So my message to all of you out there in internet land is – please don’t think that my lack of posts reflects a lack of activity in Saint John! Quite the opposite actually, it’s proving to be one heck of a busy summer.
And what’s been going on here for the past few weeks? Here’s a list of just some of the amazing activities I’ve taken part of (remember since I choose to be lazy whenever possible, this is only a sampling of what’s actually going on!):
- 2008 Faces of Fusion: gala evening for the youth of Saint John, with this year’s focus turned to population growth (specifically immigration) and retention of newcomers. While everyone else enjoyed their salads and wine, I participated in a speaker’s panel with Minister Greg Byrne and Nathalie Godbout, discussing the primary issue as it relates to Saint John. We were followed by keynote speaker Jian Ghomeshi, who talked to the crowd about his personal experiences as a visible minority growing up in Canada and what communities like our can do to make newcomers feel welcome.
- The Benefits Blueprint was announced: in a nutshell, this initiative is a joint attempt by all levels of government, community representatives and the private sector to identify and develop the exciting social, economic and community opportunities that will result from our current and projected boom.
- Animal Rescue League Annual General Meeting
- Saint John Volunteer Centre Annual Appreciation Tea
- World 3 on 3 Street Hockey Tournament
- Uptown Saint John Gallery Hop: 11 locations this year, this event is really growing! Not to mention how difficult it was to get a table at any restaurant or bar Uptown…
- Reversing Falls Public Consultation Session: a tour of what turned out to be the very large site the city and its partners are planning on redeveloping, then a project presentation and public input session. The intent is to make the Reversing Falls a world-renowned tourism destination… thank goodness! One of my only childhood memories of Saint John (my family used to vacation on the East Coast long before I moved here) is how desperately disappointed I was in the Falls. Of course, I was expecting a dramatic height of water climbing up a cliff – I doubt the developer could really do much about that.
- Tourism Orientation Tour of the City
- Cruise Ship season starts: I love everything about Cruise Ship season, except for the delays in the pedway system (if you’re new to the community here’s some advice – give yourself lot’s of extra time to walk to your meetings on a ship day!).
- Disability Awareness Week: congratulations to my employer, Enterprise Saint John, for winning the Employer of the Year award!
Like I said, my actual list is much longer than this, but this is a good summary. I swear I’ll update my blog more often from here on in… as soon as I get back from vacation!
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