A little coffee to get us going and with the promise of pizza when we finished, 30 volunteers headed out from Town Hall on a sunny Saturday May morning. Armed with rakes, gloves and lots of enthusiasm, they raked, trimmed, and swept away the last of winter!
Here is the crew, minus a few shy fire fighters! (yes, that confused me a bit as well). Thank you to our photographer!
Weather forecast has improved for Saturday. It should be clear and cool – perfect for a little raking and bagging! Please give us a hand on Saturday morning and help clean up the village in time for the Victoria Day Weekend. See you at Town Hall at 09:30 on Saturday!
reproduced from Paula McCooey, Ottawa Citizen,
“While Joel Kimmel may not be attending the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 19, the Ottawa-born illustrator’s connection to the soon-to-be royal couple will be forever etched in history.
The artist was commissioned by the Royal Canadian Mint to sketch the couple’s image for the commemorative coin that was launched Wednesday, 10 days before the much-anticipated wedding, which will be held at St. George’s Chapel inside the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Kimmel, 37, who lives in Westport, has sketched more than 25 images for the Mint. He spent the better part of the winter working on the special collector coin. As the snow fell, Kimmel began the creative process in his quintessentially Canadian backyard studio — once a canoe repair shop — and sketched the image inspired by the couple’s official engagement photo, using both pencil and paper and a digital drawing program on his tablet.
“I can mimic different styles of brushes, different media, so I can have a brush in Photoshop that looks like a paintbrush, that can act like a piece of chalk,” said Kimmel, who graduated from the Sheridan College illustration program.
The end result is a sparkling fine silver coin that features a depiction of the couple, edged with maple leaves intertwined with roses and escallop shells from Prince Harry’s coat of arms; as well as three Swarovski crystals to represent the couple’s three-stone engagement ring: a diamond sourced from Botswana and two side diamonds from the personal collection of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. The reverse side of the coin features an effigy of the Queen by artist Susanna Blunt.
Kimmel was pleased with the final engraving.
“It’s beautiful. I’m very impressed with it. The portraits of Harry and Meghan are fantastic, even Harry’s scruffy beard comes across well. There is a really nice finish on the coin and the crystals really sparkle. It’s exciting to see,” said Kimmel, who also designed the packaging.”
Well done, Joel. So proud of you!
Volunteers from the Westport Men’s Fastball team and Westport Minor ball have spent many hours last fall and again the past few weeks giving the ball diamond in Lockwood Park much needed maintenance. Stone dust has been spread in the infield, topsoil and grass seed spread in the low spots in the outfield. Next on the list is to replace a few lights. Thanks to all of the local companies who donated equipment and supplies and to all of the volunteers for rolling up their sleeves. The baseball diamond looks great.
I want to remind everyone that the baseball diamond may be used as an off-lead dog park from November 1 – April 30. The by-law prohibits dogs being off-lead from May 1 – October 31. Thank you for your cooperation.
If you have a few hours on Saturday, May 12 please help us get the Village cleaned up for the long week-end! Since 2015, volunteers have spent a couple of hours sweeping and raking in the Village. The morning starts at 9:30 with coffee and baked goods at Town Hall when you register. We finish with pizza at the Spring at noon. Please bring a rake, work gloves and wear a bright coloured shirt. We will supply the rest.
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