South Osborne Tree Banding Blitz – 27 Block Captains so far, but still need more!

Already, the South Osborne Tree Banding Blitz is promising to be a success. We have suppliers lined up, we are working with the Coalition to Save the Elms (also known as Trees Winnipeg), and we have 27 Block Captains or Co-Block Captains covering 57 blocks in the South Osborne area!!! We still have orphaned blocks that we need Block Captains for though, so if your street is listed here, or if you would like to volunteer to be a Block Captain for one of these streets, please e-mail raimey.gallant@rvlrclimatechange.com with your name, address and phone number, and we will get you everything you need. You can also check out the Facebook Event.

Free Bikes promotion more popular than expected

The South Osborne Bike Hub is busy getting adult bikes road-ready for the Free Bikes promotion. Together with SOBH, the Riverview and Lord Roberts CLER Program is giving away eight adult bicycles in total to area residents. We’ve already had overwhelming interest in the bikes, and we wish we had more to give away!

But wait! There is still a way to get a very reasonably-priced bicycle from the South Osborne Bike Hub! Just head down to the bike hub on Monday or Thursday evenings (except holidays) from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and ask about how you can pay $25 for a partially-built bicycle that the uber-talented volunteer mechanics will show you how to fix up yourself.

South Osborne Tree Banding Project

I have a dream for South Osborne this fall: to band every single tree.

Why? So that the beautiful trees that we have in South Osborne will be here for this and future generations.

Here are my top three reasons for wanting to see every tree banded this fall:

1. Cankerworms! Tree banding is an easy way to protect your trees from cankerworms infestations. Wouldn’t it be great if South Osborne was known as a cankerworm-free neighbourhood? The thing is that all trees need to be banded
2.  Lower Energy Costs!  Trees act as wind barriers in the winter and shade providers in the summer. “If you plant a tree today on the west side of your home, in 5 years your energy bills should be 3% less. In 15 years, the savings will be nearly 12%.” —Dr. E. Greg McPherson, Center for Urban Forest Research. 
3. Property Values! Healthy trees on your property and street add to the value of your home. Have you ever been on a street without trees? Not very inviting.

How can this dream come true? We need people to volunteer to be a tree-band captain for 2-3 blocks. We will give you an easy-to-follow guide on how to engage your neighbours, and we will also organize a tree-banding supply drop-off for your blocks, and we will give you our life-long admiration. You’ll get to experience connecting with your neighbours, making a difference in the community and a neighbourhood full of beautiful trees.

We are holding a Volunteer Recruitment Information and Questions Meeting at the Lord Roberts Community Centre on Wednesday, July 14 from 7 to 8 p.m. Please come with questions and enthusiasm!

Rainy-day eco-book, film and TV show list

Thank you so much to Jennefer for putting together a list of eco-themed books, movies/documentaries and TV shows that people may be interested in!

Books:

• Sleeping Naked is Green by Vanessa Farquharson
• The Wild Trees by Richard Preston
• Adventures In Solitude by Grant Lawrence
• David Suzuki’s Green Guide
• Building Green by Clark Snell & Tim Callahan
• No Logo by Naomi Klein
• The Next Eco-Warriors by Emily Hunter & Farley Mowat
• Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller by Jeff Rubin

Movies:

• Go Further
• Who Killed the Electric Car
• Wall-E
• An Inconvenient Truth
• Garbage Warrior
• King Corn

TV:

• Jamie Oliver’s Kitchen
• BBC’s Earth

New Facebook Group contest! For each friend you add, you are entered to win a $160 prize package

We’re gearing up for some really great events this fall, and we want to make sure your neighbours know about them too! So we’ve launched a quick and easy contest. All you have to do is add your Riverview and Lord Roberts friends, family and neighbours to the Riverview and Lord Roberts CLER Facebook Group. For every person you add to the group, you will receive 1 entry into our prize draw. Why is it easy? Facebook now tells us who added someone to the group, making your entries into the draw automatic.

Total Approx. Prize Value: $160!!!

• 1 rain barrel
• 2-class pass from Yoga Shala at 440 Don Ave.
• Parks Canada Forks National Historic Site gift pack including 1 pass to the 6,000 Years in 60 Minutes tour and 1 geocache pass, as well as a children’s backpack and 2 water bottles
• Refillable water bottle and frisbee from Assiniboine Credit Union
• Dynamo Front 3-LED Bike Light from Green Action Centre

Contest closes July 17, 2011, and in case you already added people recently, we’re backdating the contest opening date to May 18. The winner will be notified by Facebook message after July 17. Enter now by adding people to the group!

South Osborne Bike Hub a community labour of love

We recently interviewed South Osborne Bike Hub volunteers Jaret Olford and Marcia Geary for an article for The Sou’Wester, and we were very impressed with the dedication it takes to start and keep this community-led initiative going.

According to Olford, there are now 12 core volunteers, each taking turns staffing the SOBH Mondays and Thursdays, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (except holidays.)

