I came home from work late one cold and rainy afternoon. I hadn't felt well all day and decided to pamper myself by ordering a pizza. I usually order from Panago, the rare occasion we order pizza, but this time I decided to try somewhere different and ordered from Pizza Pizza.
Their website was easy to understand and soon I had a pizza ordered. I joked that I'd got dinner started and it would be ready in 40 minutes then settled down to read. I half-thought about getting into my pjs but luckily decided I didn't want to answer the door in them.
Just over a half-hour later my son answered the phone, said "okay", then hung up. I asked him if the pizza person was on the way up and he said, "No, he's waiting downstairs for you." What? Grumbling, I pulled on my boots and headed downstairs. Then stood in complete confusion as there was no one in the lobby. Had he gone upstairs after all? The elevator opened and my friend and her daughter asked if I wanted in. I shrugged. "I'm supposed to be getting a pizza," I explained. "He's supposed to be down here but I can't find him." Elevator doors can only stay open for so long; eventually they left.
I looked around again. The lobby and hallways were empty. No one was coming out of the elevators, no elevators were on our floor. The only sign of life was a plain black car parked outside the doors. It didn't look like a pizza delivery car... there wasn't a sign or a decal... I moved toward the window.
The driver noticed my attention and climbed out of the car while holding a pizza bag. Then he stood there waiting for me. It was pouring rain and the temperature hovered just above the freezing point. I was in regular clothes and no coat. I hadn't brought keys downstairs with me either. He soon realized I was not heading outside. He slowly walked to the doors and came inside.
I commented that I'd been expecting service at the door, like other pizza companies. He looked at me like I told him I'd expected him to set fire to his hair then announced they couldn't be expected to go up to the apartments. It wasn't safe.
I gestured toward myself... "You have no problem with sending me, a middle aged woman, downstairs to get the pizza but won't go up yourself?"
"You have no idea what goes on here!" he protested. "Just a year or so ago there was a big murder here. Someone was knifed in those elevators! There was blood everywhere! I saw it with my own eyes. There's blood in those elevators on a regular basis."
"That's funny," I replied. "I've lived here for almost eight years and take the elevators regularly. I have never seen blood in the elevators and certainly don't remember anyone being murdered here." [Note: I couldn't find anything on Google either. I was here when the young woman overdosed and died in the ravine behind 200 and I'm sure a bloody murder in an elevator in 101 would have had even more media attention]
From talking to the driver, I realized this is a full White Oaks ban. It doesn't matter if you're a 23 year old ordering pizza for you and your friends... a Mom ordering dinner for the family... or a 95 year old... Pizza Pizza expects you to go downstairs and get that pizza yourself. And, if you get the driver I got, he's expecting you to go outside (no matter what the weather) and fetch it yourself.
I did some calling tonight and found several places who deliver here. As far as I can tell, Pizza Pizza is the only one with this ban. I didn't call Little Caesars, simply because their walk in special is so cheap and it's right next door. If you have found another place which does not deliver, please post it in the comments. And, if you've found a local pizzeria that delivers to the door, please post it as well (along with the phone number if you have it handy).
Pizza Hut 905-430-5725
Domino's Pizza 905-668-9797
Yellow House Pizza 905-665-6320
Panago Pizza 310-0001
Let's give our hard earned money to the companies who are willing to show us enough respect to come to our doors.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Community Meeting - January 4, 2012
We had quite the loud and lively meeting yesterday evening. It lasted two hours and covered a variety of important topics.
Building 201 is primarily a senior building. Weirdly, they seem to be having the brunt of the issues lately. Their first issue was a door that was broken sometime late Christmas night/early Boxing Day morning. Someone, unfortunately out of range of the security cameras, threw a rock through the glass back door. The concern was the lack of timely repair of this door. Granted, it was the holiday weekend, but the door was "secured" with tape and a plastic recycling bin. This allowed everyone free access to the building, until the door was finally repaired the evening of Wednesday, December 28th.
