Arts Centre Funding Announcement

After failing to appear at two scheduled media events last weekend and indefinitely postponing a Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Oakville set for next Friday, Lisa Raitt has finally surfaced - just in time to sign a Really Big Cheque for $14.9 million in front of Milton's lovely new Town Hall.

The cheque is for joint Federal and Provincial funding for the oft-delayed Milton Arts and Entertainments Centre and Library. It's also for the expansion of the Milton Sports Centre, which is where I get confused. Originally, the Town had asked for 7.5 million dollars from each of the Provincial and Federal governments for just the Arts Centre / Library. They were also going to be asking for $13 million for an expansion of the Milton Sports Centre

So I'm looking at that giant cheque and thinking, "Shouldn't there be two of those?"

Raitt's speech didn't clarify things any. She referred to the $14.9 million as "federal funding", even though the Giant Cheque was signed by both herself and Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn. And she specifically stated that 6.7 million of this money was going to the sports centre expansion (which, BTW, she seemed considerably more enthused about).

So is there another Giant Cheque out there, or did Milton get screwed out of half the funding we asked for? Sprawlville TV is on the case - I'll let you know.



(Appearing in this video: MP Lisa Raitt, MPP Ted Chudleigh, MPP Kevin Flynn, Mayor Gordon Krantz, and Milton CAO Mario Belvedere.)

UPDATE: I spoke to Councillor Colin Best at the Farmer's Market this morning, and he says that the $14.9 million is just the first instalment.

Life in 'The Mattamys'

My teenaged son called me this afternoon to inform me that he'd be home late because he was at a friend's house working on a project. He expressed some concern about how he was going to get home because, as he said,

"He lives out in The Mattamys"

I don't know why, but I found that utterly hilarious.

The Garden: Let's Try this Again...

As I mentioned, I'm taking a different approach with the vegetable garden this year. The oregano and the lemon balm are history, the few remaining strawberries are restricted to the perimeter, and the plants are planted in nice neat rows.

I'm also experimenting with newspaper and straw mulch this year which, while quite a bit more work at the outset, will hopefully cut way back on the weeding later in the year.

Planted: bok choy, cabbage, Romaine lettuce, mesclun mix lettuce, Swiss chard, red shepherd peppers, Romano beans, purple string beans, sugar snap peas, and 7(!) different varieties of heirloom tomatoes. I don't even like tomatoes that much!

Anyone want some tomatoes?

Stage 1: Lots of digging. Grass should be declared a noxious weed.




Stage 2: Hoe rows and plant. I was going to lay the newspaper first and poke holes, but that doesn't really work for seedlings.




Stage 3: Strips of newspaper, with topsoil on top. Make sure the ground is well soaked first, and wet it more afterwards.




Stage 4: Straw. Not sure how good an idea this will ultimately be - it might all blow away if it dries out. But we'll see. The screen is my husband's contraption, for sifting weeds, roots and rocks out of the soil. It worked pretty well.

Milton Street Festival, Part 2: The Highlight Reel

See? Now don't you wish you'd come?

Milton Street Festival, Part 1: Dance, Dance, Dance!

I spent a lovely afternoon at the 2nd Annual Milton Street Festival today, enjoying the music, the vendors, and the tantalizing smells of just about every kind of food imaginable. Plus the pleasure of bumping into just about everybody I know in town.

Yes, as big as Milton has gotten, it's still like that.

This year there were a number of added attractions, including a climbing wall, a bouncy tunnel for the kids, and skateboard and BMX bike demos. Oh, and a very special surprise event which I was made privy to by my secret inside source...



More video to come.