Living in Aurora, Town of Aurora, Ontario » Education

Northern Lights Public School, We Are Walking

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 03:40:28 +0000

We picked Northern Lights Public School – good school, close by and Matthew will only attend two days a week, and three days every other week in his first year junior kindergarten.

Few days ago I decided to walk with him to school. He didn’t resist but it wasn’t his best walking day so it was good to time the worst case scenario. It took us about twenty five minutes to slow walk. Hopefully by next week Thursday Matthew will focus on walking to school and my pockets will not be filled with stones, flowers and tree branches.

Northern Lights Public School, Bridgenorth Drive, Aurora

We decided no school bus. Matthew will walk to school, of course, I will walk with him. We walk around Aurora a lot, so I know he can do it. It is only two days a week, and no worries if it is raining or really cold I will drive him to school. We are not exactly close but 1.6 km is manageable.

Northern Lights Public School, Bridgenorth Drive, Aurora

We are definitely ready for school – knapsack, big lunch box (Matthew used to call it a big box of food), clothes and stickers.

But really, are we really ready? Matthew says he is. I on the other hand getting nervous for him, and, and, and I am going to miss him. I am holding back and saving all my tears for the first day of school, but today I almost let them out when I was making pancakes.

Northern Lights Public School, Bridgenorth Drive, Aurora

It is hard to believe that he is going to school. Over four years there was first day at the Hamilton Park playground; first time at the McDonalds and Tim Horton’s; first time at the Aurora Public Library and getting first library card; first time walking Arboretum; first time walking McKenzie Marsh boardwalk and Nokiidaa Trail Link boardwalk – etc etc.

Next week there will be first time going to Northern Lights Public School. I know he will be fine but I will not be able to see that ‘fine‘. All four years every day I was always around, but this time I won’t be. I will be only 1.6 km away and it will feel like 1600 km away.

Northern Lights Public School, Bridgenorth Drive, Aurora

Now I will have all this free time. I think to adjust to recent change I will be rubbing and scrubbing the house, or may be not. May be I will venture out more on my photo journeys around Aurora.

Or better idea, why don’t I hang out around the Optimist playground and when Matthew goes on the recess I can see him via my zoom lens. May be just for the month of September I be a stalking mom.

Northern Lights Public School, Bridgenorth Drive, Aurora

“True life is lived when tiny changes occur.” ~ Leo Tolstoy

Earth Hour, Lead By Example

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 01:02:21 +0000

I think the Earth Hour is great initiative that promotes simple no brain-er task to save energy and I cannot believe that it is here again, time really flies. I seem to enjoy this electricity free hour, and I happened to enjoy those hours many times throughout the year.

Earth Hour for 2012 is here and starts tomorrow March 31st between 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM (local Aurora time), make sure you switch off your lights to show your commitment to the fight against climate change.

Hamilton Park, Playground, Aurora

On the other hand it is kind of ironic. We spend so much energy and time to promote the Earth Hour here in our town, but then walking around the town I find this peculiarities that just don’t make sense. Look at the photo and tell me what is wrong with this picture?

Town should be leading by example, but sometimes I wonder.

Earth Hour is telling us something, if you add up small things you can make a big difference. What is that one hour per year in one day? Nothing really, yet it means a lot if you add up all these hours together.

Truck Load Of Books, Library Take Out Allowance And Self-Checkout

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 15:59:46 +0000

We were standing in line at the library to checkout our pile of books and DVDs. I had only six books and three DVDs. I thought that I was taking little too many items and the librarian for sure may say something.

While we were waiting I couldn’t help to notice a bigger pile of books lady in front of us was checking out. I counted over twenty. They were children’s books. I am assuming she must have been a teacher or daycare provider and the books were for the children.

Is there a limit how many books we can checkout? That wasn’t the question for that day but I thought I ask anyway. No there is no limit was the answer. I can checkout as many books I wish to read. A big shopping cart of books, aha, sounds good?

Kidding aside, there is no limit, but of course it is left to your discretion.

