

More meetings at City Hall

Last night I spent a further 3 hours at City Hall going over different projects,ideas and problem solving surrounding various things in the City.

One of our topics was graffiti, which I have discussed before and what we can do about it.

One of the attendees made me aware of a product that can remove the offending marking, and I am going to acquire some of it to remove the writings on our mailboxes.

http://www.allisonpark.org

Allison Park the Jewel of Hamilton

5 hours of meetings, 1 breakfast, 1 lunch and we still did not finish.

Yes that is how I spent a majority of my time yesterday, at City Hall going over many of the different programs in the City.

Needless to say the City is using Allison Park as the " example" and poster child for others to follow, some exciting things are coming up, and I will fill you all in later.

http://www.allisonpark.org

Halloween Decorating House winners

The judges deliberated for a lonnnnggggg time this year, it was a tough one, but the results are finally in, and will be posted shortly!!

There where some especially scary houses this year!!!

http://www.allisonpark.org

Volunteer Hours for school available at Allison Park

Parents for a few years now I have signing childrens volunteer hour forms for their 40 hour mandatory school hours that they need.

Just to remind you that this is available, however if your child wants to volunteer, and says they will show up to volunteer at a event, please make sure they show up!

Many thanks!

www.allisonpark.org

Devils Night

What started as just my normal drive through the neighbourhood to start to see the halloween displays turned into a 4 hour vigil and clean up patrol as it being devils night and kids being kids, there was some damage done to peoples houses and cars in our area.

A group of 12 youths where up to no good, but they where taken care of, but then a car with youths and a paint-ball gun made there way through our area spraying houses and vehicles.

So, armed with paper towels and a water bottle myself and a few neighbours made our way around the area looking for damage, cleaning peoples cars before the paint dried and knocking on doors informing them of what happened.

I have a feeling that there might be some youths in the area whom know the people involved, as in anything else, if you can convince your children to give up what they know, please pass it along to me, or if you witnessed the vehicle in question or got a plate number pass it along to myself.

Sun Shelter Update for Allison Park

I met with City Staff this week and one of the items we discussed was the sun shelter.

The tendering process will start soon, so most likely the shelter will be installed next year as winter is fast approaching.

Splash Pad Now Fixed at Allison Park

Extra bubble gum was ordered and the leak has now been fixed, many many thanks to all the City Staff for getting our splashpad fixed so fast, it sure has been hot lately, and the little ones enjoyed using it, pretty soon the days are getting shorter, the nights colder, and winter is on the way.

So from all the smiles on the faces of the children in the park today, I would say that they where very happy!!!

A special thanks to Steve and Chris from the City :)

Oskee-Wee-Wee

Hope to see you all at the game tomorrow!

Splash Pad Closed For Maintenance

She sprung a leak the other day, and we did not have enough bubble gum to stop the leak.

Even after getting all the kids together and amassing all types of bubble gum we still did not have enough!

City Staff will be ordering parts and getting it fixed a.s.a.p.

Hope to see everyone at the game tommorow,

OSKEE-WEE-WEE !!!!

Chris Ecklund the Garbage Man

3 bags of Garbage.

That is what I collected yesterday while out and about.

1 entire bag on the fenceline alone. This " windbreak" at times is so full of garbage I have had to get City crews to come out and collect it all, that is usually on a Thursday preceded by a wednesday night wind storm!

Oh well, better against the fence than throughout the City.

Parents, you can help, if you give your kids a bottle of water to head to the park, ask them to bring the empty back to recycle it!

A few neighbours also complained about kids breaking bottles in the park, and that they also went to clean the broken glass up afterwards. First off, thankyou for cleaning up, it is dangerous to have broken glass lying around in the swing sets. If anyone sees anything happening there at night, please let me know and I will look into it.

And speaking of Garbage, dont forget it was a holiday last weekend, hence 1 day late in getting our garbage picked up.

Ti Cats Win

Wow, what a game and what a night!!

Last night I had a great time along with over 24,000 fans with cheering on the Cats to their first win of the year!!

After Jesse Lumsden scored a touchdown I went to congratulate his Dad Neil, who is an old and dear friend, but he was live on the air so I never really did get to say hello, we just used sign language!

And also a Happy birthday also to Jesse, Happy 25th!, you got a long career with the Cats ahead of you!

It was a very enjoyable night, I was wandering all over the stadium, up with Bob Young in his box for awhile, down on the second floor for awhile, talked to the press, and spent some time with Ellison Kelly former Ti Cat great, and father of childhood friend Jerry, and also had a few long talks with Ti-Cat great Angela Mosca in the Hall of Fame club.

I also ran into John Dolbec from the Chamber who brought out his son to enjoy the game, and also Terry Anderson and his wife, Terry is the former alderman for Ward 7 and currently running for the Conservatives in the upcoming Federal Election.

Down on the field all the front office staff was in good spirits, and I almost got taken out by a tackle on the sidelines!!!A laptop suffered the brunt of it :(

Down in the west end zones I spent some time in the tents, a great spot by the way and some are still available for rent!Ran into some friends old and new, some neighbours also, and even my mother and father in law, and other members of the family!I even got my picture taken with the Grey Cup, last time I touched it, I was helping to polish it!

