The end of Lady Alma.

I have a been huge supporter to save Alma College here in St.Thomas. It is a beautiful 130 year old building that was a private school for young ladies for over 100 years. The first cornerstone was laid in 1878 and the doors officially opened in October 1881 with it's main intention being "for the higher education of young ladies". The school closed during the teachers strike in 1988 never to open again. Alma has seen many changes over her lifetime but she persevered until Alma was purchased by the Zubick demolition company from London. They applied for a demolition permit and were denied. The owners then took it upon themselves to gut the building and set it up for deterioration making Alma extremely vulnerable to the elements. In just 2 years the building has nearly fallen apart. Before this time, it was salvageable. It would have been an expensive undertaking but with the right investor Alma could once again be the gem of St.Thomas.

Something that may interest some...two movies were filmed here in the within the last decade. Disney's Mr. Headmistress in 1997 and the horror movie Silent Hill in 2003 (released in 2006).

Taken from the internet...

Quick Timeline For Alma College.

1877: Alma Chartered as Private girls' school.

1881: School opens under principal Benjamin Fish Austin.

1886: School filled to capacity prompting new construction of new wing.

1918-1953: Principal Perry Dobson and his wife Harriet , nurture the school from near collapse to international stature. New athletic facilities, a chapel and an amphitheatre constructed.

1973: Officials from the debt-ridden college ask city and county for finacial help.

1988: Alma college secondary school closes after bitter teachers strike. Primary grade and music continue.

1993: Board of directors announce the high school to re-open in September

1994.1994: Low registration scuttles reopening. College is shutdown and reciever appointed.

1995: The Alma College International Alumnae Association announces plans to buy and reopen the school as well as a retirement home, preforming arts centre and train depot.

1996: A long, legally bidding war for the property breaks out between the alumnae and Royal Cambridge , a Toronto development company headed by William Fong.

Dec 1996 : Royal cambridge wins the legal battle to buy the property for $1.5 million. Fong plans to open a co-ed school and restore the building.

Nov 1997: Alma College is used as a set for Mr.Headmistress , an Disney/ABC made-for-tv movie.

Dec 1997: Royal Cambridge defaults on mortgage payments and school is for sale again.

May 1998: A judicial sale of the building is aborted when all bids fall short of the reserve bid.

Aug 1998: Alma college was bought by Alma Heritage Estates, a consortium made up of Brian Squires and George and Jill Zubick. Their plans were to build a retirement community on the site.

Dec 2002: St.Thomas council selects Burwell road as preferred site for new Valleyview seniors' home, rejecting Squires' bid to build it on the Alma site.

Jan 2003: Squires applies for a demolition permit for Alma College.

October 2007: Demolition permit approved for alma college.

Alma's History

Pictures

Unfortunately, our fight has been in vain. As I type this, Alma in all her glory, is burning to the ground. It is suspected that the owners have deliberately started the fire to end the long fight. This of course has not been proven but either way it is a tragic loss for our city. If only city council had done something sooner, our beautiful Alma would still be standing majestically.


I can hear the fire engines right now...it makes me so sad.


It started sometime shortly after 12:00pm on Wednesday May 28, 2008

This is all that is left as of 1:54 pm Wednesday May 28, 2008....

From Facebook group: Eerie and Endangered: Celebrating the Beauty of Alma College.

IT'S A VERY SAD DAY,FOR ST.THOMAS.Alma College was set ablaze today(Wednesday May 28th,2008),bringing our hopes & dreams of saving her to an end.She was neglected by her owner,Mr.George Zubick for well over 10 years.He slowly dismantled her inside & out,leaving her vulnerable to this very outcome.I've been worried since joining the cause to save Alma College,that one day flames would bring her down.Mr Zubick should be very ashamed of allowing Alma College to end her stand on Moore Street in such a horrific way.He had every oppurtunity to sell the property,to people wanting to restore Alma,and bring her back to life.Instead Mr.George Zubick chose to completely gut the interior,remove all the downpipes,and windows,leaving Alma vulerable to our brutal Canadian winters.In 1881 Alma College opened her doors for all to enjoy,today 130 years later,Mr.George Zubick has closed those doors for last time.I want to thank each and every person who has supported "Miss Alma",she has inspired us,she has brought joy into all our lives.Im glad I got the chance,to stand on the front steps of this "grand old building",because Im sure I will not see the likes of her again,in my lifetime.Thank you Alma for giving us 130 years of your beauty.Rest in Peace my good friend,knowing you will always be loved..Bob Foster

Haven't blogged much...