So what was my second question then?

I asked if there were records of all the books I checked out from the time I joined the library. The answer was no because ‘we don’t have enough storage, that it what they tell us‘ – librarian at the checkout told me.

That seemed strange because data such text shouldn’t require that much storage space. Something like that would only require to store three data fields such as name of the book, the author and a date when the book was taken out against the library card number. Never mind the book name and the author name is already in the database. The only new information will be the date.

Well, this is wishful thinking. May be in the future little modifications to the library database can be made. I guess I will be keeping my receipts for now as it was recommended to me that day.

Not even asking for it I got to learn self-checkout that day too. Librarian approached me and asked me if I would like to learn how to use the self-checkout. ‘You have checkout stands?‘ – I asked surprised. ‘Yes, of course, I like self-checkouts. As a matter of fact I use them in the stores all the time and I like them‘ – I added while she was bringing us to the area.

Aha now I know what this equipment is for. Lady was very patient with me as I kept looking after Matthew over my shoulder. I lost him for a split second in the bushes that morning and that darn split second felt like a longest split second of my life. I wasn’t going to take another heart attacking chance. By the way, checking out your own books is very easy.

Aurora Public Library, November Display

But before I conclude my another learning experience at the library I must suggest that when you are at the library drop by the display that is located on the right side of the sitting area.

Theme for this month is the Remembrance Day. However, the most fascinating to me item on the display is the panoramic view of the Yonge Street, the War Memorial and the farmland around. Not sure if you can see it on the above image but if you visit library you will see it for sure.

Aurora Public Library, November Display

I yet got to learn that all the displays are assembled by lady called Helen. Well I must say that Helen does amazing job especially by adding touch of Aurora or all about Aurora.

The lady who told me about Helen said: ‘Helen is really good in putting it all together. I don’t know where and how she gets her stuff. Sometimes she brings if from home. She does wonderful job assembling those displays, inside and the one at the entrance‘.

School Like Lofty Ideas, Wells Street School Future Transformation

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 04:41:08 +0000

Partially we should be happy that the Wells Street Public School will not be demolished, but unfortunate that it is not going to be a school in the near future. Something also tells me that many are not happy about the transformation to the residential area, or so called lofts.

Wells Street Public School

If everything goes through in the upcoming months or years, Aurora will have lofts on Wells Street.

I am not sure if the reconstruction of old factories into lofts is still booming as it was over ten years ago in Toronto. When we looked for our first house to buy we did tour one of those lofts. They were nice. Not within our requirements though – size versus the price.

There were some layout issues we did not like as well. Ceilings were high and not covered, with all the piping exposed – dust collectors for sure. The sewer pipe, probably not able to change it, was just beside the kitchen. My imagination is too wild, I would hate the sounds of flushing toilet when I am cooking.

No thanks for us. We ended up in the Aurora.

Wells Street Public School

Can we salvage the look of the school?

It is hard to tell. It all depends on how many loft units developer is planning to have. The windows probably will be developer’s greatest obstacle. Major windows on the sides and on the front of the school are in the groups of five. Hard split for sure. The front of the school is practically all windows, not including the side decor closed frames.

Let just hope that may be the builder is thinking about converting each classroom into a loft. Then there is possibility to preserve the look of the old school. But never know, I am only speaking of it by looking outside. Once engineers will get hold of the plans they will be able to do some magic.

Parking availability will be also interesting item on the list. Will they dig underground? It is possible.

Wells Street Public School, Fenced Side

I was a bit ignorant before and did not really pay attention why would only one side of the school be fenced off. I sneaked behind the Aurora Masonic Hall to see the fenced side of the school. It is obvious now to me that there are external damages to the brick wall on one side only.

Now there is a question for you. You are in the market to buy a nice loft in Aurora. You spotted lofts for sale on the Wells Street. Investigated and found out that one side of the building was once damaged. Which side would you be interested in, the damaged or undamaged one? Or will you go and look somewhere else? Aha, something to think about.

