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Did you know our non-profit partners fundraise with rain barrel stands too? It’s true; they do!

UPDATED! Our rain barrels stands are made from recycled end-cuts of 2×10, 2×8 and 2×6 lumber, so no additional trees were cut to produce this product. The boards can be stacked in alternating directions, 8 levels high to create a stand that is 1 foot tall. We recommend using a solid base of gravel, bricks or a 2×2 patio stone. The exact same boards can be secured together with 3.5 inch wood screws to create a 2 foot tall, bench-style stand, however the wood screws must be purchased separately from your local hardware store.

We receive the wood in strapped bundles containing hundreds of pieces. Some bundles are wrapped in tarps and others are not. The lumber is in its natural state and has not been treated, stained or painted and may have arrived wet, discoloured or weathered.

In most cases, every single piece will have at least three surfaces that are in excellent shape. Before constructing your rain barrel stand, consider allowing the wood to thoroughly dry and treating it with a sealer, stain or paint to extend the lifespan of the wood. Organize the pieces in advance so that the best sides are facing outward and so that the very best pieces are used to construct the top surface.  The most weathered pieces can be easily hidden out of sight.

A solid base for support comprised of a 2×2 foot patio-stone, pavers, bricks, blocks or stones is recommended. The stands can be setup in two formats. By stacking the boards, they will be 1 foot tall. By assembling them with wood screws, they will be 2 feet tall. Multiple stands can be stacked to provide additional height.

Want to order one and maybe a rain barrel or downspout diverter too? Click here to see a list of all sales being hosted by our non-profit partners. If you have any questions you can leave a comment or email [email protected].

UPDATED APRIL 26 – MORE SALES HAVE BEEN ADDED TO OUR LIST HERE

April 25, 2014 UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who purchased a rain barrel and/or accessories from our non-profit partners. At this time the only sale left open for ordering is the Hamilton City Sale. You you click here to submit your order.

When you purchase a rain barrel, downspout diverter, stand or flower pot from one of our non-profit partners; not only are you helping them to reach their fundraising goals but you are also helping our environment .

Below is a list of fundraising truckload rain barrel sales happening on April 26th. Click on the location closest to you to submit your order.

 

 

AYR, ON – The 136 Kiowa Royal Air Cadet Squadron 

BAYFIELD, ON – Bayfield River Valley Trail Association 

BRUCEFIELD, ON – Brucefield Community United Church 

CARLETON PLACE, ON – Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority 

DORCHESTER, ON – St Peter’s Anglican Church

EXETER, ON – South Huron District High School Eco Team

GODERICH, ON – Goderich District Collegiate Institute

HAMILTON, ON – HAMILTON CITY SALE

KINBURN, ON – Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority

KITCHENER – WATERLOO, ON – Victoria Park Neighbourhood Association 

KITCHENER – WATERLOO, ON – Central Frederick Community Garden 

KITCHENER – WATERLOO, ON – Forest Hill’s TreeGeneration 

KITCHENER – WATERLOO, ON – Century 21 Home Realty 

KITCHENER – WATERLOO, ON – Eastwood Collegiate Institute WRDSB 

KITCHENER – WATERLOO, ON – Waterloo Preschool 

KITCHENER – WATERLOO, ON – North Waterloo World Jamboree Scout Patrol 

OTTAWA, ON – Great River School

OTTAWA, ON – Beacon Learning Centre

OTTAWA, ON – Westminster Presbyterian Church

SCARBOROUGH, ON – West Hill Highland Creek Lions Club 

SEAFORTH, ON – Seaforth Public School 

STRATFORD, ON – Perth County Crimestoppers 

SUDBURY, ON – Sudbury Teachers Lions Club 

SUDBURY, ON – Sudbury Synchro 

TORONTO, ON – Toronto Zoo 

TORONTO, ON – Black Creek SNAP

VANASTRA, ON – Vanastra Recreation Centre 

Can’t find a sale in your area? Click here for a complete list of all our fundraising rain barrel sales happening this year.

 

 

 

We don’t swim – we sync!

Sudbury Synchro Swim Club operates out of the Jeno Tihanyi Olympic Gold Pool at Laurentian University.  Our club offers novice, masters and competitive levels of synchronized swimming.   The club started in September 2003.  That very first year, Lindsay Wandziak and Stephanie Westphal won gold in their duet at the Ontario Winter Games.  Now Lindsay is the club’s Head Coach and Stephanie has returned as a guest coach.  We have 60 novice swimmers, 9 masters’ swimmers, 24 competitive swimmers, and a number of experienced coaches and judges involved with our club.

Synchronized swimming combines swimming, dance and gymnastics, with swimmers performing a synchronized routine comprised of different figures, skills and movements choreographed to music. Synchronized swimmers are strong swimmers with great strength, endurance, flexibility, grace, artistry and precise timing, as well as the ability to hold their breath for long periods of time even while upside down in the water!  Synchronized swimmers are not allowed to touch the bottom at any time during their performance.  And yes, they can hear the music underwater because they use underwater speakers!