Nina, the representative for Cap-Reit, immediately began the blame-game. It wasn't their fault because no one called the office. She said this several times until she finally listened and realized the office had been called... several times. She immediately went on to blame the caller. If she'd said "secure the door" and detailed exactly how to do that instead of asking them to "fix the door" everything would have been fine. Then she blamed the staff member who did the initial "repair". He's new and didn't know that doors need to be secured with more than tape and a plastic bin. He thought he'd done a good job. When tenants expressed concerns that they'd felt unsafe while the door was open to all, Nina laughed and told tenants they were perfectly safe and they should try moving to Toronto if they thought they were in any danger to see what "unsafe" was like. After much animated discussion she backed down and said she'd talk to the person in the office about how to deal with phone calls from tenants. The person was supposed to notify Nina immediately, instead she closed the office and went home (the caller watched this from her window).
At this point Nina got a phone call and had to leave due to an emergency. There was a water leak in the basement of 201. This water leak also occurred on the 28th. Several tenants commented the leak smelled like sewage, despite Nina's insistence it was just water, and one tenant said the previous repair didn't appear to be much more than replacing the floor tiles over top the leak. Concerns about repairs in 201 lead to discussion regarding a loud buzzing sound heard throughout the building (primarily in the bathrooms). Tenants described it as loud, annoying, persistent, and irritating. One tenant explained she had to sleep with a fan blowing to cover the sound so she could sleep at night. When Nina came back she informed the tenants it was just normal noise and that all the experts they'd brought in had told her this. But if tenants wanted to bring in their own professionals to check, she'd pay for it (all said in tones of extreme irritation). Tenants in 201 wanted to know why their hallways were unheated and cold to the point that they needed to put on coats to go to check the mail. They were informed that no hallways in any building were heated. It was brought up that the hallways in 101 were warm. 201 has known circulation issues and it was brought up as a possible reason for the temperatures in the hallways. At this point several tenants commented that cigarette smoke and cooking smells entered their units from other apartments.
A final, but huge issue, for tenants in 201 is "escort services" located in certain apartments in the building. Tenants were deeply concerned about the people entering the building to go to these locations. Multiple tenants have been propositioned in the elevator. We had a couple of police officers attend the meeting and one mentioned a co-worker was also propositioned in that building. There are condoms scattered around the building and one tenant's teenage son entered the elevator at the tail end of a blowjob. Thankfully this issue is being dealt with and, also thankfully, not entirely by Nina who once again informed the concerned tenants that these are the best buildings in Whitby and, if they thought otherwise, they could always just move. Hopefully we'll have a positive resolution for this issue by the next meeting.
Apartment repairs came up next. Two tenants had the same issue. The bathroom fan had problems, a work order was filed, and oops, Cap-Reit didn't have the right size fan so a larger fan was installed until one could be ordered. One tenant was still waiting for the right fan while the other tenant had to fill multiple work orders (and speak to the former property manager at a previous meeting) in order to get a new fan. Tenants wanted to know why maintenance staff didn't file paperwork stating a repair was incomplete and a new product needed to be ordered. Nina explained that the staff was "busy" and we just didn't understand what their days are like. The tenants, all of whom either worked or were retired, were underwhelmed by this excuse.
The final and biggest issue was hydro. When I moved into the buildings years ago, our rent was all-inclusive. New tenants now have to pay hydro on top of their rent. The tenants came in confused, angry and frustrated. Tenants were told, when they moved in, that their electric bill would only be about $30 or $40 a month. One tenant's bill was $170 (not including initial set up fees and deposit). Him and his wife work full-time so no one's home for most of the day. He said all they do in the evening is watch some TV with only one light on. Their stove is broken so they don't even cook at home. Another tenant's hydro bill came to $75 and they haven't even turned their heat on yet. She's freezing and shivering under blankets with their dogs to try and stay warm, terrified of what their hydro bill would be with the baseboard heaters on.