Funds raised during Canada Day in Allison Park

This year we raised $ 754.00 during our annual Canada Day event.

This was through the sale of hot dogs,pop and t-shirts.

All goods sold at our event where donated by Mr.Ecklund.

www.allisonpark.org

We made the news again

Well we made the front page again folks, here is a picture that appeared in the Hamilton Mountain news this week

http://www.hamiltonmountainnews.com/hmn/news/news_827776.html

Here is also a second picture that was inside the paper

http://www.hamiltonmountainnews.com/hmn/news/news_827944.html

Snap Hamilton covers Allison Park

Snap Hamilton a long time supporter of my events held in Allison Park, was a HUGE supporter of the first ever " Yard Sale for the Cure" yard sale event to raise money in aid of Breast cancer research.

Company President/CEO Mr. Kevin Foster deserves a big thank-you from all of us to make our first ever Yard Sale a successful event. As a person who is involved and covered extensively by the media, I can tell you that it is a rare event that a reporter/owner will get involved as much in a project that Kevin Foster has.

Kevin and I had several meetings about the event before hand to work out the details. Thanks again Kevin for all your hard work!

I met with Kevin today and he handed me a few papers. If anyone would like one please let me know. Locally you can also pick them up at Fortinos on Rymal and Upper James.

Here are some web links that you can go to to see the issues on-line.

They may take awhile to load as there are a lot of pictures.
http://www.snaphamiltonmountain.com/display/11777/169/

Article reprinted from Hamilton Mountain News

Plenty to celebrate at Allison Park on Canada Day
Kevin Werner, Mountain

(Jun 29, 2007)
For about seven years the Allison Park community has waited in anticipation for their annual Canada Day celebrations in what has become a high point of the year for the community.
But this year's Canada Day festivities could be the last one held in their newly restored community park.
"I will leave it up to the community," said resident Chris Ecklund, who has organized and paid for the Canada Day activities, along with upgrading the park. "I don't know if it will be the last one. People believe it may be and there is the expectation the crowds will be huge this year."
Mr. Ecklund, a local business owner, moved to the Allison Park area, located at the corner of Upper Wellington and Rymal Road in 1999. He surveyed the neighbourhood and asked if he was going to simply fade in the background and live quietly in the community or get involved and continue his philanthropic work.
His dilemma didn't last long.
Soon after he spearheaded a drive to redevelop Allison Park. This week the city will take ownership of the newly installed splash pad that has been in the planning stages for a few years.
www.hamiltonmountainnews.com
Mr. Ecklund has also sponsored annual Halloween and Christmas events in the 300-home community; organized a golf tournament and treated his neighbours to Canada's Wonderland. This year he is concentrating only on the Canada Day celebrations - but without the fireworks.
He will spend about $10,000 on this year's Canada Day event.
"A few years ago we stopped counting at $100,000," he said. "It's about the community. It's about the kids. To see a smile on a child's face is thanks enough."
Even without the fireworks, the festivities, which begin at noon and continue to 4 p.m. will include five inflatable jungle gyms, clowns, balloon twisters, face painters, hula hoops, a barbecue ready to grill about 500 hot dogs to feed the estimated 300 people expected to turn out. A Canada Day cake will be cut, not only celebrating Canada's 140th birthday but also the opening of the splash pad.
The city will also be on site with a fire truck, emergency service personnel, and the Hamilton Police Service bug.
Even though Mr. Ecklund is talking about pulling the plug on the event, he has spoken to city staff about adding to the park. He is encouraging the city to construct an entrance at the intersection of Upper Wellington and Rymal Road that identifies Allison Park. As well, residents have talked about building a hockey rink for the community's use at the park.
Mr. Ecklund is reluctant to talk about the reason for contemplating ending the annual tradition, saying only over the last few months some people have become disruptive within the community.
"It's disheartening when you have a bad apple spreading their lies," he said. "It affects community, and provokes fear."
Mr. Ecklund has contacted the Hamilton Police Service about a number of incidents that have occurred.
Meanwhile, the event is free to anyone in the city to have a piece of cake and soak up some community spirit, he said.
"This is a huge, huge day for us as a community," said Mr. Ecklund. "This completes the master plan that was started seven years ago.
"I love the neighbourhood," he added. "I'm very proud of what has been accomplished." For more information about the July 1 event, log on to www.allisonpark.org.

Allison Park makes the front page

We made the front page of this weeks Hamilton Mountain News, many thanks to Kevin Werner and the paper for covering this event and many over the years.

The link to the story can be found here:http://www.hamiltonmountainnews.com/hmn/news/news_824574.html

Ceremonial Cake Cutting in Allison Park

Here is a picture of myself and Councillor Scott Duvall cutting the ceremonial cake for our splashpad, and with all the people asking who made the cakes, they where very impressed with them.

The cakes are made by a friend, she has a link to her business on our links page, Cakes by Denise, she has been doing our cakes for many years now at the park.

ALL the cake was eaten, heck I did not even get a piece!!

