Olympic Torch in Guelph this morning

Celebrating Diversity – December 23 to 31

December 23 – Joseph Smith’s Birthday (Christian – Mormon) – He was the American Mormon Leader, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. December 25 – Christmas Day (Christian) – This day celebrates Jesus Christ’s birth over 2,000 years ago.  Customs include lighting candles, exchanging gifts and using evergreen decorations to celebrate [...]

Happy holidays to all

Lights at City Hall

I am often asked why there are lights on at City Hall at night. It seems counter-intuitive to all the energy-saving features of the new building. One of the big reasons is that, with 24/7 by-law service now in place, the building is essentially occupied 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The By-law officers [...]

Candlelight Vigil for a deal in Copenhagen

More on IT in Guelph

I received this e-mail from a local IT enthusiast:   These are exciting times to work and live in Guelph. 3 years ago business leaders formed the Guelph Business Technology peer to peer network: DemoCamp was established by a couple of Guelphites and now boast attendance of 100+ each month.   Guelph Chamber of Commerce [...]

Celebrating Diversity – December 12 to 21

December 12 – Hanukkah (through December 19) (Jewish) – Approximately in 164 B.B, Maccabees, a small group of Jews fighting for religious freedom won victory over the Syrians.  The legend goes that to rededicate the Temple, they found only one jar of holy oil and miraculously the candelabra remained lit for 8 days.  The Festival [...]

Junior achievers create local greeting cards

I recently met with a member of Junior Achievement, Jeremy DiCarlo, who is President of a company called Hello! Greeting Cards. The company has created a number of greeting cards featuring Guelph images.  Jeremy is a local grade 10 student, and he created the company with other students who are involved in Junior Achievement Guelph-Wellington. [...]

Cities and Climate Change

With the world’s attention on Copenhagen and the likely dashed hopes for a real commitment to act from some parts of the world, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities has released a document drawing attention to the key role municipalities can play in addressing climate change.  Act Locally – The Municipal Role in Fighting Climate Change – [...]

Infrastructure Jobs

Someone was asking how many jobs will be created in our community through the infrastructure funding.  This funding is helping us replace aging infrastructure so that our toilets keep working and water gets to our homes and businesses. It is estimated the work will create 800 jobs in Guelph.  We will have a better accounting [...]