Okay and what will happen to the Aurora Farmers Market? Or may be it is too soon to think about relocating but I am sure it will all work out. Sometimes it is to hard accept change in our community, but things will always change and sometimes for a greater good.

Pioneer Women At Aurora Farmers Market

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 04:01:30 +0000

A senior lady came to the Pioneer booth and told Katherine Belrose – ‘Oh, my mother used to have one of those‘. She pointed out in the direction of the spinning wheel and a woman spinning the woolen yarn.

Spinning Wheel

It looks like the pioneer presentation at the Aurora Farmers Market brought lot of good memories to many who visited the pioneer booth.

Butter Making

I grew up in a small town myself. A small town dating from 14th century with about 3000 people. Therefore, going from making a butter with a dash butter churn, cleaning carpets with a carpet beater, making own cheese, washing clothes using the washboard and to sit in front of the computer and blog today – I think I have seen enough of technological advancements in just 35 years. Such practices were very common in our family when I was growing up.

Washboard

‘If we treasure our own experience and regard it as real, we must also treasure other people’s experience.’ – A quote by John Charles Polanyi

I have seen a spinning wheel many times, but that was regional. Mostly those who lived in the mountains and had sheep farms were spinning the wool yarns. In our area we had flax farms to make linen and flax seeds and by the time I was born our town already had the linen processing factory.

The Pioneer Women

At some point I found myself mesmerized in Katherine’s booth and I was capturing moments that once were reality in my life – the butter, the washboard. Now, may be some can see why I treasure the Petch house so much.

More pictures, just click on any image and keep clicking.

Desperate Measures, Do We Really Need More Signs?

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 05:02:55 +0000

This is absolutely a great idea, and I could not agree more. The article ‘Councillor’s Notice of Motion would create smoke-free areas near town’s recreations facilities‘ published in THE AURORAN, Week of Auguts 2, 2011 on page 3 was an interesting reading and in my favor. The Councillor Abel proposed to increase smoke-free areas around recreational facilities, including playgrounds.

It’s about time law enforcement got as organized as organized crime. ~ by Rudolph Giuliani.

This also reminded me our last visit to the Town’s Park Splash Pad and how awful it was to stand around people who smoked close by. We couldn’t do much because our boy was playing near by, no choice but to accelerate our visit at the pad. He stated that ‘most people would not smoke around their children or their environment‘, well he is wrong on this one as I have seen many cases where parents smoke around their children and in presence of other children at the playgrounds.

He also stated ‘it would take a lot of funds and resources to monitor these sorts of events‘. I could not agree more again. These are all valid statements. They are in favor of our children and who would not agree. So I was agreeing while reading this article – yes, yes this is good.

But wait a minute there is something wrong with this picture.

How possibly can I agree on the above? NO I WILL NOT. It will be just another useless sign put out in our town.

The article ‘Residents semi-successful in dangerous dog appeal‘ published Week of August 9, 2011 on the front page of THE AURORAN is a perfect example of useless signs in our town. If the town enforced the by-law for dogs off the leash (a rope or similar material attached to the neck or head of an animal for restraint or control), we would not have this incident in the first place.

I am repeating this again and again. I had dog jumped on me last year (a friendly puppy according to the owner). I had another dog charging at me on the soccer field where the owner had to raise serious voice on them in order for them to get back and be leashed, and these were not small dogs. Size probably close to the German Shepherd dog. I continue to see dog owners letting their dogs off the leash.

I don’t drive. I walk. I see. I see every day. People take dogs to the parks and playgrounds and let them out. Then why bother having just another useless sign if not enforced.

Last spring I was completely disgusted and tired bringing dirty shoes, and not just the dirt. The melted snow revealed lot of hidden illegal doggy treasures. Now I see it is happening again. A month ago I have noticed someone took time to create these home made signs with plastic covers (in plastic so they last longer) asking politely to scoop the poop after the dog. The signs appeared all around the Hamilton Park.