More pictures will be up soon, now I have to get off to the park and start to clean up all the mess from yesterday!

http://www.allisonpark.org/

Our Splashpad is now open

Canada Day celebrations in Allison park where highlighted by the grand opening of our new splashpad today.

Here is a picture of Chris Ecklund and Scott Duvall performing the ribbon cutting.
It was a great day for everyone, and a big sigh of relief could be heard by myself when the water was successfully turned on by my daughter Erika.

Special thanks to everyone for there extra hard work in getting the pad completed for my annual event.

Last Minute Preparations in Allison park

Well, we are under 24 hours to go till our annual Canada day celebrations, flags where put up on the fence line coming into our neighbourhood, I bought over 300 hotdogs, the most ever purchased, hopefully that is enough for tommorow!

Chris from parks from the City came out to double check everything, and we got the fingers up, lets just cross our fingers and pray everything comes together for tommorows launch of our new splashpad.

Par-t-Perfect came by to do a site inspection and go over where everything will go, they will have a lot of staff and games and rides for the kids to play on.

http://www.allisonpark.org

New Picnic Tables For Allison Park

Here is a picture of the new tables that I purchased for the park, they are brand new and made of cedar!!!

Now there will be more room for everyone to rest their aching bones!

No more swamp in Allison Park

A week ago some neighbours asked me if there was anything that could be done to get rid of the swamp area behind their houses backing onto the park.

Here is a picture of what was done, the area was re-graded to allow the water to run into the storm sewer at the end of the park.

Seeding will be done as soon as it is completed!!

Many thanks to Best Boys Contracting services for doing such an excellent job!!!

http://www.allisonpark.org/

More Updates in Allison Park

Wow, crews are working around the clock getting ready for our big Canada day celebration, the park has been busy,busy,busy lately, Best Boys are in today taking care of some repairs.

The above pile of woodchips was ordered to level off our low spots in the playground areas.

Until we get a good rain there may be some dust on the little ones shoes and clothes.

Many thanks to Best Boys Contracting services for conducting the work in such a fast time.

Hamilton Fire Department Confirms for Canada Day

Once again the Hamilton Fire Department has confirmed that they will be able to attend our Canada Day event this year in Allison Park.

The children always enjoy this, heck the parents do also!!

Bring out your children and let them sit behind the wheel of the fire truck, make sure you bring your camera!!

The fire department also usually has some some fire brochures to hand out also, if you have any questions about fire safety, smoke alarms, etc..., this would be a good time to ask them, we have them for a few hours!!

Many thanks to the Hamilton Fire Department for coming out, to see pictures of them at past events, click on the Canada day link on our website, and look at the 2005,2006 pictures.

http://www.allisonpark.org

The Splashpad is ours

What an exciting day and time for residents of Allison Park!

Yesterday officials from the City along with contractors showed up for the official testing and handing over of the keys for our splashpad.

From left to right is Chris from the City,( what a great name, and a great guy! ) Dwayne from Ciciarelli ( they did a great job! ) and Eric from the City, ( Eric I look forward to working with you in the future! )

The pad was fine-tuned and tested, air bled from the system, and water pressures adjusted.

The pad is almost 100% and will be ready to go for our Grand Opening on Canada Day.

My events this year will run from 12 Noon till 4 p.m.

There will be a lot to see and do, it will be the biggest event I have hosted in the park since its inception back in 1999.

It will also be the most expensive( my accountants are cringing....)

So make plans for this day and we hope to see you there!!!

Official turnover of our new splashpad

Today we officially made one huge step forward to ownership of our new splashpad, with our contractor turning over ownership to us.

Things are now almost complete and ready for our grand opening of our splashpad on Canada Day July 1, 2007.

Canada Day will be huge wait till you see what I have planned!!!!

Sidewalk Inspections in Allison Park

Over the years you may have noticed work crews fixing sections of our sidewalks that where defective.

I have had inspectors in the past come out and inspect the deficiencies and then submit their reports to have same fixed.

Over the last few days you may have noticed people walking around inspecting them also.

As a taxpayer I can speak to the fact that it is extremely important that we get value for our dollar, and that while our infrastructure is under warranty, we take full advantage of this, so we do not burden the taxpayer down the road with unnecessary contracting out of repair work.

If you notice a deficiency in the sidewalks or road, please let me know of this, as our warranty period is coming to a close.

Festival and Events Hamilton

Just to let you know that I joined Festival and Events Hamilton last year, and our logo of same is now on our front page of our website.

The membership fee I have paid for and donated by myself on behalf of the community.

The organization is a great resource tool for myself, as members can share ideas/concerns, and attend workshops and learn more about running events, etc...

And speaking of events, just wait till Canada Day!!!!

http://www.allisonpark.org

YMCA Groundbreaking Ceremonies

The crowd gathers awaiting the dedication and ceremonial tree planting for the new YMCA complex.

Many people have asked me about this over the years, I will get more information on-line under a seperate section soon.

Allison Park Residents want Hockey in Hamilton

Wow, what an emotional and draining last 48 hours!

And many City councilors, and media would agree with me!

Well, I did my part and put down 5 K for a corporate box.

