Mark your calendars: many fun ways to connect with your neighbours in the coming months!

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in the Sandy Hill Neighbourhood Yard Sale on August 30! It was wonderful to meet so many neighbours, especially those who have recently moved into the neighbourhood. Special thanks to Christine Aubry and Cathy Major for organizing the event.

Have you seen the Sandy Hill Green Team at work? Every other Thursday over the summer, teams have been doing clean-up, weeding, and watering in the de-paving gardens on Somerset and removing buckthorn and other invasive plants along the Rideau River. Green Team members are wearing green t-shirts with a Green Team logo. Funds from the native plant sale at the ASH Annual Meeting last May helped with the purchase of a Canadian-made Pullerbear used to extract the invasive buckthorn trees. With lots more to plant, Saturday sessions are planned. If you see the Green Team around, say hi and get involved if you love working with plants! (See details at right.)

Coming up, mark your calendars: the One & Only Arts & Crafts Fair along with the Good Books Sale are happening November 15 and the Sandy Hill Winter Carnival will be back again on January 25, both at our community centre. Put on by dedicated volunteers, these very popular annual events are a fun way to kick off the holiday and snowy seasons.

Many IMAGE readers may remember the cold December day back in 2015 when the ribbon cutting for the Adàwe Crossing over the Rideau River turned into a spontaneous cookie exchange! For the 10th anniversary on December 4, ASH and the Overbrook Community Association are encouraging residents to meet up again to celebrate the connection between our two communities. Please bring treats to share if you wish! Look for more details from ASH soon, in the members’ monthly newsletter and on our website: www.ash-acs.ca.

We’ve also started something new: ASH Community Conversations. This is a (hopefully!) easy way to connect with neighbours online. These happen every second Monday of the month, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Zoom. Sometimes we’ll have a theme or a special guest and we’d love your input on issues that affect our neighbourhood. ASH members should already have access to a link, but we send out reminders monthly.

Meetings of the ASH Board of Directors are the last Monday of the month (except December and July) at the Sandy Hill Community Centre and virtually on Zoom. Everyone is welcome to attend, ASH member or not. The ASH Board currently has two open seats. They are not required to be filled but we always love to have more volunteers!

Wondering if you are a member of Action Sandy Hill? Or wondering if you’ll ever get your renewal notice? ASH paused memberships over the summer due to changes with our payment processor. We are aiming to have a new set-up soon, one that accepts credit card payments! Look for instructions on the ASH website soon as well as an email in your inbox if you have ever been a member. Having a strong community association with representative membership helps us as residents advocate for our community. Thanks to all the ASH volunteers and members who are pitching in to make Sandy Hill a wonderful place to live!

Betsy Schuurman (Chair, Action Sandy Hill)