Hurricane Hazel Talk – Thurs., Oct. 8, 2015 at Lambton House, 4066 Old Dundas St. (And a Jane’s Walk note.)

Hurricane Hazel Night

At Lambton House
4066 Old Dundas Street

Here’s the poster:

Oct. 8th 2015[2]

[See the jpeg version of the file at the end of this message.]

Thursday October 8th, 2015

Dan Sandink of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction

At 7:30 PM

Mr. Sandink will speak about Hurricane Hazel and Weather Now with its impact on loss of personal property.

Doors open at 7:00 PM

Free

Refreshments will be served

# 55 bus from Jane station stops at the door.

[End of text]

Community Council, Community Connector role, Jane’s Walk

We owe thanks to Geoff Kettel, Community Connector, Advocate and Consultant, for passing along the above-noted message to us. I met Geoff Kettel some years ago at a Heritage Toronto event at which former City of Toronto mayor David Crombie spoke.

You are doing great work, Geoff. I served as a Community Connector with Jane’s Walk for about a year. As I recall, you are also a Community Connector, in the Jane’s Walk context and in wider contexts. I found the meetings of the Community Council (that is, the ones connected with Jane’s Walk) highly valuable. I encourage other people to get involved with the Community Council meetings, and concept.

I’m cutting back on my own volunteer work; at the moment I’m focusing on organizing of a high school reunion after which I will take a break from non-stop volunteer work.

I enjoyed the time I spent as a member of the Community Council. I was able to initiate three things last year, that I might not have gotten around to, or not have gotten around to quite as well, had I not been involved with the Community Council. As an outcome of my involvement – with the Community Council meetings and as a result of focusing upon the underlying community-connector concept – I did the following; I helped to organize a walk:

1) At the Six Points Intersection, led by MPP Peter Milczyn;

2) Another walk in connection with the Small Arms project in Lakeview (Mississauga) led by Mississauga Ward 1 Councillor Jim Tovey;

3) A third walk in New Toronto, led by Mike James (who like myself has now retired from leading Jane’s Walks) and Brian Liberty.

I’m hoping Brian will be among people leading walks in South Etobicoke in the future.

Brian is a key player in a current project to set up a Long Branch Residents Association. I first met Brian Liberty when I recorded a couple of interviews, later posted to Facebook and to my website, in which he spoke of a community garden project in South Etobicoke as one means among others to address food security issues in our neighbourhoods.

I recently learned that a heritage society in Mississauga is making a point of having meetings at historical sites instead of at a regular meeting place; the change in venue is a direct result of a heritage society member’s participation at the Small Arms walk (#2 above).

I’m pleased to step back from Jane’s Walks projects. I’ve contributed what I can; I’ve learned a lot and I’ve done something useful.

My focus will be on putting together videos and other documentation in future based on walks that I’ve been involved with over the past four years.

The main thing I got from the Community Council was the intention to move ahead with the three above-noted projects.

That is, the intention was the key variable here. Once I had the concept in my mind that I would make a useful contribution in the Community Connector role, I found it easy to proceed. Had I not held that intention – to serve as a Community Connection, in any way I can think of – in my mind, I may not have proceeded. Thus intentions have value, in my experience; they are the starting points for many community self-organizing processes and projects. Following through on such intentions requires a capacity of strategic thinking; that is another thing that I have learned as a volunteer, over the years.

I wish everyone every success with their participation with the Community Council.

What is a Jane’s Walk?; what is Jane’s Walk as an organization?

I don’t know what the Jane’s Walk organization is really about; that is one of the things that I like about it: I like to get involved with things where I don’t quite know what I’m getting into:

A Jane’s Walk is a walking conversation, or walking lecture, or starts as lecture, ends as conversation 

That’s been my standard way of approaching volunteer work, with a focus on community self-organization, over the past 30 years.