The two tenants who brought their bills in were both being charged for two meters and neither knew why. One had tried to call Stratcon (the electric company on the bill) only to be told they'd contracted their services out to Cap-Reit and only Cap-Reit management could explain the bills. Cap-Reit said it was Stratacon who dealt with the bills. Meanwhile the tenants are stuck with bills larger than the ones they had in full detached houses and no one willing to explain why. And they're stuck dealing with leaky windows and faulty thermostats (although Nina insists work orders will fix this).
There is some good news for the tenants who moved in while the rent was all-inclusive. I called the Landlord and Tenant Board today and those tenants will not be paying hydro unless they sign something stating they want to (or move to another unit).
The next meeting is on February 1st at 7:30pm and I'm hoping to see more people there.
Building 201 is primarily a senior building. Weirdly, they seem to be having the brunt of the issues lately. Their first issue was a door that was broken sometime late Christmas night/early Boxing Day morning. Someone, unfortunately out of range of the security cameras, threw a rock through the glass back door. The concern was the lack of timely repair of this door. Granted, it was the holiday weekend, but the door was "secured" with tape and a plastic recycling bin. This allowed everyone free access to the building, until the door was finally repaired the evening of Wednesday, December 28th.
Nina, the representative for Cap-Reit, immediately began the blame-game. It wasn't their fault because no one called the office. She said this several times until she finally listened and realized the office had been called... several times. She immediately went on to blame the caller. If she'd said "secure the door" and detailed exactly how to do that instead of asking them to "fix the door" everything would have been fine. Then she blamed the staff member who did the initial "repair". He's new and didn't know that doors need to be secured with more than tape and a plastic bin. He thought he'd done a good job. When tenants expressed concerns that they'd felt unsafe while the door was open to all, Nina laughed and told tenants they were perfectly safe and they should try moving to Toronto if they thought they were in any danger to see what "unsafe" was like. After much animated discussion she backed down and said she'd talk to the person in the office about how to deal with phone calls from tenants. The person was supposed to notify Nina immediately, instead she closed the office and went home (the caller watched this from her window).
At this point Nina got a phone call and had to leave due to an emergency. There was a water leak in the basement of 201. This water leak also occurred on the 28th. Several tenants commented the leak smelled like sewage, despite Nina's insistence it was just water, and one tenant said the previous repair didn't appear to be much more than replacing the floor tiles over top the leak. Concerns about repairs in 201 lead to discussion regarding a loud buzzing sound heard throughout the building (primarily in the bathrooms). Tenants described it as loud, annoying, persistent, and irritating. One tenant explained she had to sleep with a fan blowing to cover the sound so she could sleep at night. When Nina came back she informed the tenants it was just normal noise and that all the experts they'd brought in had told her this. But if tenants wanted to bring in their own professionals to check, she'd pay for it (all said in tones of extreme irritation). Tenants in 201 wanted to know why their hallways were unheated and cold to the point that they needed to put on coats to go to check the mail. They were informed that no hallways in any building were heated. It was brought up that the hallways in 101 were warm. 201 has known circulation issues and it was brought up as a possible reason for the temperatures in the hallways. At this point several tenants commented that cigarette smoke and cooking smells entered their units from other apartments.
A final, but huge issue, for tenants in 201 is "escort services" located in certain apartments in the building. Tenants were deeply concerned about the people entering the building to go to these locations. Multiple tenants have been propositioned in the elevator. We had a couple of police officers attend the meeting and one mentioned a co-worker was also propositioned in that building. There are condoms scattered around the building and one tenant's teenage son entered the elevator at the tail end of a blowjob. Thankfully this issue is being dealt with and, also thankfully, not entirely by Nina who once again informed the concerned tenants that these are the best buildings in Whitby and, if they thought otherwise, they could always just move. Hopefully we'll have a positive resolution for this issue by the next meeting.
Apartment repairs came up next. Two tenants had the same issue. The bathroom fan had problems, a work order was filed, and oops, Cap-Reit didn't have the right size fan so a larger fan was installed until one could be ordered. One tenant was still waiting for the right fan while the other tenant had to fill multiple work orders (and speak to the former property manager at a previous meeting) in order to get a new fan. Tenants wanted to know why maintenance staff didn't file paperwork stating a repair was incomplete and a new product needed to be ordered. Nina explained that the staff was "busy" and we just didn't understand what their days are like. The tenants, all of whom either worked or were retired, were underwhelmed by this excuse.
