Eric Morse –
The Cabbagetown Residents’ Association (CRA) held its annual meeting at a pub on June 13.
A new board was elected to serve from 2013 to 2015. Lindsay Whitfield, Trish Finkelstein, and Lynn Dionne will continue as directors, while Rod Carr Harris, Steve de Blois, Carolyn Shaw-Rimmington, Jill Bridgman, John Hill, Lance Green and Keith Lawrance are new to the board.
Long-time president Lee Matheson has stepped down: a new president will be elected at the board’s first meeting.
Executive reports noted concern that the aging tree canopy had suffered greatly in this year’s heavy storms. Residents were encouraged to plant new trees on their properties.
The safety and security committee will be conducting safety walks of identified trouble spots with 51 Division, and the naturalized area at the end of Spruce St.—which has apparently been providing a haven for “unsavoury activity”—has been improved by thinning out of undergrowth and weed trees and clearing sightlines.
The highlight of the year was the Forsythia Festival on May 5 which for the first time was taken over by the CRA. It was blessed by fine weather and an excellent beer tent for which Stout provided certified personnel. The sponsor list was up by 50% over other years. Festival chair Trish Finkelstein mentioned to The Bulletin that she has a few new ideas up her sleeve for next year.