I have been known in the past to reward those that volunteer during my events in the park, in the past week alone past volunteers where awarded with free tickets to my box at Copps to watch the Calder Cup Final, and last year also in Bob Youngs 2 boxes at Ivor Wynne!

So, if you ever needed a reason to volunteer, there you go!

Now get out and buy a ticket to our new hockey team!!!

Further Park Updates at Allison Park

Yesterday I had a further meeting in the park with a department head and our councilor Scott Duvall, and we went over a list of items of park problems, and improvements.

1. I ordered 3 new picnic tables for the park.

2. More wood chips for the swing sets and playground equipment.

3. Properly grading the exterior of the park, bordering the sidewalk and the grass area around the park.

4. Correcting the grading of the park, where the " swamp" is, this will be dug out and the proper grade re-installed.

This work will be done throughout the year.

http://www.allisonpark.org

Sod Repairs in Allison Park

Today I visited with our contractor in our park, where repairs where made to various areas of the grass. These repairs will continue throughout the week, with new sod and topsoil added.

http://www.allisonpark.org

Canada Day Activities

On Canada day we will be celebrating the grand opening of our new splashpad along with our usual activities, so please make sure you schedule this day in for a fun filled day!

More Park Updates at Allison Park

Last week during our Breast Cancer Yard Sale, a neighbour asked me what could be done about the " swamp" in our park.

An hour later ( sorry it took so long )I had a City Staffer come look at the problem, and we went to the neighbour and talked about some solutions to the problem.

Today I met and had lunch with two City staffers and I was told that there is a solution to the problem, and funding has been approved.

Many thanks to the City for being so responsive on this matter!

What we will do is to " Naturalize" the area, with some earth, wood chips, and small shrubs. All the wood chips should absorb the excess water, and the area will look nicer with the shrubs.

The absorption of the standing water will eliminate mosquito larvae and lower the nesting areas and hence west nile threat.

After looking over our schedules, a good time would be during our Halloween pumpkin carving contest to be held in October.

As details come available I will let you know, those living backing onto the park, it would be appreciated if you help out.

http://www.allisonpark.org

Yard Sale for the cure

Just to let you know we raised a grand total of $ 800.00 in our yard sale last weekend. This money will be turned over to " Yard Sale For The Cure" which will then make a donation on our behalf to the Juravinski Cancer Clinic on Concession Street here in Hamilton.

As a first time event this was a great start, many thanks for all those whom participated in this great cause.

http://www.allisonpark.org

Allison Park Receives Award from the City of Hamilton

It was a great honour to receive a plaque from the City of Hamilton during our Yard Sale for the Cure event for our efforts in support of Recreation and Parks month this year.

Yard Sale a Great Success

Wow, what a day, and a long day at that!

I woke up at an incredibly early time of the day for me, and woke to sounds of diesel trucks driving by the house, I recognized the sound of the engines as a Hino diesel, so I thought jeez, dont tell me that 1-800-GOT-JUNK is already in the neighbourhood?

Sure enough, there was Tony and his crew with 2 trucks roaming the neighbourhood looking for people whom needed help in hauling their goods to the park.

I cant thank Tony enough for all his help, his staff where incredible, they also bought a booth and sold their goods, and also made the largest donation of monies raised!

We had 14 vendors in total and hundreds of people showed up and brought their money with them.

In total we raised over $ 700.00 for breast cancer research.

It was a great first time event for us, and is a foundation for us to build on.

Thank-you to everyone whom came out, I will be posting a full-report with pictures on a new section on our website along with pictures this week.

Allison Park Yard Sale Signs Go Up

These signs where donated by our sponsor Mr.Chris Ecklund

Splash Pad Construction Continues in Allison Park

Here are some pictures that I took yesterday, the underground wiring has been fed through, and will hook up with the City services which are conveniently buried underground from the park. Chris the Electrician is also hooking up the Electrical panel that will feed the splashpad.

Further work will be the completion of the pad itself, which will take place within the next few weeks.

All will be completed and pad will be opened by our Canada day Long Weekend festivities.

Want to visit the best neighbourhood in Hamilton?

Come on over to Allison Park, we are located just south of the intersection at Upper Wellington and Rymal Road East.

Our website is http://www.allisonpark.org

Rachael Smith and Chris Ecklund

Here we are after the interview on K-Lite FM, it was a priviledge and honour to meet Rachael Smith the founder of " Yard Sale for the Cure" whom came in from Toronto that morning to be on the Sunni and Hayes morning drive radio show.

We had a 4 minute time frame to get the message out about the event, my thanks go out to K-Lite FM for allowing us the air time, and also in being such a huge and great Corporate sponsor of this event, and also all my other events that I host in the City.

We look forward to also seeing the K-Lite FM Community crusier at the event , which is being held in Allison Park Saturday May 26, 2007 from 8 a.m., till 12 noon.

For further details or to sign up send an e-mail to our webmaster, or call 905-517-9940

The Allison Park web site is located at http://www.allisonpark.org

Sunni and Hays Interview on K-Lite FM

Tommorow morning on the Sunni & Hays I will be interviewed about the upcoming " Yard Sale for the cure " event that I am holding in our park on Saturday May 26 2006 from 8 a.m. till 12 Noon.

