BIA Lambs Down Park Festival

Celebrate Father’s Day Weekend at the BIA Lambs Down Park Festival

in Carleton Place on Saturday June 20th from 10am to 3pm.

This is a non-gated event and is FREE to enter the grounds, demonstrations are FREE to view and food and merchandise vendors will be on site offering items for sale.

The Carleton Place (BIA) isn’t sheepish about letting people know that Carleton Place is the largest distribution centre for lamb’s wool in Canada!

In fact, the Canadian Co-operative Woolgrowers, located at 142 Franktown Road, grades and markets close to three million pounds of raw wool each year. In celebration of the town’s woolly existence, the BIA and the Woolgrowers are joining forces on Saturday, June 20th to host the BIA Lambs Down Park Festival. The BIA is working with the Wool Growers in an effort to bring awareness to the public about the tremendous heritage attraction we have in Carleton Place, the festival will run from 10 am until 3 pm on the Wool Growers property.

With wool being the fiber on which the festival is centered, the day will feature hands-on demonstrations of sheep herding involving working sheep dogs, sheep shearing and the spinning of wool. As well, in keeping with the festival theme, tours will be conducted of the Woolgrowers facilities. The Lambs Down Park Festival will be an opportunity for us to showcase some of the dynamics of Canada’s sheep and wool industry.

Other aspects of Carleton Place’s rich heritage will be on display at the festival. For instance, since the Woolgrowers occupy what was originally the round house and machine shops for the Canadian Pacific Railway, one display will track Carleton Place’s railway past.

There will be local fresh produce, petting zoo and pony rides, kids activities and more. Spectators can relax at a picnic table enjoy a bite to eat and a drink from great local vendors.

You will find unique demonstrators and displays with all kinds of interactive activities for the young and old to participate.

The BIA has created the Lambs Down Park Festival in an effort to bring friends, and family, of all ages together so that we can share in the heritage of the community. The BIA has had great success with family events and is inviting everyone to come out and enjoy the displays, lunch and entertainment.

Further details on the festival can be obtained by contacting the BIA at 613-257-8049 or by e-mail at cmcormond@carletonplace.ca.

Sheep shearing, spinning, weaving
Animal displays and petting zoo
Artisans, crafters & Local Farmers
Heritage demonstrations&displays
Delicious sweet & savory foods

This past winter, having been a mild one and the low level of water in our lakes means early and heavy invasive seaweed problems in all of our lakes, resulting in problems with weeds getting tangled up in boat propellers and personal water craft motors, not to mention the unsightly views from your shore.

You don’t want to use harmful chemicals and the use of weed removal products such as rakes can be troublesome, backbreaking and very labor intensive.

There are some options for you to consider.
– WeedRoller option for a weed-free beach/swimming area and the – AquaSweep to get rid of the muck build-up.
We also carry other options such as mats, cutters and raking systems.

Imagine no more weeds in your swimming and docking area! It can happen.
Imagine getting rid of muck and silt, it can also happen.

Give us a call to discuss your aquatic weed removal needs

Jason and Natalie
613-530-0486
info@seaweeddoctor.com
www.seaweeddoctor.com

A full-day kindergarten program initiated by Ontario will involve three schools from the Carleton Place – Almonte area. The province of Ontario will launch a full-day learning program for an estimated 35,000 kindergartens from 600 schools around the area this coming September 2010.

One school from Carleton Place, the J. -L. Coroux Catholic School, was selected by the Ministry of Education to participate in the first wave of the provincial learning program.

Included in the criteria for the selection process were: the sites where kindergarten classes can fulfill the Early Learning Program model, readiness of the space, community need, impact of the program on existing childcare programs (Early Years), achievements of students, and inclination to implement.

According to Ted Kennedy, superintendent of school operations for the Upper Canada District School Board, he believes that the first phase of the program selected the schools that will best serve the community.

A government released information says that the parents also have the option to enroll their children on the extended day plan that provides before and after school programming for a price. And for parents who would be needing financial assistance for the extended day program, there will government subsidies available which will be based on the families’ needs.

Research says that early learning can have beneficial effects on the social and academic skills of children. A whole day of learning is believed to give a child better math, reading, and writing skills later on in life. This is the main reason why the government is trying to phase in the all-day kindergarten program this September.

Vacant homes and apartments have now become scarce in Carleton Place to the point where most people who are looking for them have dubbed the task “impossible” and “highly stressful.” Relative to most communities who have a rental population of approximately 40 percent of the residences, in Carleton Place, the rental population is now only 21 percent. This is according to Joanne Beaton, representative of ARCA Property Mgt.

She claims that in Carleton Place, there is just not enough rental spaces. Moreover, she said that this status is not likely to change soon because of the high costs in constructing new spaces for rental. She estimated that a unit’s cost could reach up to $150,000, and with that amount, there is just no way that investors could recover their money.

Lisa Young, Carleton Place’s director for planning and development, is aware of this problem. However, she suggests that this scarcity could instead be an opportunity for the community. She said that developers could look into other forms of housing for this community need. According to her, there are still parcels of undeveloped land in Carleton Place which, if utilized, can significantly reduce the time spent by those who are looking for places to stay.

December 1, 2009 — Carleton Place’s budget for the incoming year was presented during a meeting at the town hall. Carleton Place’s total projected expenditure for the year 2010 is estimated to be 31.7 million dollars, that is, capital and major spending included. The majority of the projected expenditure will go to environmental and transportation services.

The projected 31.7 million dollars had taxation and government grants, both provincial and federal, as major revenue sources. For the last couple of weeks, it has been known that payers here will face a 2.64 percent increase in their property taxes for the year 2010. A breakdown of all the details and other aspects about the budget was also revealed with 46.5 percent of the apportionment of the total tax dollars going towards the town.

In spite of the efforts of the Carleton Place Town Council to publicly present their financial data, and the fact that majority of the average taxpayer’s money goes to municipalities, the budget presentation didn’t elicit any significant public response; which seems a bit surprising in a town where there is so much local political discussions taking place.

Budget statements can by obtained by the public at the local Town Hall. This is the first time ever that the mayor and individual Councillors can be seen and/or heard giving comments regarding a town budget.