Every October Sudbury Synchro participates in a Burning Bright for Breast Cancer event.  (Breast Cancer is the charity of choice for Synchro Ontario).  Prior to the event, all swimmers with the club get pledges and donations.  On event day, the swimmers participate in an hour long relay where they pass a burning candle from swimmer to swimmer while doing the eggbeater.  There are hundreds of pink rubber ducks floating in the pool during the relay.  Each year, Sudbury Synchro has been the top fundraising club in Ontario!

Two years in a row the club has hosted Olympians for a weekend.  Last year the club hosted Olympian Elise Marcotte and this year the club hosted Olympian Tracy Little.  Both Olympians performed parts of their Olympic routines for the swimmers and parents, and two full days in the water, on the pool deck and in a gym mentoring the Sudbury swimmers and coaches.

For three years our club has had swimmers selected for the Provincial Team.  A number of members of the club are working towards becoming Provincial Judges.  In late spring, watch for information about our “Try Synchro” events where swimmers can get in the pool with our coaches and swimmers and decide if synchro is the sport for them.

The club has already had the first of two water shows (December and April) where all routines are showcased.  At the end of February, our 11-12 competitive team (coaches Chelsea Wandziak and Dana Yawney, swimmers Bronwyn Ashley, Alexa Bates, Emily Binks, Laurel Duguay, Rebecca Haferer, Sarah Ieropoli, Stacie Kohan and Georgia Speck, swimming to Inspector Gadget music) and our 13-15 team (coach Courtney Stasiuk, swimmers Kamryn Butler, Katherine Caddel, Mya Duguay and Megan Sarmatiuk, swimming to Kung Fu Panda music) are both attending the Ontario Winter Games!  This is a very exciting opportunity for our club!  Three duets will also be attending the Ontario Winter Games.  A number of our novice teams will be off to a meet in Burlington at the beginning of March.  A Regional meet is held towards the end of March for our competitive teams, a Hilton Invitational meet is held in April where our 8 and under competitive team (coached by former National Team member Carrie Wilson) will make its first meet debut.  And finally our season ends mid-May in Windsor for the Ontario Age Group championships, which is a five day meet with teams from all over Ontario competing.

The club continues to grow year after year as we instill a lifelong love of the sport of synchronized swimming into our athletes.  For more information on the sport or our club, please visit www.sudburysynchro.com.

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Order your rain barrel today to help the club with operational costs such as pool rental and lifeguards on duty. Funds raised will also contribute to coordinate special events for the club and competition registrations. Submit your order for pick up on April 26th by visiting: www.RainBarrel.ca/SudburySynchro

On April 10, 2014, our President,  Larry Pomerantz received the inaugural Community Builder Award at Volunteer Hamilton’s 16^th Annual Community Builders Breakfast.

Larry was nominated by the Council of Canadians Hamilton Chapter. He was selected by Volunteer Hamilton from among 44 nominations.

CoC says:

Larry  has been a dedicated, reliable volunteer member of the Hamilton Chapter for the past 2 ½ years since the Chapter was re-activated. He has provided leadership to the organization by assuming responsibility for Co-Chairing the Aerotropolis Group throughout 2012 and 2013. In this capacity he actively engaged in fundraising and communication to support the work of Hamiltonians for Progressive Development and Environment Hamilton as they participated in the Ontario Municipal Board hearings in the fall 2013. Since July 2013 and until the present, Larry has also Co-Chaired the Direct Democracy Group and provided energy and leadership to that Group as they have continued to work to promote a greater understanding of the concept and practice of direct democracy as well as foster the development of a greater degree of direct democracy and civic engagement in the Hamilton Community. The Direct Democracy Group has tremendous potential to offer alternative solutions to representative democracy and to place resident decision making power and government accountability as cornerstones of our political system.

Larry’s previous community work demonstrated his commitment to community development in Hamilton. In 1996, he won a recycling contract with the former Wentworth County School Board. He developed a colour-coded recycling sorting system for the schools which permitted an elementary school of 300 students to reduce their garbage to one bag per week and to remove their dumpster bin from the property. As a result, he was a finalist for a Waste Minimization Award through the Recycling Council of Ontario.

In 1997, Larry founded Earth Day Hamilton (EDH) and led the organization for 12 years before stepping down as Chair. EDH provides unparalleled environmental learning opportunities for students by getting them out into nature and in front of seasoned experts. Upwards of 60,000 students and their teachers have enjoyed free access to this extraordinary level of environmental education. EDH has also grown to become the premiere tree planting organization in Hamilton. The annual tree planting festival has restored shorelines, created forest buffers, protected beachfront sand dunes, involved thousands of volunteers and planted tens of thousands of trees, shrubs and grasses. He continues to serve EDH as a Board member.