Please listen in they are at 102.9 on the FM dial.

The show will have Rachael Smith whom founded the event.

K-Lite has signed aboard as a corporate sponsor of this event, and I thank them for their support.

More info can be found at Allison Park supports Breast Cancer Research

Tulips Have Sprung in Allison Park

The tulips have sprung!!!

Last year you will recall that our local children planted the tulips that where donated by Sherri Duvall wife of councilor Duvall of ward 7 on behalf of Avon Canada's breast cancer awareness drive.

The children planted 250 of them around our trees, and it is great to see that they have come up!

Dont forget our " Yard Sale for the Cure" event this May 26 in our park, if you want to support Breast Cancer research and have some stuff you want to get rid of, sign up today for a spot.

1-800-GOT JUNK will even be donating 3 trucks to help get the stuff to the park for you.

Visit our website for more details, send us an e-mail if you want to sign up.

Allison Park

Allison Park Update

This week I met with a City Staff Person in charge of the parks, and we went over where our park stands in relation to maintenance issues, outstanding problems and our splash pad.

Items that where discussed were the addition of more chips to the playground, sinking benches, a missing picnic table, uneven grass areas, and fixing the perimeter of the park that was not completed by the developer.

I also had that " hidden" spike removed from the grass area that a resident told me about. I personally removed the other two posts last week myself.

Over the next month you may see City Staff in the park fixing these items.

Our splash pad has still not been completed and turned over to the City, there might not be enough time to complete it in time for our planned opening on May 26th, details will follow as they become available.

In the City of Hamilton there are neighbourhoods and there is ours, come by and see what makes us so special, visit us at The best neighbourhood in Hamilton, Ontario Canada.

Globespan Airlines Launches in Hamilton

Today was a great day for Hamiltonians with the launch of Globespan Airlines out of Hamilton International Airport.

The airline is flying 757-200ER Boeings pictured here outfitted with Rolls-Royce engines at 43,000lbs of thrust per side.

As a pilot and long time supporter of Hamilton Airport, this airline should have a long successful run here in Hamilton.

Today I talked to 6 people who already booked flights on them!

Welcome to Hamilton!

Aliison Park Residents love to fly out of Hamilton Airport, that us waving to you when you are on short final for 24!

Visit the greatest little neighbourhood in Hamilton at ALLISON PARK RESIDENTS LOVE TO FLY OUT OF HAMILTON AIRPORT

HSR Bus Service Coming to Allison Park

Well sort of... Starting next year there will be bus service on Rymal Road east and west. This is long overdue and a great addition to the Hamilton Mountain and our residents here.

It is a long time coming, but with the expansion of the City slowly heading south, it is becoming a needed service.

I can remember back in the day when the HSR had the small mini buss's, that held 30 people and ran on Mohawk Road, every 30 minutes on the weekends, remember those days?

Councelor Scott Duvall told me of this the other day, I would think a great route would be from Duffs Corners to Elfrida, which would open a lot of areas to those looking to shop and travel. More to follow when it becomes available.

How do I get to Allison Park from Ancaster? CLICK HERE

2007 Hamilton City Budget Has been Approved

Well folks great news the budget has been finalized and passed!! ( cue the fireworks...)

What does this mean for us, residents of Allison Park?

Well for one, it means that our sunshelter, paths, and extra trees will be installed now.

Many of you approached me concerned about the media reporting on this, but not to worry, as it has now passed!!!

Come visit the best neighbourhood in Hamilton at ALLISON PARK ROCKS WITH THE BUDGET BEING PASSED!!!!

Operation Clean Sweep

On Saturday April 21st as part of Operation Clean Sweep, Councillor's Duvall and Whitehead pictured here with myself took part in our 1st annual clean up of Upper James Street from the Linc to Rymal Road.

Approx 30-50 people came out and even the children came out and pitched in and filled many garbage bags.

I was very happy to be a sponsor and to help organize this event, many thanks to those that participated and also many thanks to the other sponsors, Tim Hortons, and the Courtyard Marriott Hotel.

Special thanks also to assistants Kim and Monique who pulled this thing together, family and friends and a BIG thank-you to the volunteers!

Yard Sale for the Cure

Today I had a meeting with the owner of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?., Mr.Tony Cipola, and also with Mr. Kevin Foster owner of Snap Media, you all know Kevin he comes out to all our events.

The biggest challenge with any garage/yard sale is how do we get our stuff there, and in the past, you remember years ago when we had our yard sale in the park, this was the same problem, people had difficulty in getting their stuff to the park.

This problem has now been solved, with the incredible donation of 3 moving trucks and 6 employees to help you move your stuff to the park!

The yard sale is Saturday May 26th from 8 a.m. to 12 Noon, in Allison Park.

We are taking bookings for 25 pickups starting at 6 .a.m on that day.

All items will need to be placed in your driveway or garage for pickup with vehicles out of the way. The trucks will then pick the stuff up and deliver it to your spot which will be assigned to you in the park.

These 25 spots will go fast, if they do we might be able to add another 25 pick ups to a grand total of 50.

This is a very generous donation on behalf of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, and I thank them for that.