The final and biggest issue was hydro. When I moved into the buildings years ago, our rent was all-inclusive. New tenants now have to pay hydro on top of their rent. The tenants came in confused, angry and frustrated. Tenants were told, when they moved in, that their electric bill would only be about $30 or $40 a month. One tenant's bill was $170 (not including initial set up fees and deposit). Him and his wife work full-time so no one's home for most of the day. He said all they do in the evening is watch some TV with only one light on. Their stove is broken so they don't even cook at home. Another tenant's hydro bill came to $75 and they haven't even turned their heat on yet. She's freezing and shivering under blankets with their dogs to try and stay warm, terrified of what their hydro bill would be with the baseboard heaters on.
The two tenants who brought their bills in were both being charged for two meters and neither knew why. One had tried to call Stratcon (the electric company on the bill) only to be told they'd contracted their services out to Cap-Reit and only Cap-Reit management could explain the bills. Cap-Reit said it was Stratacon who dealt with the bills. Meanwhile the tenants are stuck with bills larger than the ones they had in full detached houses and no one willing to explain why. And they're stuck dealing with leaky windows and faulty thermostats (although Nina insists work orders will fix this).
There is some good news for the tenants who moved in while the rent was all-inclusive. I called the Landlord and Tenant Board today and those tenants will not be paying hydro unless they sign something stating they want to (or move to another unit).
The next meeting is on February 1st at 7:30pm and I'm hoping to see more people there.
Friday, 23 December 2011
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Every night I look outside at all the lights people have been putting up on their balconies and tonight I decided to share. These are just a small sample of the decorated balconies and, unfortunately, I don't have a tripod and wasn't able to get a clear picture of balconies higher than the 4th floor.
I like these balconies because of the lights and decorations on all the windows. They both look bright and cheery.
Ditto for this balcony. Lights, glitter bows, an inflatable stack of presents, and candy canes.
This balcony is very bright. I love the lit candy canes and the hanging lit decorations.
I first noticed this balcony while walking down the street. It took until I was almost to the building before I realized the tree is outside on the balcony and not inside the window. There was another tree quite high up at 201 but I couldn't manage a photo. It's on the east side of the buildings if anyone wants to take a peek.
The top balcony here is gorgeous with it's wreath and colourful strands of lights, but if I was holding a contest for the best decorated balcony at White Oaks, the bottom balcony would be the clear winner. The lights, the garland around the door, the Christmas balls on the door, Santa, the snow scene on the windows... the whole balcony is amazing!
Thank you to everyone who decorated their balconies. They all are lovely.
Thank you to everyone who decorated their balconies. They all are lovely.
Thursday, 22 December 2011
New Year's Eve Celebrations
If you are looking for something to do this New Year's Eve there are several choices in our area.
The Town of Whitby is holding a skating party at Iroquois Park Arena from 6 to 9pm. There will be free skating, ice painting, face painting, balloon animals, and a performance by the Whitby Figure Skating Club. For more information you can check out their website.
The City of Oshawa has two choices. Their family friendly party is being held at the Legends Centre near Harmony and Taunton Road. There are a bunch of free activities including swimming, skating, jumping castles, and entertainers (plus the not-further-described "and MORE"). This one is also running from 6 to 9pm with the doors opening at 5:45pm and the children's countdown at 8:45pm. There are two DRT busses in Oshawa that go to the Legends centre and the 916 Rossland bus goes by Brock and Taunton in Whitby (as does the 302 Brock bus which goes to Brock and Hwy 2). For more information you can check out their website.
The Royal Canadian Legion is also hosting a New Year's Eve Party in their branch at 471 Simcoe Street South. There will be live music from Roadhouse; tickets are $10 and the doors open at 7pm. For more information you can email br43leg@hotmail.com.