Attention Dog Owners

I noticed about 6 of them plaster all over the posts and garbage cans. Desperate measures, residents acting on their own wasting their time and resources on top of the tax dollars they have to pay to keep our streets clean. Then why bother having just another useless sign if not enforced.

Attention Dog Owners Again

The other time I wrote about people dumping in front, not just close by, but in front of the No Dumping sign – By Law No Dumping Dump Ditty Dump Dump Dump. Then why bother having just another useless sign if not enforced.

How about no litter signs? We need those too, but then why bother having just another useless sign which will not be enforced.

Littering, McKenzie Marsh

[Thinking] I have an idea. I think instead of another sign we should have a column in our local newspaper from the Town of Aurora dedicated to all the by-laws in town stating fines as well. It probably would raise eyebrows for some. Here is an example.

Dear Aurora Residents:

Keep your dogs on the leash everywhere and anytime of the day or night; otherwise $$$ fine.

Pick up after your dog during all four beautiful seasons: fall, winter, spring and summer; otherwise $$$ fine.

Pick Up After Your Dog - Sign

Do not leave bag full of poop hanging on the tree in the park; otherwise $$$ fine.

Stop dumping in front of No Dumping signs. We know who you are – your patio is looking great. Fine $$$.

Do not litter. If we don’t fine you we will pass charge on Tim Hortons and McDonalds for littering. Fine $$$.

Try not to hide 4th, and 5th dog or cat in the house. Fine $$$ for every over the limit animal.

Do not let the cat go outside before going to the litter-box; otherwise $$$ fine.

When parking on the street don’t just rotate your tires every 24 hours, move to the next spot. Fine $$$.

When you have dust in your eyes, you forgot to use water jet when cutting stone. Fine $$$, more fine for dust in your neighbors eyes.

Idling Car

No mercy if you forgot to turn off the ignition key. Fine $$$.

What can I say more? What will another sign do? Probably absolutely nothing. I think it is plain simple that we just keep plastering our town with signs that mean nothing. We need more than that, a by-law enforcement officer and real fines. With all this illegal activity the collected fines may even cover the officer’s salary plus some money for the town.

Kidding aside, I think Councillors Abel’s Notice of Motion for smoke-free is good one, but lets look at the existing by-law signs and their effectiveness. Something to think about.

The Richness, The Beauty, The Petch House

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 03:55:50 +0000

I find beauty everywhere and I found beauty in the Petch House that once housed many families here in Aurora grounds. An old decaying log house now embraced by nature is standing alone and waiting for the day that will be alive again.

The Petch House at Sunset, Aurora

Days are passing by and the process of natural and yet accelerated decay is taking over. The deterioration from the last time I visited the property is more prominent. Everything with time is decaying. It is a natural process and cannot be stopped, but it can be slowed down.

Shifting

Nature took over. Nature embraced this little log house and added unprecedented natural beauty. It is now home to squirrels, birds, ants and many more. Why not? Survivors will seek shelter. It’s there and it is serving its purpose as it once served purpose a long time ago providing a shelter to many families.

Seeking Shelter

Tiny, tiny plants are growing on the logs and feeding on the nutrients from the deteriorated logs, once trees. A fundamental principle in physics states that mass is conserved, it cannot be created or destroyed, thus with the help of sun energy, moisture and the wood nutrients, a foliage is now carrying the Petch house history within. The cycle of life will continue, and this property will be forever marked.

Alone

Let the Petch house be a nutrient to our community. I think it is misunderstanding when one says history will repeat itself. Absolutely not in my opinion, history is irreversible. The moment I take a photo of something, it becomes a snapshot from the past. As much as I will try very hard to duplicate exact, it is nearly impossible. Everything may look the same, but the time is different.

Let us think about this – the differences in history now and history then. The art of making, building, producing or manufacturing of everything around us has accelerated exponentially with advancements in technology. We don’t think about it, but every minute millions of millions of everyday items are made mechanically. Skilled trade is fading. The art of making is fading. House made today is just another production house.

