Community Services Report
Doris Maxwell & Tony Tyminski

E Mail Doris Maxwell
Union Hall Office: 905-682-2611

Look Back on 2011 Coming Up in 2012

Wow, where has the time gone? As the months of 2011 quickly fly by we thought it would be a good idea to reflect upon the committees activities and to let you know about some of the events that are coming up over the remainder of the year. The mandate of the community services committee is to work with and liaise with other community groups, to build community spirit and help those in need. With this in mind the Community Services Committee has participated in quite a few interesting and fun events.

February - Chili Cook Off

For the past two years we have participated in St Catharines Downtown Associations Annual Chili Cook off. The purpose of the event is to raise funds for Community Care and the out of the cold program, and have some fun in the process. We join up with the Education Committee and the Action Centre to make our special unique secret brew, and compete against other organizations and restaurants for bragging rights. Team "Local Flavor" has a chili recipe that is so secret we don't even know what goes in it! However, we can tell you that the biggest reason for our success is the use of local ingredients with flavors that dance upon ones pallet. Local beef, sausage, peppers tomatoes all go into our chili, our unique flavor is punctuated with Niagara apples, beer and maple syrup. We believe as consumers we need to ask for more local produce to be available in our grocery stores and where possible we should support local producers. Over the last two years our chili has received first and second place people choice awards. The cook-off for 2012 will happen at the Market Square on Friday Feb 17th 2012, why come on out, try some chili, vote for your favorite and help support a very good cause. Images from Market Square

March - Bluesaganza

Listening to the silky smooth sounds of top International and Local Blues musicians at the yearly Bluesaganza can really set your toes to tapping. Over the past eleven years this event has raised thousands of dollars for Autism Niagara. Bluesaganza will be held at our Local Union Hall on March 24th 2012. Tickets will be available for $10 at the CAW 199 Hall, First Ontario Credit Union, and Trillium Safety Supplies. Please join us to, eat, drink, and dance the night away in support of this worthy organization. We would love to see you there.

June - Retirees Appreciation Day

Retirees Appreciation day is the day in which we show our appreciation for and thank our retirees for the hard won gains of the past. Dinner is served at the hall and our retirees always arrive early to visit and share stories of past accomplishments. It is always an honor to be part of this celebration. We have over 7,000 retirees, many of whom take part in activities that support both retired and active workers throughout the year. If you are interested in reading about some of our retirees we would recommend visiting the history tab on our website.

September - Labor Day Parade

Every year on Labour Day our members get together to show support for our local and businesses in our communities. We walk in the parade and finish the day off back at the union hall. This is a great family day for our union hall and the community of Merriton. We have Local music, great food and lots of laughter. This is always a busy event, this year it was my turn to drive the car. Yah!!!!!! So many smiling faces. If you would like to see some of those smiling faces, click on the link Images from Labour Day

October - International Marathon

The Niagara Falls International Marathon is a moving event! It is the only marathon in the world that starts in one country and finishes in another. The first 6.5km of the race starts in Buffalo N.Y. and travels the parkways of Buffalo before crossing the Peace Bridge into the town of Fort Erie, Ontario. The route then follows the Niagara River Parkway and finishes at Niagara Falls. This flat and fast course has hosted two USA men's Olympic marathon trials in 1980 and 1984, along with the World Veteran's Games marathon in 1995. This marathon is quickly growing into a major event in the peninsula and is also a qualifier for the Boston Marathon. We watched young and old, run, walk, wheelchair and bike to meet the challenge. In all we had 1,143 participants.

The Community Services Committee volunteered to man water Station #21. Our task was to hydrate and encourage the participants as they went through our water station. This started off slow with small groups of runners passing through. We were organized, we had lots of volunteers, our tables were stocked with cups filled with water, we could easily handle the task at hand. This quickly changed, one minute we were laughing and joking around and suddenly the horizon was a sea of runners and for the next hour or so they came by the hundreds, a mass of runners, as quick as we handed out the drinks and filled more cups they were grabbed by the runners. It was bedlam and chaos all at one time, our twenty or so volunteers could barely keep up. As quickly as it begun the runners slowed to a trickle, our tables were almost empty, paper cups covered the ground like autumn leaves as far as the eye could see. We cleaned up the cups filled the tables and prepared for round two the main event the marathon.

We were all impressed at the amount of runners who after running 21 miles still took the time to say thank you for the water and many even thanked us for volunteering! One of the special moments of the race occurred when one of the leading marathon runners failed three times to snatch a drink as he quickly ran through our water station. One of our volunteers Nathan heard the runner exclaim I really wanted that. Nathan responded by grabbing another cup of water and sprinted after the runner. As we all watched in amazement Nathan caught up with the runner and handed him the water.

A minimum of twenty volunteers was required and we would like to thank all the volunteers for helping out. Next years marathon will be held in October, the exact date will be on our website as soon as we know. Anyone who has a few hours to spare and would like to join in the fun please let us know we would love to have you help out at mile marker 21. Images from Mile Marker 21

December Community Dinner

Our busy year ends with the annual Christmas Community Dinner, volunteers prepare and serve hundreds of free Turkey dinners to the community. The sad part of this is that we have so many families in need in our community. The most gratifying part is that we have so many volunteers willing to lend a helping hand and that we can bring some Christmas Cheer into our community. Many of these volunteers are of high school age. It is very gratifying to meet the young folks of our community, and they in return are rewarded with community hours for school and the knowledge they helped to bring some Christmas spirit into the community. Images from Christmas Dinner

Year Round

Throughout the year the committee has several ongoing campaigns we collect toiletries and dry or canned produce for those in need. If you have been out globetrotting and have some of the little soaps, shampoo and razors etc. just drop them off at the union hall. We have a box in the Standing Committee room for toiletries and nonperishable foods like peanut butter; pasta etc. or you can drop them off with Noreen or Gail at the front desk.

In conclusion, we personally feel that being part of the committee is a very rewarding experience. Having the opportunity to help others and experience the joy first hand is a very gratifying, humbling and rewarding. If you would like to share this experience with us and make a difference in someone's life, why not volunteer a few hours of your time, its time well spent, you will not regret it.

All our best
Tony & Doris