Around the Kitchen Table : Discussing Climate Change with Others
Free Virtual Event | Tuesday, March 9th @ 6:30-8pm
The Bay Area Climate Forum is the #1 annual event focused on climate action in the Hamilton-Burlington Bay Area. The theme of this year’s event is “Around the Kitchen Table: Discussing Climate Change with others.”
Hear updates on progress to our region’s climate goals and join the discussion on having better climate conversations.
Our keynote Katharine Hayhoe is an award winning climate scientist, viral TED Talk host and host of the PBS Digital Series Global Weirding. Katharine will be speaking about overcoming the barriers to public acceptance of climate impacts and solutions.
This free virtual event will be held on Zoom – register here. Live Closed Captioning and ASL Interpretation will be provided.
Join the conversation @BayArea_Climate #BACCCForum2021
City of Hamilton launches new Placemaking Grant Pilot Program
HAMILTON, ON – Today, the City of Hamilton is pleased to announce the launch of a new community funding program, the Placemaking Grant Pilot Program.
The program was made possible because of a $100,000 donation from the Patrick J. McNally Charitable Foundation, the Placemaking Grant Pilot Program will fund community-led placemaking projects that temporarily animate public spaces.
Placemaking is a hands-on approach for making a meaningful change or impact in a neighborhood, city or region. Placemaking interacts with the unique geography, culture, and heritage of a space and is a way for residents to feel ownership of public space and use it in a way that is specific to community need.
Information about the grant program including the funding guidelines which outline the eligibility requirements, the application form, and a placemaking toolkit are available on the City’s website at Hamilton.ca/PlacemakingGrant.
Quick Facts
Applications for the Placemaking Grant Pilot Program will be accepted from groups of residents and non-profit organizations.
Applicants can apply for funding at two levels:
Category 1 – Up to $2,000 per project. Projects are temporary (from a few days up to one year) and may include a physical change to the place (signage, sculpture, garden planters, etc.) or may reimagine a space through repeated action (performances, gatherings, etc.).
Category 2 – $5,000 to $20,000. Projects are temporary (from a few days up to three years) and will include a physical change to the place (seating, sculpture, etc.).
It is expected that the Placemaking Grant Pilot Program will award approximately 24 grants over the 2-year pilot period (approximately 20 grants in Category 1 and 2-4 grants in Category 2).
Applications for funding are due by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, April 9, 2021. Residents and community groups that miss the April 2021 deadline will have a second opportunity to apply for funding in the fall of 2021.
City staff will work with applicants to ensure that any project that receives funding can meet COVID 19 regulations.
Residents and groups who want to learn more about placemaking and the Placemaking Grant Pilot Program are encouraged to register for one of two virtual information sessions:
Hamilton Public Library offers all card holders a pick-up service during the province-wide shutdown Dec 26-Jan 23. Library materials and print jobs can be picked up at preferred branches during open hours. No appointment necessary. Makerspace projects can only be picked up at Central Library.
WHO:
HPL card holders can pick up their holds, print jobs and Makerspace projects. eCard holders can also pick up physical items. Need a card? Register at a branch or online at hpl.ca/online-registration.
WHEN:
These service changes take effect Dec 26-Jan 23.
WHERE:
Branch hours – with five exceptions* – are now Monday-Thursday 10am-6pm, Friday-Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday Closed. *Carlise, Freelton, Greensville, Lynden and Mount Hope are closed Mondays. Our virtual branch at hpl.ca is always open 24/7 with collections and online programs. Questions? Call 905.546.3200, email AskHPL@hpl.ca or chat with staff at hpl.ca.
About Hamilton Public Library
Hamilton Public Library is a vibrant hub for information and culture, providing our diverse community the Freedom to Discover. As one of the largest library systems in Canada, Hamiltonians will discover something new at our 22 locations, two Bookmobiles, or through our extensive digital collections. Visit us online at hpl.ca. Follow us on Twitter @hamiltonlibrary. Like us on Facebook at HamiltonPublicLibrary.
I recently overheard my grandchildren wondering if Santa Claus is real and if COVID-19 will keep away this year. I reassured them that Santa Claus is real and that he will not only visit their home, but he will do his best to visit every home, so all good children will experience the wonder of receiving unconditional gifts of love from the North Pole. This moment of a child’s anxiety about Santa Claus reminded me of the letter, “Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus.”
In late 1897, a little girl named Virginia O’Hanlon (1889–1971) wrote a letter to the editor of the The Sun asking them to verify the existance of Santa Claus, Apparently, her little friends were teasing her about believing.
An editorial writers for The Sun, Mr. Francis P. Church gave it some thought and wrote an answer to Virginia. It was printed in the paper next morning, September 21, 1897.
Dear Editor: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon 115 West Ninety Fifth Street
VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, VIRGINIA, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance, to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not; but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, VIRGINIA, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood. [From The Sun, September 21, 1897]
To all the residents of Ward 9, I wish you the happiest of holidays and a very Merry Christmas.
Brad Clark Report 
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