A Walk in the Park Improves Attention
By Francine St.Amand Most people would agree that being in a natural setting is relaxing and refreshing. The effect that nature has on our minds has been the subject of psychology research for a least a century and more intensely in the last few decades. This brain/nature connection is...
HOPS: Opportunity For An Aleing Economy?
By Francine St.Amand HOPS is one of those niche agricultural crops that is showing up more and more in NB’s rural landscape. When Joe Gee started up a vineyard on his farm in Carlingford last year, I realized that HOPS cultivation was something I wanted to learn more about....
P-A Community Conversations
The Perth-Andover Community Conversations Initiative has been around since winter of 2013. Being a community-building geek, I have been following the work of The Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement, based in Kitchen-Waterloo for the past few years. Institute President, Paul Born, and author of Community Conversations, sums up the...
Re-Purposing Perth-Andover:
The Demographic Factor Francine St. Amand In recent issues of Blackfly, I discussed the Educational, Environmental and Economic factors in the pitch to restore and redevelop the flood-prone areas – primarily on the Andover side – as a naturalized park. This park would allow space to integrate other community...
Perth-Andover: Cause to Pause
In my letter to the editor which appeared in the Victoria Star on March 19, I gave a breakdown of the three public events which had been held by the Glenn Group thus far since February 2013. These three public events were held to invite the public to be...
Repurposing Perth-Andover:
The Economic Factor Francine St. Amand I wouldn’t be writing this series of articles if I didn’t believe that there is a strong ECONOMIC case to be made in considering a Naturalized Park – as the foundational concept in the re-purposing of the flood-prone areas in the Village. In...
Perth-Andover Needs Intensive and Inclusive Dialogue
Since the Perth-Andover flood of March 23, 2012 there have been three public meetings to discuss the future of vacant lots left in the wake of the flood. The Glenn Group, a Fredericton-based landscape architect firm was contracted to come up with a plan for ‘re-purposing’ the Village of...
Perth-Andover: A Growing Village!
Re-Purposing Perth-Andover: THE Environmental FACTOR by Francine St.Amand Environment and Education: both sides of the same coin. You can’t improve the state of the environment without being educated on the matter. Education here means knowledge and wisdom gained through life experience … being in tune with and developing an...
Re-Purposing Perth-Andover: The Education Factor
OPPORTUNITY for Perth-Andover To Be An Education Model By Francine St. Amand Creating Outdoor Classrooms is a rapidly increasing trend in the public school system and there are several foundations which will support such projects (Evergreen Foundation, MAJESTA Trees of Knowledge Competition, TD’s Friends of the Environment Foundation to...
Too many people without jobs
And at the same time, too many jobs without people by Francine St.Amand If anyone can make sense of Canada’s Labour Market analysis, please contact me. The Globe and Mail recently (Feb 17) published an article, “Tories’ budget, Statscan at odds over number of vacant jobs” which talked...