The Town of Ajax is holding a family New Year's Eve party at their community centre at 75 Centennial Road. It's $4 for adults, $3 for seniors and youths, and free for children three years old and under. They also have ice skating, balloon animals, and entertainers along with cupcakes and party favours. It runs from, surprise, 6 to 9pm with a juggling show at 7pm and the countdown at 9pm. You can check out their website for more information.
For those, like myself, who are without a vehicle there is free DRT service from 8pm on New Year's Eve until approximately 2am on New Year's Day (sponsored by DRT, OPG, and DRPS Board) on the following routes:
Pickering - 180 - 181 - 182 - 183
Ajax - 280 - 281 - 282 - 283
Whitby - 302 - 304 - 305 - 306 - 318
Oshawa - 401 - 402 - 403/403B - 406B - 407B - 408 - 409 - 410 - 411 - 412
Clarington - 501 - 502
Regional - 915 - 916
Durham Region Transit
Go Transit
The Town of Whitby is holding a skating party at Iroquois Park Arena from 6 to 9pm. There will be free skating, ice painting, face painting, balloon animals, and a performance by the Whitby Figure Skating Club. For more information you can check out their website.
The City of Oshawa has two choices. Their family friendly party is being held at the Legends Centre near Harmony and Taunton Road. There are a bunch of free activities including swimming, skating, jumping castles, and entertainers (plus the not-further-described "and MORE"). This one is also running from 6 to 9pm with the doors opening at 5:45pm and the children's countdown at 8:45pm. There are two DRT busses in Oshawa that go to the Legends centre and the 916 Rossland bus goes by Brock and Taunton in Whitby (as does the 302 Brock bus which goes to Brock and Hwy 2). For more information you can check out their website.
The Royal Canadian Legion is also hosting a New Year's Eve Party in their branch at 471 Simcoe Street South. There will be live music from Roadhouse; tickets are $10 and the doors open at 7pm. For more information you can email br43leg@hotmail.com.
The Town of Ajax is holding a family New Year's Eve party at their community centre at 75 Centennial Road. It's $4 for adults, $3 for seniors and youths, and free for children three years old and under. They also have ice skating, balloon animals, and entertainers along with cupcakes and party favours. It runs from, surprise, 6 to 9pm with a juggling show at 7pm and the countdown at 9pm. You can check out their website for more information.
For those, like myself, who are without a vehicle there is free DRT service from 8pm on New Year's Eve until approximately 2am on New Year's Day (sponsored by DRT, OPG, and DRPS Board) on the following routes:
Pickering - 180 - 181 - 182 - 183
Ajax - 280 - 281 - 282 - 283
Whitby - 302 - 304 - 305 - 306 - 318
Oshawa - 401 - 402 - 403/403B - 406B - 407B - 408 - 409 - 410 - 411 - 412
Clarington - 501 - 502
Regional - 915 - 916
Durham Region Transit
Go Transit
Monday, 19 December 2011
December 7, 2011 Community Meeting
Ten people attended the December community group meeting, nine residents and our west ward councillor, Elizabeth Roy.
The Christmas party was discussed. On top of donations from local stores, a cheque for $200 was provided by the Town of Whitby Race Relations Committee (they also provide assistance for the July annual barbecue).
Four youths have been arrested and charged with the robbery and attack of the owner of a small convenience store on Michael Boulevard. One of the youths is from our community.
There was also talk about trying to set up Neighbourhood Watch in our buildings. This was discussed a few years ago and ultimately decided against as there needs to be 75% participation in order to be accepted. The 75% does not have to be all four buildings, or even one, it can be as small as a single floor. It will be discussed at further meetings in 2012.
Durham Regional Police are changing their patrols so more cars will be available in our area, this way we should have shorter response times. We're hoping to get a police officer in to attend a meeting (or more).
The town of Whitby is looking into renovating Jeffery Park and Central Park and we get to have some input into what should be done with the park(s). If this is of interest to you, please feel free to attend meetings. Currently the people who are sending information to the town are seniors with grown children. It would be wonderful if people who have children young enough to play at the park gave some ideas. The town is also looking into moving an underused bus shelter to the stop between 200 and 100. There was a shelter there until a few years ago when it blew down in a storm.
