Wellington Oracle

The damage done by a recent windstorm has proved to be the undoing of the heritage maple at the front of the Salvations Army’s Bethany Hope Centre at 1140 Wellington.

According to Linda Hoad of the Hintonburg Community Association, the wind damage caused by a recent windstorm triggered an inspection by a City of Ottawa arborist, who discovered interior rot in the large branches and advised the Centre that the tree should be removed.

Hoad says the tree has stood over the street  since the 1920s and was on the list of Hintonburg-nominated trees to the City’s Heritage Tree program.

However, what is left of the huge old trunk may yet be spared the wood chipper. Annie Hillis of the West Wellington Business Improvement Area says she is working to see if the remainder of the tree can be turned into a large sculpture.

“If the core is solid enough to stay up, we hope to rally the community  – including the WWBIA – to raise money for an artist’s fee and competition”

Such sculptures are common in other Canadian cites; in fact one saw manufacturer even sponsors an exhibition of them in London, Ontario.

Photo by Don Chow

Ottawa food reviewer Don Chow has begun to bring his expert palate to points west in the last few months, and reviews of Hintonburg and West Wellington eateries can now be found on his foodiePrints.com blog.

Oracle readers will enjoy the detailed approach Don brings to his reviews; from deconstructing the barbeque sauce of a popular Holland Avenue “chicken and ribs” joint to assessing the quality of the sandwich bread at one of Wellington Street’s best-known cafés, very little escapes Don’s notice.

In one of our favourite recent features, foodiePrints takes to Wellington street to put together the perfect Food Day Canada meal including sticky rolls from Three Tarts, hamburger buns from Harvest Loaf, and fresh corn and tomatoes from the Rochon Farms stall in the Parkdale Market.

Annie Hillis has her hands full these days. The executive director of the Wellington West BIA is helping to troubleshoot her second summer of road reconstruction disruptions along the district’s main street, and Phase 2 — the section from Parkdale to Hilda — is making last year’s “Phase 1″ along the stretch through Wellington Village look like a stroll in the park.

“We only lost one business to roadwork in West Wellington, but it’s a different situation altogether in Hintonburg –the narrow streets make it much more difficult for shoppers arriving by car to get around the digging”. Adding to the frustration of  the tight squeeze is the sheer length of the project. According to Hillis “merchants and residents are angry that so much of it was put out to tender all once, many say it would have been been much better to have this year’s work at stop at Merton”. (more…)

Oracle book reviewer Gus Monet reviews “The Amulet of Samarkand” by  Jonathan Stroud, Part 1 of the Bartimaeus trilogy.

Imagine a world of magic. Imagine a world of hate, fear, murder, rebellion, cowardice, greed, and sarcastic djinn with sharp tongues and smart-mouth comments. Imagine Nathaniel’s world, which actually happens to be in modern day downtown London. This fantasy work has a magic/mystery plot with an “Arabian nights” feel to it. This book is the first in the Bartimaeus trilogy, and is a fun and intelligent read. (more…)