It may take 1000 years and not 100 years for the simple family house built today to gain a historical value. Not to mention, because everything is built so fast, it can have the same fast down fall, thus never to be of historical value. Only the giant architectural structures will be in front of line in our future history books, but what will that represent in our society.

Sometimes we think of history as dates and events. But history is in everything and is part of our lives. We learn from mistakes. Mistakes are past, mistakes are history. History is our teacher.

The Petch House Treasures

How this house could possibly be a nutrient to our community? The answer is simple, over many generations it preserved family values. The house was built with love and with intention to raise a family. It endured happiness and sadness. In those days, the sole goal of the family was to survive by building a shelter and farming to put food on the table.

Look around you today – do we have the same intentions. Our shelters today hardly ever are passed on from generation to generation. Our ‘ready’ food on the table comes from a local supermarket packed and cooked and ready to be microwaved. Our houses are filled with objects that are not unique anymore; they are really one of the millions and millions of things produced. In my eyes, the Petch house is a representation of stability – something our community and society lacks and needs today. Let us then learn from the history – from Petch families and their traditions, let the house be our example.

Petch House Log Cross-section Reveals Rings

What else can we learn? Few evenings ago I visited the Petch house for the third time and aftermath my head was filled with thoughts written here. It was a beautiful sun set on the horizon and the direct shine on the Petch house helped me to uncover the little things one may not see it at first glance – the age of the logs and art of making them. The age rings of the tree are very prominent and their age can be approximated. The center of the ring being closer to the edge shows that tree was first split into two halves and then each was squared.

Hook in the Log

Can you see that I am hooked, but I am not the only one out there? The media picked up on the efficient and strategic effort to save the house by The Friends of the Petch House. More history is being uncovered as per their recent post Petchville Treasures and my previous post Inventions From Aurora, Plow Attachment By J.A. Petch. The house has rich history as it is unvailing in front of our eyes, and don’t forget the beauty. The intricate patterns and textures on the Petch house can really captivate the eye of the observer, but that is a story for another time.

Petch House Textures

Wells Street School, Future Post-Secondary Institution, Maybe?

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 19:32:22 +0000

My eye caught an article in THE AURORAN from Week of May 17, 2011, ‘Brown lists priorities’ on page 8 about the Wells Street School being suggested for a post-secondary institution.

Here what was reported. ‘Bringing a post-secondary institution, whether a digital campus or a satellite campus of an existing college or university, was an issue that cropped up Aurora’s 2010 municipal elections with some suggestions floating around that the former Wells Street School property, which is now up for sale, could make an ideal location for such an institution.

Ms. Brown says she is aware of that possibility. “I have actually spoken to a number of people for possibilities for [the Wells Street School],” she said. “I don’t know whether that is the possibility for the campus. It is a school, it would be great to see that it would have that reputation in the future and it certainly would maintain a facility in Downtown Aurora that has a long and wonderful history.”‘

Wells Street School, Town of Aurora

The idea of post-secondary institution in Aurora is in fact a wonderful idea. Once kids are done with high school, this is were the commuting starts. Commuting takes away a good chunk of time from studying, especially if you have to do written work. On top of that, myself being in this situation in the past, commuting is the only answer, as residence may not be affordable for some of the kids.

Front Entrance, Wells Street School, Town of Aurora

Secondly in my opinion, a school that always been a school, and to continue the tradition of being an educational institution is the best choice for this property. The building was built to be a school, and not anything else. Hopefully the right decisions will be made.

Above the Front Entrance, Wells Street School, Town of Aurora

Window Mosaic, Wells Street School, Town of Aurora

Pictures were taken the day of Mayor’s Anti-Littering Day on April 30th, 2011. The spring was just emerging, not much of green around. I find that early spring is the best time to take pictures, as the structures are more exposed. Once the trees fill with green leaves, good luck finding anything.