In 2009, Larry was a founding member of the Hamilton Civic League (HCL) and has fulfilled the role of Chair of the Board since its inception. HCL began by focusing on increasing voter turnout and has expanded to keep residents informed about important local issues. While simultaneously heading up the Aerotropolis Group, under the banner of the Hamilton Chapter of the Council of Canadians, HCL initiated a program to knock on every door within the Aerotropolis to survey residents’ opinions on the City’s rezoning plans. They hosted a garbage rally when Hamilton City Council rejected bi-weekly garbage collection contrary to the recommendations of the Waste Reduction Task Force. HCL setup the Fluoride Free Hamilton website to allow residents to register their opposition to water fluoridation. HCL under Larry’s leadership initiated CityCam which permits residents to watch, listen, comment and vote in real-time alongside City Council. HCL currently has a community-wide Values & Priorities Survey underway and will produce a 2014 Councillor Report Card based on the survey results.

Through Larry’s business activities with RainBarrel.ca, he has assisted hundreds of non-profit groups to raise funds for their local initiatives through truckload rain barrel fundraising sales.

In summary, Larry Pomerantz is an energetic, dedicated, reliable volunteer who leads by example in his volunteer capacity. He goes far above and beyond the norm of regular volunteer duties. Larry has made a special impact in the Hamilton Chapter of the Council of Canadians AND the local Hamilton community through outstanding volunteer effort over the past 18 years (1996 to the present). In addition to his contribution to the CoC Hamilton Chapter, his work with Earth Day Hamilton, the Hamilton Civic League and the non-profit community has been exemplary and deserving of recognition.

This is National Volunteer Week. Thank you to all the members of the CoC Hamilton Chapter! It is your volunteer efforts that make our social justice work possible.

*Originally published in an email by Kathie Clark

“The sky is not the limit”, according to Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield. 136 Kiowa Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron puts these words into action.  This squadron attracts youth, 12 to 18 years old, from a large area including the southwest corner of Kitchener, New Dundee, Ayr, Paris, Plattsville and beyond. Why? This little squadron, situated in the village of Ayr, offers an amazing array of opportunities.

A great source of pride for 136 Kiowa Air Cadet Squadron is their training facility where Cadets can take Ground School classes on Wednesday evenings and Aviation Classes on Saturdays. It is fully equipped with 5 fixed-wing aircraft flight simulators and it boasts the very first Helicopter Flight Simulator in Air Cadets Canada to offer pilot training.

Here is just a snapshot of what 136 Kiowa Cadets are up to this Month. The Squadron is busy promoting water conservation and fundraising through their Rain Barrel Truckload Sale at events in our area. The Cadets will be on hand to help customers pick up their purchases at the North Dumfries Community Complex in Ayr on April 26, 11 am to 5 pm. The Marksmanship Team practices on Saturdays and participated in the Zone Competition at the beginning of the month. The Dodgeball Team is preparing for their Inter-Squadron Sports Competition in April. The Debating and Effective Speaking Team is also preparing for their upcoming competition in April.  136 Kiowa Pipe and Drum Band practices on Monday evenings, and each Tuesday evening, the whole Squadron spends time on Drill for their Annual Review Parade which will take place at the end of May.

In addition to team activities, the squadron has enjoyed bowling, rock climbing, outdoor camping and gliding this year.  They are looking forward to another chance to train in glider planes this April at the Mid-Western Ontario Gliding Centre near Wingham, Ontario. There will be another weekend of outdoor adventure at Camp Tanner in early May and a Year End Trip to Niagara Falls in late May.

How much does it cost? “The Cadet Program is funded by the Department of National Defence in partnership with the civilian Navy League, Army Cadet League and Air Cadet League of Canada. The civilian sponsor requires local community support to meet its obligations that include accommodations, training aids and equipment and program enhancements not otherwise provided. Parents and Cadets are expected to participate in and contribute to fundraising as required by the League’s local sponsoring element. The Department of National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces assumes costs (including uniform and travel) for Cadets. Consequently, membership in the Cadet Program provides thousands of Canadian youth with unique opportunities free of charge that they might not otherwise experience.” Click here for more information.

But wait…there’s more! Air Cadet Summer Training Camps are offered by the Air Cadet League in co-operation with the Department of National Defense. These training courses can last from two to six weeks. A training bonus of $10 per day is paid to every cadet for each day of training they complete at these camps (to a weekly maximum of $60, and a course maximum of $360).

It is not too late for interested youth to join now and participate in making memories that will last a lifetime. If you are interested in attending summer camp or want to progress to the next proficiency level next year – you will need to have joined NO LATER THAN March 31.  136 Kiowa Air Cadet Squadron is committed to ensuring that every Cadet reaches their full potential within the programme of developing good citizenship and leadership by participating in community activities and healthy living through fitness and exposure to careers in Aviation.

Written by Saundra Kinnear

Please support 136 Kiowa Squadron Rain Barrel Sale Fundraiser.  Add this notice to your email signature AND visit RainBarrel.ca/136Kiowa to purchase $50 rain barrels, downspout diverters, flower boxes and more.  Pick-up your purchases on Saturday April 26, 2014 from 11 AM – 5 PM at North Dumfries Community Complex Parking Lot (2958 Greenfield Road, Ayr Ontario). Thanks!