To pre-book a spot and pick-up, send us an e-mail to our webmaster with your contact details.

Dont wait to long, as these spots will fill up fast!

Spots in the park costs $ 25.00, and you can donate whatever you want from the proceeds of your sales.

Come support this great cause, lets try to raise as much money as we can to battle Breast Cancer.

Operation Clean Sweep

This coming Saturday April 21 2007 at 1pm to 330 pm., there will be a sweep off to collect garbage on Upper James Street. We will be cleaning from the Linc to Rymal, and this is a challenge between Councillor's Duvall and Whitehead.

Form up will be at the Courtyard Marriott on Upper James at 1 p.m.

I will be providing Hot Dogs and drinks, and the first 200 people will get a Tim Hortons Gift Certificate from me!

Come on out and lets get Upper James Street Cleaned up!!

http://www.allisonpark.org

Chris Ecklund's Tim Horton Coupon Donation for our troops in Afghanistan

It was my honour yesterday to present to Hamilton MP Chris Charlton 2,400 Tim Horton Coupons for our troops in Afghanistan, each member of our military will have a coffee on me.

Being half way around the world, bringing this little bit of Canadiana to them hopefully makes them feel better and appreciated.

As a former member of our military I can tell you that many of us suffered and still suffer from wounds inflicted in active and inactive duties locally and abroad, it is to often especially here in Canada where we do not pay respect to those that have served and those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

I want to personally thank each and everyone of our men and women serving our Country in conflicts around the world and especially in Afghanistan, your service to your Country will not be forgotten.

Allison Park Easter Egg hunt a huge success

Once again our annual Easter Egg hunt was a huge success, despite temperatures of -15, and snow, approx. 200 children and parents and attending dignataries had a great time, with the little ones scooping up approx 20,000 chocolate eggs!

A huge thankyou to Cadbury whom not only gives me a huge discount on the purchase of the chocolates, but they also donated a large part of the chocolates also. Also this year they donated gum, wine gums and little bunnies, that quack like little chicks!! Many thanks to Dianne, Anna, and Lucy whom live in the neighbourhood and also work at Cadbury, thanks ladies without you the event would not be possible.

Many thanks also to the volunteers whom help me put this event on, yesterday we had people come out to help clean up the park, my neighbours Tony and Bob, thanks guys, you are always there for me, Lillian and family and friends, thanks for delivering flyers and all your help today.

A special thankyou also to Kathleen, and daughters Jessica and Kiersten, whom now live elsewhere but still come back and volunteer, thanks girls you are the best!

New this year I hired Special Event Rentals to supply a tent,tables and chairs because it was so cold, I bought 2 propane heaters to take the chill off, and thanks to Joanelle and staff of par-t-perfect, whom brought out the face painters, balloon twisters, inflatible jumper, and the guest of honour the Easter Bunny !!!!

Speaking of Guests of Honour, many thanks for Councilor Whitehead of ward 8, who's family came out, Councilor Scott Duvall and wife of ward 7, former councilor of Ward 7 Terry Anderson and family, and MP Chris Charlton. Many thanks for coming out!

Thank you also to 820 Cham for sending their mascot out, the little ones enjoyed him a lot.

A special thankyou to all the parents whom brought out their little ones and braved the cold temperatures, by the look of all the smiles on their faces everyone had a great time!

Want to visit the best little community in Hamilton?., then come on over to Allison Park Easter Egg Hunt was great!

Happy Easter Allison Park Residents

Ryckman School is now down

Ryckman school is now down and the crews are busy cleaning up the debris. I have also asked Councelor Duval for an updated plan for the new subdivision being planned.

Easter Egg Tree spotted in Allison Park

Yes folks it is true, in Allison park we have special trees that grow Easter eggs!!!!

I have been thinking lately on having a decorating contest for Easter, just like we have for Halloween and Christmas, maybe this is a good start!

Its to late for this year, but watch for an announcement on this for next year.

Till then Easter eggs can be found at Allison park where even our trees grow eggs!!

Tulips coming up in Allison Park

I sure sign of spring and things to come, the tulips that where donated by Avon and Councelor Scott Duvall's wife last year and planted by our neighbourhood children are starting to peek through the woodchips!

These are pink tulips and where donated by Avon in their battle and awareness campaign in the fight against Breast Cancer.

Good Friday Clean Up in Allison Park

This friday at 12 Noon we will have our usual pre-easter egg hunt clean-up in the park.

Please come on out, bring the kids, you will need gloves, old pair of shoes/boots, garbage bag, small shovel, and warm clothes!

This needs to be done, so our little ones are not picking up any " doggy" surprises the following day.

What makes Allison Park the best neighbourhood in Hamilton you say?

Come visit our website at Allison Park cleans up after itself this Good Friday!

More eggs have arrived in Allison Park

Another 10,000 eggs have arrived this week!

The Easter Bunny just made a drop off of another shipment of yummy easter eggs:)

Easter this year in Allison park will be a very yummy affair!

Spread the word, bring out anyone you would like, call your friends, invite them out also!

Want to visit the most chocolaty neighbourhood in Hamilton?