SOBH is located in the Lord Roberts Community Centre field outbuilding, and anyone is welcome to stop by.

SOBH is grant and donation funded. In order to ensure the continuation of the bike hub, donations from owners of repaired bikes are welcome, as are donations of parts, bikes and tools.

SOBH is also seeking volunteers with or without mechanical experience. You can learn about bike maintenance from a more experienced bike mechanic while you volunteer for a great cause. Just e-mail sobikehub@gmail.com.

Why is the bike hub important? According to Olford, though it started to encourage active transportation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the hub also brings the community closer together. Geary adds that the bike hub goes a long way to teaching people about how to maintain a safe bicycle.

SOBH is open “until the snow hits,” according to Olford, adding that repair assistance is available by appointment in the winter.

Bike To Work Day Park Theatre Pit Stop hosted 72 cyclists!

Our volunteer bike mechanic Jaret Olford poses with cyclists at the Bike To Work Day Park Theatre Pit Stop

The Bike To Work Day Park Theatre Pit Stop on Friday, June 24, was a huge success! 72 cyclists visited our pit stop for free coffee and muffins courtesy of the Park Theatre Cafe and to enter the Riverview and Lord Roberts CLER prize draw.

We gave away a handful of Bike to Work Day t-shirts, a box full of Assiniboine Credit Union swag and free Winnipeg Cycling 2011 maps. Jaret Olford, a South Osborne Bike Hub mechanic was also on hand for quick adjustments.

Bike To Work Day 2011 had a record number of cyclists register across Winnipeg. 2,700 Winnipeggers took to the streets with pride, and the organizers are hoping for an even larger number of registrants on the 5th annual Bike To Work Day Winnipeg next year!

We’d again like to thank the contributors to the prize draw. We gave away:

• a Bike To Work Day t-shirt from Bike To Work Day Winnipeg
• 1 rain barrel from the Riverview and Lord Roberts CLER Program
• a $25 gift certificate from Banana Boat
• a 2-class pass from Yoga Shala at 440 Don Ave.
• a Parks Canada Forks National Historic Site gift pack including 1 pass to the 6,000 Years in 60 Minutes tour and 1 geocache pass, as well as a children’s backpack and 2 water bottles
• a blanket and laptop bag from Assiniboine Credit Union
• a $10 Park Theatre Cafe gift certificate and refillable coffee mug
• Dynamo Front 3-LED Bike Light from Green Action Centre

Riverview and Lord Roberts CLER Program Coordinator Kerri Twigg poses at the Park Theatre Pit Stop

Bike To Work Day around the corner

Nearly 2,000 Winnipeggers biked to work last year on Bike To Work Day. Let’s increase that number this year Winnipeg!

The Riverview and Lord Roberts CLER Program is co-hosting a pit stop at the Park Theatre. Stop by for free coffee, muffins, air for your tires and freebies from 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on Friday, June 24, and you will also be entered into a prize draw! Don’t forget to register here! The first 300 to register will get a free Bike To Work Day t-shirt.

See you at the Park Theatre Pit Stop at 698 Osborne St. on Friday, June 24!

Register at http://www.biketoworkdaywinnipeg.org

Who will win the 2011 Sustaina-Families Challenge?

Attention all Riverview and Lord Roberts families: We are currently seeking entries into the 2011 Sustaina-Families Challenge. The winning family will win a prize package valued at $300, which includes an adult bus pass, courtesy of Winnipeg Transit.

What it is: 5 families from the Riverview and Lord Roberts communities will be selected to participate in the challenge. The families will receive a home and lifestyle sustainability assessment, an action plan to become a more sustainable household and support and tools to implement the plan.

How to enter: e-mail kerri.twigg@rvlrclimatechange.com for an entry form. The deadline to enter is June 25, 2011. Of the 5 families selected, 1 will ultimately win the title of 2011 Top Sustaina-Family and will win the grand prize valued at $300. Good luck to all entrants! We look forward to hearing from you!

E-mail kerri.twigg@rvlrclimatechange.com for an entry form. Deadline: June 25, 2011

Fruit Share Winnipeg growing astronomically and all of Winnipeg knows it

According to a blog at fruitshare.ca, the once-little not-for-profit just signed up its 100th volunteer. They also now have more than 50 fruit owners signed up, so the volunteers will have plenty of fruit and rhubarb to harvest this year.

For those unfamiliar with the organization, Fruit Share rescues fruit from going to waste by recruiting volunteers to pick fruit where it otherwise won’t get picked. Perhaps a homeowner just has too much fruit growing on their property and would like to see it go to good use. One-third of the fruit picked goes to the homeowner, one-third to the volunteer and the remainder is donated to organizations such as Winnipeg Harvest.

Fruit Share and its founder Getty Stewart made the cover of the Metro on June 8, 2011, making the organization well on its way to becoming a household name. Congratulations Fruit Share!

To volunteer to pick fruit, register here. If you have fruit to register, sign up here.