Spring, Wells Street School, Town of Aurora

A Photo Journey To The Petch House In Aurora

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Tue, 03 May 2011 03:06:22 +0000

Just before the Easter weekend I had my first photo journey to the Petch house – yes, I was invited inside. It was very interesting and inspiring journey to be part of – to explore the 167 years old family house built in Aurora. I like the old log houses. There is so much character in them even though they look very simple – one might say. The condition the Petch house is now, is not the best. There is nothing fascinating about it if you just look. The house been renovated many times over 100 years so we may never really know the original look inside. However, if you look closely then you will find many interesting treasures to admire.

Petch House, Leslie Street, Town of Aurora

Someone said treasure? Yes, I was hoping to find a real treasure, but not this time. However, let me take you and show you some of the things that can be seen now in the Petch house. If the house gets a new place and new purpose for years to come, then it will have to be taken apart, mainly for safety reasons because the bottom support is in a bad condition, and structurally poses safety issues. According to the Friends of Petch House the house is not going to be a museum because it does not have a collection of artifacts, however, it is going to be used for community events and educational programs.

Interior Wood Log Walls of the Petch House With Contrasting Wall Paper

As you can see the house was built from the thick and long wood logs. You can see the same log on the outside and inside. The light wasn’t very good for taking pictures, but if you look closely you can see the rough chiseled marks. Not sure if chiseled is the right word to use, but one can definitely see that the uneven surface is definitely worked by hand. Aha, contrasting wall paper on the above picture. I thought it would be interesting to see the difference in wall decoration then and now. I am sure it all started with bare wood walls.

Interior Wood Log Walls of the Petch House

The same uneven surface is also seen on the top beam on the side wall, in the room that was probably a kitchen, to support the cross beams. However, the cross beams that run across the ceiling looked much more refined – little too perfect. But then, as the house will be examined further in the future by experienced crew, we will know more then about the beams.

Ceiling Support Beams, Petch House

The shown before contrasting wall paper is probably from 1980s, but then we found this (see below). It looked like painting, however, it was a definitely some sort of wall paper which we observed on the second floor. Well, that wall paper definitely is not ordinary wall paper, it has much more historic look and a feel. I was able to capture couple of nice undamaged areas. Again, probably from early 1900s, but this to be determined yet.

Wall Paper Sample Inside The Petch House

When I first time visited the Petch house by myself, I only saw the outside. I was kind of surprised to find modern features, one of them being electrical wiring, but then the house was always occupied, until recent few years. The original site of the Petch house was where the current Rona store is. The house itself has one main floor and the second floor. There was also a basement, but at this moment the house sits on the iron beams so there is nothing underneath. On the second journey, when we first time came inside, surprise, surprise, the entrance door on the side was swinging. We found broken lock. I guess we will never know the purpose of the break in.

Outside Log Structure Of The Petch House

The outside log is a photographer dream. There is so much abstract there. The old rusty nails add sense of security to the whole structure. However, the logs below are slowly deteriorating and shifting apart. Now the cycling weather condition is not helping at all. The inside is also exposed to weather conditions. Lets hope that some hidden treasure inside the house is well hidden and preserved, otherwise there will be none. To conclude, probably there is no treasure, but for Aurora the Petch House is a treasure by itself, and must be preserved.

Outside Log Structure Of The Petch House

I would like to extend special thank you to Katherine from the Friends of Petch House, who made the arrangement for my photo journey. If you want to learn more about Petch House, you can visit the Friends of Petch House web site or even better you can meet the volunteers in person at the Aurora Farmers Market on May 7th, 2011.

Petch House, My First Visit

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 05:43:16 +0000

In couple of days I will explore the insides of the Petch House located on Leslie Street, Town of Aurora, and I will be allowed to take some pictures. Stayed tuned for an update and my experience of a life in early 1800s.Too bad that someone already lived there, and not everything is original, but still I am excited. My first visit was about a week ago. I walked around and too few nice pictures. The front has the Flying Club sign – it kind of sucks, because just did not belong there on my photo.

Petch House, Town of Aurora