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On February 28th the Quartier Vanier (QV) held an open house to showcase our new spacious offices at 287 Montréal Rd.
A breakfast with Ottawa’s Chief of Police Vernon White was held on April 2nd. This gathering signified the launch of a safety patrol for Vanier as well as a way to encourage communication between Ottawa Police Services, merchants and residents of the area.
From April 6th to 8th Quartier Vanier staff and board directors attended the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association conference in Collingwood Ontario to learn more on what’s happening around the province and to share new ideas on how to improve commercial areas.
The Annual Business Awards Gala took place on April 17th to celebrate the Quartier’s business successes over the past year. Once again the business and community leaders of the area were honoured in an elegant event held at the Hampton Inn.
On April 25th the Quartier Vanier held a Broom ‘N Groom on Montréal Road. One hundred brooms were distributed to help our merchants sweep out the old and bring in the new by cleaning the storefronts and sidewalks along the mainstreet. The event was well received by our merchants with several of our residents, elected officials and police officers s taking part in the launch.
The newly elected Chair of the Quartier Vanier Merchants Association, John Therien was formerly introduced at a “QV” reception held on May 27th at the association’s offices.
The 8th Annual Quartier Vanier Charity Golf Tournament was held on August 14th. Over $10,000 was raised for Vanier’s youth programs, the most ever raised in the existence of the tournament!
The first Quartier Outdoor Market was held on Saturdays during the month of September 2008 as a pilot project. Local farmers and merchants participated in selling their wares to residents of our community. Coming off the success of the 2008 market, the Quartier Vanier is looking to expand this initiative in 2009. Running from August 8th to October 17th this year’s market will also feature an arts festival which will include visual art, theatre and musical performances.
As members of the organization, Quartier Vanier directors and staff attended the 54th International Downtown Association conference from September 11th to 14th in Calgary. This conference allows our association to gather greater insight on the international stage with issues relating specifically with downtown commercial areas.
Brooms on Beechwood continued the QV’s efforts to clean up our commercial zone mainstreets. A great number of Beechwood Avenue merchants, elected officials, police officers and community organizations rallied together on October 17th with brooms once again provided by the QV, to sweep up the sidewalks.
From October 27th to the 31st the first annual Beechwood PumpkinFest took place. The QV supplied each participating merchant with corn stalks, bales of hay and pumpkins in order to decorate their storefronts to the best of their abilities. Plaques were awarded to the best displays. Winner categories included the people’s choice award, VIP Award and the Quartier Vanier Merchants Award determined by local media personalities, police officers and the QV’s board of directors.
On November 25th the Quartier Vanier put on an appreciation night at Night Caps Pub called Goodbyes and Hellos. This event was put on as a way to say thanks to the residents that volunteer in our community as well as some of the Ottawa police services staff within the area who are moving on in their careers. The QV also welcomed new Ottawa Police Services staff to Vanier.
The QV held its Annual General Meeting at the El Meson Beechwood Avenue restaurant on December 9th. All of the members of the Association are invited. At the meeting our Chair John Therien showcased the accomplishments of the Quartier Vanier for 2008 and made note of the great new initiatives for 2009.
The Quartier Vanier holds monthly board, safety and security and CPO (Crime Prevention Ottawa) Beautification meetings. You are welcome to contact our office if you are interested in attending one of these meetings.
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