There is a group of children who literally run wild around the buildings. I have observed them a couple of times, running across Dundas Street between the traffic lights while both lights are green. Once was at rush hour and the kids were running in front of moving cars. The overwhelming consensus was that it wasn't our business and they didn't feel like "babysitting" children. If anyone has any ideas on what can be done, please feel free to leave a message or email me. Note, calling Children's Aid or the police only works if someone knows who these children are or where they live. I don't know who any of these children are or even which buildings they live in.
We currently have security. I know they are very elusive but they are apparently around (I have yet to see them). Our management has decided not to provide a phone number to tenants (something which was freely available with previous security companies) as they're worried that tenants might call for non-emergency problems like plumbing issues.
New tenants have to pay hydro and there are a lot of concerns regarding what they are paying. Several tenants have said they want to see their hydro meters. The community group is attempting to get someone from Stratacon to attend an upcoming meeting to explain how their bills are created.
Out of the nine tenants from the meeting, one is a college student, one is a middle aged mother of teenagers, and the rest are seniors living in 201. The handful that did not attend this meeting are also seniors from 201. This is not an accurate representation of our buildings. If you have concerns regarding the park at 101 (or the lack of playground equipment), accessible doors for wheelchairs and strollers, and activities for children please come out to the meetings and make your voice heard. Management does come to these meetings and does listen. However, right now all the management is hearing are the senior voices. We really need your help and your voice.
The Christmas party was discussed. On top of donations from local stores, a cheque for $200 was provided by the Town of Whitby Race Relations Committee (they also provide assistance for the July annual barbecue).
Four youths have been arrested and charged with the robbery and attack of the owner of a small convenience store on Michael Boulevard. One of the youths is from our community.
There was also talk about trying to set up Neighbourhood Watch in our buildings. This was discussed a few years ago and ultimately decided against as there needs to be 75% participation in order to be accepted. The 75% does not have to be all four buildings, or even one, it can be as small as a single floor. It will be discussed at further meetings in 2012.
Durham Regional Police are changing their patrols so more cars will be available in our area, this way we should have shorter response times. We're hoping to get a police officer in to attend a meeting (or more).
The town of Whitby is looking into renovating Jeffery Park and Central Park and we get to have some input into what should be done with the park(s). If this is of interest to you, please feel free to attend meetings. Currently the people who are sending information to the town are seniors with grown children. It would be wonderful if people who have children young enough to play at the park gave some ideas. The town is also looking into moving an underused bus shelter to the stop between 200 and 100. There was a shelter there until a few years ago when it blew down in a storm.
There is a group of children who literally run wild around the buildings. I have observed them a couple of times, running across Dundas Street between the traffic lights while both lights are green. Once was at rush hour and the kids were running in front of moving cars. The overwhelming consensus was that it wasn't our business and they didn't feel like "babysitting" children. If anyone has any ideas on what can be done, please feel free to leave a message or email me. Note, calling Children's Aid or the police only works if someone knows who these children are or where they live. I don't know who any of these children are or even which buildings they live in.
We currently have security. I know they are very elusive but they are apparently around (I have yet to see them). Our management has decided not to provide a phone number to tenants (something which was freely available with previous security companies) as they're worried that tenants might call for non-emergency problems like plumbing issues.
New tenants have to pay hydro and there are a lot of concerns regarding what they are paying. Several tenants have said they want to see their hydro meters. The community group is attempting to get someone from Stratacon to attend an upcoming meeting to explain how their bills are created.
Out of the nine tenants from the meeting, one is a college student, one is a middle aged mother of teenagers, and the rest are seniors living in 201. The handful that did not attend this meeting are also seniors from 201. This is not an accurate representation of our buildings. If you have concerns regarding the park at 101 (or the lack of playground equipment), accessible doors for wheelchairs and strollers, and activities for children please come out to the meetings and make your voice heard. Management does come to these meetings and does listen. However, right now all the management is hearing are the senior voices. We really need your help and your voice.
