A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

The phone rang as I crawled out of bed on January 1st.  On the line was my brother wishing me a Happy New Year.  The previous evening, he and my sister-in-law had spent a night on the town, taking in dinner and a movie, the recent flick, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”.  Gord’s encouragement to see the TIFF-premiered story of Mr. Fred Rogers found me on an early morning hike to secure the two remaining tickets for the late afternoon showing.

My friend Yvonne and I settled into the SilverCity recliners to watch the famous Mr. Rogers, a preschool icon of the best in children’s television for over 30 years.  I was eager to hear his message.  As a young adult in the ‘60s, I had glanced at Mr. Rogers’ program and dismissed it as juvenile, even saccharine.  How wrong I was.

As “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” unfolded, I was pulled into the amazing talent of this intelligent, faith-filled artistic, caring man who understood children and treated each one with the utmost kindness and respect.

Through his mantra, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” and the activities of life in an onscreen cartoonish neighborhood, Mr. Rogers taught children about the tender virtues of love, patience and respect while living and loving in their own neighborhood.

The huge swath of Mr. Rogers’ influence was demonstrated when a group of young adult passengers on a subway recognized Mr. Rogers and launched into a spontaneous and rousing rendition of his theme song.  Without doubt, I realized that Mr. Rogers’ work had left an indelible mark on lives that spanned several generations.

Mr. Roger’s life was devoted not only to children but also to his employees and everyone whom he met.  In fact, the movie’s focus was seen through the eyes of journalist Tom Junod, a young husband and father whose life and the lives of his family were changed radically due to Mr. Roger’s influence.

I hope you can make time to see “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”.

A documentary on the life of Mr. Rogers, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor”  is currently on Netflix.

Submitted by Sister Jean Moylan

Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto Honoured

A recent post on the   Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto   website shares three stories of God’s compassionate love in our world: http://www.csj-to.ca/…/01/sisters-st-joseph-toronto-honoured

Sisters Catherine Marie Macdonald, Anne Schenck and Sue Mosteller recently received special tributes.

Remembering Sister Catherine Marie 

Sister Catherine Marie Macdonald, who passed away in the summer of 2019, was featured in the   Toronto Star   via an editorial by Vinay Menon on December 21, 2019, entitled   She Was The Best Cheerleader a Child Could Ever Have.  You can read the article on the Star's website.

 

Sister Anne Awarded the Sovereign's Medal

In recognition of her founding Furniture Bank, Sister Anne Schenck was awarded the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteering.

Her entry can be found on the   Governor General of Canada's website. 

 

 

Sister Sue  Appointed  to   the Order of Canada

Sister Sue Mosteller was appointed to the Order of Canada which honours people who have made extraordinary contributions to the nation.  She was interviewed for a  Globe and Mail   article on December 27, 2019 which can be read on the Globe & Mail website here.    

We appreciate the celebration and recognition that has been shown to these three Sisters. 💗

A Blue Community Update

A message from Paul Baines, our Blue Community Coordinator

It has been two years since the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph became a Blue Community and we are playing an important role in protecting water as a human right, shared commons, and sacred gift.

In 2019 the project:

  • presented in schools, parishes, and key events to widen the circle of water protectors
  • increased our community's understanding of why this Blue Community initiative is important 
  • designed and distributed thousands of coasters, postcards, buttons, and stickers to share Blue Community messages
  • connected with other organizations, faith groups, and Indigenous communities to build water solidarity
  • joined and invited advocacy to Federal and Provincial governments about the lack of clean water on First Nations reserves and the deniel of new bottled water permits

To Learn more about our work as a Blue Community member please visit: https://www.bluecommunitycsj.org/

IN THE NEWS:

ONTARIO
‘We’re in a David-and-Goliath situation.’ Small Ontario town taking on Nestle to save its water
Front page of Toronto Star. Please share widely.
https://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/news-story/9778589--we-re-in-a-david-and-goliath-situation-small-ontario-town-taking-on-nestle-to-save-its-water/

Consider sending a letter to the editor of Toronto Star to express your support for denying Nestle permit to take water in Centre Wellington, and to phase out their existing permits to take water in Aberfoyle and Hillsburgh. Send your contribution to Letters to the Editor via email to lettertoed@thestar.ca; via fax to 416-869-4322; or by mail to One Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario M5E 1E6. Letters must include full name, address and all phone numbers of sender (daytime, evening and cellphone). Street names and phone numbers will not be published. Star reserves the right to edit letters, which typically run 50-150 words.

CANADA
The secrets of Canada's tap water, explained
Would it surprise you to know drinking water in some Canadian cities contains unsafe levels of lead? A year-long investigation by more than 120 journalists from nine universities and 10 media organizations found some disturbing answers. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians could be consuming tap water laced with high levels of lead leaching from aging infrastructure and plumbing, a large collection of newly-released data and documents reveals.
See the 7 minute video here: https://youtu.be/l0h55NoUBmg

THUNDER BAY
Over 200 classes worldwide participate in Junior Water Walkers initiative inspired by Late Josephine Mandamin
“I was actually working on a virtual Google Earth story that took kids on a virtual field trip around the five Great Lakes,” Cameron says. “So it was incredible that I could have Josephine come to speak to my students — my kids took Josephine on a virtual field trip and Josephine then told my students about her walk to bring awareness on the need to protect water. My students told Josephine they would do their part to carry on her legacy and her walk and become Junior Water Walkers.”

Project lead: Peter Cameron, a Lakehead University alumnus and Grade 5/6 teacher at St. Elizabeth’s School in Thunder Bay.
https://anishinabeknews.ca/2019/12/11/over-200-classes-worldwide-participate-in-junior-water-walkers-initiative-inspired-by-late-josephine-mandamin

TORONTO
Toronto launches $3B project to improve water quality in Lake Ontario and city's waterways
"Currently, when a major storm hits our city... and dumps huge quantities of rain water onto the city… the wastewater system goes into overdrive to prevent major flooding," Mayor John Tory said Saturday.As the water rushes in, Tory said, the system pushes wastewater overflows into the rivers and into Lake Ontario when it reaches a certain threshold.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-storm-water-wastewater-management-program-1.5396886

HAMILTON
Hamilton’s Chedoke Creek sewage spill
The City of Hamilton has been ordered to come up with another report on the spill of 24 billion litres of sewage that seeped into Chedoke Creek over four years.
https://globalnews.ca/news/6248469/second-report-hamilton-chedoke-creek-sewage-spill/

OTTAWA
Hopewell school in Ottawa on way to becoming first elementary school Blue Community

Hopewell Avenue Public School in Ottawa is working towards the distinction of being the first elementary school designated as a “Blue Community.” The school, which is home to more than 900 students in Kindergarten to Grade 8, welcomed Council of Canadians Honorary Chairperson Maude Barlow and Water Campaigner Vi Bui in their gymnasium today and listened to them speak about the importance of protecting water.
https://canadians.org/blog/hopewell-school-ottawa-way-becoming-first-elementary-school-blue-community

 

To Learn more about our work as a Blue Community member please visit: https://www.bluecommunitycsj.org/