Come visit us at Easter is best in Allison Park

Tulips are coming up in Allison Park

Thats right folks, the pink tulips that the neighbourhood kids planted last year are coming up!!

That is a sure sign of spring isn't it?

If you remember last year Councilor Duval and his wife came to our Halloween celebration, and Sherry Duval on behalf of Avon Canada donated 250 pink tulip bulbs on behalf of their breast cancer research fundraising and awareness campaign.

Pictures to follow once they are in bloom!!

The parks new sod has also took root very well, and all the squishy sections seem to be a lot better now.

Lets hope we do not get to much rain in the next week!

Tornado in Hamilton,Ontario over Allison Park

Did anyone else see the tornado trying to form tonight?

With the crazy swing in temperatures today I was waiting for this.

Environment Canada issued a warning a few hours beforehand, and sure enough there was one trying to form right near us!

It never amounted to anything luckily :)

Chocolate Eggs are arriving at Allison Park

The eggs they are a coming!

This year should be the biggest Easter Egg Hunt we have ever seen, therefore we will need more eggs than ever!

Where the heck do all the eggs come from you wonder?

Well the Easter Bunny of Course!

Actually we owe a great deal of thanks to a few ladies in the neighbourhood, my neighbour Lucy, and Dianne whom lives across from the park, and I believe its her Aunt Grace also. They work with 1 of our suppliers, that being Trebor Allen, which is now part of Cadbury.

For the last several years they have donated and have also sold me eggs at a GREATLY discounted price. To this we all thank them for their very generous corporate support.

Thankyou also to the 3 ladies mentioned above, I hope to get their full names and maybe a picture of them so we can post it on our website shortly.

Par-T-Perfect

Yesterday I had a long 2 hour lunch with Joanelle Murray the Owner of Par-t-perfect, if you came out to my Halloween or Christmas events you will know who I am talking about, they brought out the inflatible jumpers and ran all the games.

Joanelle and I talked over what we will be doing for Easter, and spent a lot of time talking about our upcoming " yard sale for the Cure" yard sale event for Breast Cancer Research.

Based on the feedback from all of you I take it that you liked what she and her employees did for our last 2 events, expensive you say? yes, but based on the smiles on the kids faces, I dont mind spending the money.

Easter will be a first time event for them, so come on out, Easter this year will be the best one yet!

Spring has Sprung in Allison Park

So I am outside today picking up the mail, and walking back to the house I hear a bird chirping away, a familiar sound yes, but this bird sounded different I was thinking.... could it be I thought...? That sures sounds like a ROBIN :)

So there He/She was, across the street on the highest peak of my neighbours house, loudly chirping away, announcing to everyone, ..." I am here and so is spring, so lets get rid of all that snow so I can munch away on worms and get nice and fat...!!!"

Ahhh such a sign is welcome after a cold winter, but how the heck did he know that it was the 1st day of spring?

Want to to visit the best community in Hamilton?

Come on over to Allison Parks Website at Robins Like Allison Park Neighbourhood the Best!

Festivals and Events Hamilton

About a month ago or so I became a member of Festivals and Events Hamilton, an organization known to most of you that helps groups like ours plan organize and generally help out to make their event better.

Now that we are getting our sun shelter we will be having a lot more planned and unplanned activities than ever before.

Currently we have 2 church groups using the park, along with our planned activities not to mention the daily goings-on by all the residents of the area.

With the sunshelter these activities will probably increase substantially.

When the guide is published you will get one in the mail.

I am very excited about joining this group :)

Since our park is used and visited more than probably most parks in the City and with the GREAT news about the sunshelter, we will be able to host more events than what we have before.

Can you say " SOUPIE"?

Yup, once the sunshelter is built we will qualify for a SOUPIE!!!!

Finally after all these years our kids will have some organized activities to do in the summer months!!!!

Easter Goodies

Just a short note to let you know that I have started to buy Easter Goodies for the kids, today I purchased 25 Easter Bunny Headbands.

I will contunue to amass more as time goes on :)

Yard Sale for the Cure

Today I was contacted by Mr. Kevin Foster President and owner of Snap Hamilton, you may remember Kevin coming out to our Halloween event, he is the owner of this new magazine, and one that I truly like to read.

Kevin and I had a long talk about " Yard Sale for the Cure" which was started by a friend of his in Toronto who is fighting Breast cancer and started a yard sale to raise money to beat the battle against Breast Cancer.

I did not need much time to decide if I wanted to support this idea or not, I made up my mind in about 5 seconds.

I will post the website below, but here is the concept.

I will host this event in our park on the national day for this event, that being May 26 2007.

In order to make it a BIG EVENT ( come on folks you should know by now I never do anything small) I am going to bring in Par-t-perfect and have games,
face painters ( for this event I was thinking that the face painters can paint small pink ribbons on the childrens cheeks) baloon twisters, and inflatible rides.

We will also have a bbq, I am going to meet with a National Restaurant next week to see if they are interested.

Spots will be rented for you to set up and sell your goods, in return for a donation that we can then donate. Kevin has indicated that the cancer clinic on concession will soon be named as the primary choice.