Sunday, 18 December 2011
White Oaks Christmas Party
It was chaos in building 201 today as 50 children from our community signed up to attend our first Christmas party and visit Santa. The lobby held tables of goodies from nearby stores and the library had rows of cookies for the children to decorate and wooden figures to colour and take home. Every child received a small loot bag upon arrival.
The children were very intent on their decorating, whether it was a wooden Santa or a snowman cookie. I managed to pull a couple of childrens' attention away from their crafts long enough to ask one question. What are you going to ask Santa for this year? Nine year old Maddie had a hard time answering this question. Once Santa arrived she finally decided on a brown stuffed dog. Good choice Maddie, they require a lot less walking and feeding. Her friend Mackenzie immediately announced she wanted a video game. Any video game would do. Tevon wanted a beyblade. I mentioned that my son asked for a metal Beyblade Fusion and his eyes lit; I'm guessing my son's not the only one.
The photo on the left is a shot of one of the youngest children at the party, Mackenzie's little brother Jonathan, enjoying one of the cookies his Mom helped him decorate.
Here is Tevon holding two of the cookies he decorated. Both his Mom, Sharon, and Mackenzie and Jonathan's Mom, Penny, enjoyed the party. The crafts kept the kids entertained and there were cookies and snacks for all (including coffee... something most parents need by mid-afternoon).
There were several high school students in attendance, helping out with the children and gamely attempting to sing Christmas carols with me and another member of the White Oaks Community Group. The children, for the most part, ignored the singing. They'd join in for a favourite line or two then wander back to the craft tables. One young boy would have been happy if we sang nothing but Frosty the Snowman.
Eventually it came time for the main event. The man in red had been spotted and children were encouraged to head out to the lobby to wait for his arrival. A blanket was spread on the floor and the children settled to wait.
They didn't have long to wait before Santa arrived with his "reindog" and a sleigh full of toys.
Santa had his beard pulled over his nose and wig pulled down to his glasses. I thought he looked like he was heading off to join the Witness Protection Program but the kids didn't seem to notice. It made sense as he had three small children of his own at the party and no one wants to hear "Hey! That's not Santa! That's my Dad!" at a children's Christmas party. Thankfully they sat on his lap, none the wiser.
Every child in attendance had a chance to sit on Santa's lap and have as long a chat as they wanted. Once they all had their turn, their names were called out and every child was given a present with their name. Several opened their presents right away but most seemed willing to wait until they got home.
Here's Mackenzie, presumably asking Santa for her video game. She seemed quite happy with the board game she received.
It was great that so many children and parents in our community were able to attend and wonderful that so many companies were able to help out with donations of food, drinks, and toys. Hopefully our next community event will turn out just as well.
The photo on the left is a shot of one of the youngest children at the party, Mackenzie's little brother Jonathan, enjoying one of the cookies his Mom helped him decorate.
There were several high school students in attendance, helping out with the children and gamely attempting to sing Christmas carols with me and another member of the White Oaks Community Group. The children, for the most part, ignored the singing. They'd join in for a favourite line or two then wander back to the craft tables. One young boy would have been happy if we sang nothing but Frosty the Snowman.
Eventually it came time for the main event. The man in red had been spotted and children were encouraged to head out to the lobby to wait for his arrival. A blanket was spread on the floor and the children settled to wait.
Santa had his beard pulled over his nose and wig pulled down to his glasses. I thought he looked like he was heading off to join the Witness Protection Program but the kids didn't seem to notice. It made sense as he had three small children of his own at the party and no one wants to hear "Hey! That's not Santa! That's my Dad!" at a children's Christmas party. Thankfully they sat on his lap, none the wiser.
Every child in attendance had a chance to sit on Santa's lap and have as long a chat as they wanted. Once they all had their turn, their names were called out and every child was given a present with their name. Several opened their presents right away but most seemed willing to wait until they got home.
It was great that so many children and parents in our community were able to attend and wonderful that so many companies were able to help out with donations of food, drinks, and toys. Hopefully our next community event will turn out just as well.
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