I will also rent a moving truck to assist anyone with large objects that they want moved to the park. ( ..any big strong guys with pickups or who want to help would also be appreciated)

We can easily get 100 vendors into our park and if we charge 25 bucks per spot, thats $ 2,500.00 right there. Throw in our usual bbq and draws and that should raise another $ 1,000.00.

With nearly 300 houses in the new area and more in the old, we should be able to easily sell out our spaces.

Advertising for this is already under way, K-Lite FM is already aboard with the founder of the event Mrs. Rachael Smith expected to be interviewed shortly on air.

To learn more about the event please visit their website at Yard Sale For The Cure

To visit the best little community in Hamilton visit us at Allison Park

Racist Words viewable inside Ryckman School

Now that the school is being torn down you can see Racist words painted inside the school on its interior walls.

Not only are they very hurtful, they have no place in our society.

I have asked Councilor Duval to look into this matter, I hope we can get them painted over until the building is entirely demolished.

Ryckman School is Coming Down

Well unless you have not been outside lately, you may have noticed that the old Ryckman school is now being torn down.

Spring has Sprung in Allison Park

Wow, have you seen the forecast for this week!!!

We are supposed to hit 50 degrees in a couple of days:)

There will be major flooding for sure, my bets are the entrance to the Cemetary on Rymal, and Upper Wellington and Dicenzo( as usual..)

The birds are out looking for food, and daylight savings time even came early this year:)

You didnt forget did you...

Funding Approved for Sun Shelter in Allison Park

Great news everyone!

I just got a phone call from Councilor Scott Duvall and he informed me that the funding has been approved for our Sun Shelter in Allison Park!!

This will now give us a place to hold our events under a roof!

We can also now go ahead with plans for a " Soupie", and use the shelter as a central gathering place for all our events.

The funding package is $ 230,000.00, and will consist of 2 paths into our park, the shelter, tables, and more shade trees.

This is great news, I cant wait till its built!

The schedule for completion is late this year.

Want to visit the best little community in Hamilton?

See us at The best community in Hamilton!

Allison Park Christmas House Decorating Contest

I just wanted to take this moment to thank everybody whom participated in my annual Christmas light decorating contest, each year it gets bigger and bigger, and also harder to judge.

This year we had some new first time winners.

Jacqueline Blvd has layed down the challenge, with a 100% sweep of all 5 prizes this year. Statiscally it is easier being the longest street and all.

But, the street with almost 100% participation was Sedona Court, I think every house had some sort of display, well done Sedona!

The judges had a very hard time picking this year, and actually we split it up to about 7 people this year.

After the results where in the judges where almost unanimous in the results. One judge said they did 20 laps in their car circling the neighbourhood!

Many visitors also commented on the displays and how our neighbourhood " rocks".

I was just thinking the other day on how far we have come with this contest, when I started it, we looked like just any other neighbourhood, now people are really getting into it, and our neighbourhood is starting to look like we will get noticed on TV soon!

I even got into it this year, ( maybe to much..?) I bought 4 of those inflatible things from Canadian Tire, and went to town on them. ( I disqualified myself:(.....)
They where nice to look at, but they are not built for our tough Canadian Climate or our winter winds!

To see pictures or visit our website please see our website at The best little neighbourhood in Hamilton

Christmas Pictures and Contest Winners

In the coming weeks the pictures from our last Christmas party will be posted, along with the winners of my annual house decorating contest.

The Christmas party was an incredible success, I never counted the people, but we had a minimum of 200 out.

The staff of Par-t-perfect was excellent once again, they dressed up as elves, manned the chuggy choo-choo ride, painted faces, ran the games, a great time for everyone.

The children especially enjoyed the reindeer stuffing, which was a new thing this year.

Actually everything was new this year, I hired the same company that I had for my Halloween event, and once again they did a splendid job.

The Ladies auxillary of the Legion 163 cooked 200 hot dogs, denise from DC Cakes made a great cake again, and Kathleen's girls Kiersten and Jessica pitched in along with Holly and a few other neighbourhood kids, sorry but I dont know your names! But thanks for all your hard work!

Without the volunteers these events could not happen!

I also want to thank the parents who brought in food and deserts, my wife told me somebody brought in a few large pizzas also, along with the great recipes, the pot luck was an enormous hit!

Thanks again to all the parents whom brought in food, I was so busy I did not have a chance to thank everyone personally, but trust me it does not go unnoticed!

This event was the biggest Childrens Christmas party yet and the second one I have done. Two years back to back and both a great success, so that means next year we will do it again!

It was a hit and miss with the date so close to Christmas Dec 23rd if you remember, but based on the turnout, that date must not have conflicted with many schedules. So, maybe in the future we will have it on a close date again to Christmas.

Oh, Santa did show up, and handed out presents to all the children.

If you did not see the pictures yet, we have the girls wrapping the presents, see our website at

Allison Park

Well thats all for now.

Our New Blog

Greetings everybody!

This is our new blog, a very quick and easy way to update everybody on neighbourhood activities and happenings in our great community!

Welcome to our first entry

Welcome to the first entry for the Allison Park community blog! Please visit often as we update with community news and other fun stuff!

The Allison Park Web Team