I suppose you may have noticed I haven't blogged much recently...well that is because I am EXHAUSTED! My darling one year old daughter has been getting me up at 5 am every morning and I am soooo not programmed to do that! I have been having problems sleeping at night and I find I am not falling asleep until around 2 or so (when DH comes home from work). So these 3 hour nights are really starting to take it's toll on me! On top of that we have been extremely busy. I hope to have my most recent project completed soon so I promise to share it when I am done. For now, here is the invitation I made for Gracie's first birthday party. I know I shared it on the board but not here. I think it turned out pretty cute.

Thanks for looking! :)

New look...

Okay...so I changed the look of my blog. Not because I didn't like the old one...to be honest I really liked the colours of my original blog BUT it wasn't wide enough and many of my "extras" weren't fitting properly within the borders. So I played around a bit and this is what I came up with.

So what do you think? Do you like it? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Emalyn's card...

I was watching MACM for this week and Emalyn decided she wanted to watch with me. When we were done she said she wanted to make a card with me so we scanned the site for other cards and decided to use this card as inspiration for ours. Emma helped me pick out the patterned paper, ribbon and flower and I think she has a pretty good eye for colour...especially since she's only 4!

We had fun making this card together...

Scrap Fest 2008

I spent a very much deserved weekend away with some great friends and had an awesome time. We went to Scrap Fest in Kitchener and it was fantastic.

We took a card class, received lots of freebies, did some make n' takes and did lots of shopping. We were among some of the first to see the new Coredinations paper line (which is fantastic btw)and were the first to see the new Enveloper...a very cool new tool for making your own envelopes (regular and dimensional). Friday night we drank wine and played wii until 2:30 in the morning. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard!! It was so much fun! I am now very addicted to Dance Dance Revolution...thanks April!!

I haven't done anything for myself recently and was starting to go stir crazy at home with the girls so this weekend away was just the ticket. It was so much fun! Thank you Taffy, April and Heather for a wonderful weekend away!! :)

Tips for a better life...

I stumbled upon this last night while blog surfing and I found it very uplifting. We should all try to make at least some of these improvements...


1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.
3. Buy a DVR and tape your late night shows and get more sleep.
4. When you wake up in the morning complete the Following statement, ‘My purpose is to __________ today.’
5. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
6. Play more games and read more books than you did in 2007.
7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, tai chi, and prayer. They provide us with the daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
11. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.
12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13. Clear clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.
14. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things YOU cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.
18. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
20. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
21. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
22. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
23. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: ‘In five years, will this matter?’
26. Forgive everyone for everything.
27. What other people think of you is none of your business.
28. GOD heals almost everything.
29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
30. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
31. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
32. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
33. The best is yet to come.
34. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
35. Do the right thing!
36. Call your family often. (Or email them to death!!!) Hey I’m thinking of ya!
37. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.
38. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
39. Enjoy the ride. Remember this is not Disney World and you certainly don’t want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.
40. Please forward this to everyone you care about.


May your troubles be less.

May your blessings be more.

May nothing but happiness come through your door!

Video Tutorials

So...it seems I am really into scrapbooking video tutorials these days. I really enjoy them and learning a lot of new techniques and variations on some basics.

One of my very favourite blogs is Kim Burmeister's Clearly Inspired. She has recently started doing Tutorial Tuesdays (video version of her Technique Tuesday) and I find her stuff a lot of fun. She completes a card from start to finish and shows you different techniques and products. She is a CTMH (Close to My Heart) consultant so I find a lot of what she does of great interest to me given my huge interest in said company! ;)

Another blog I am loving is that of Kristina Werner's simply called kwerner design. She has MACM (Make a Card Monday) where she also demonstrates different techniques while completing a card. She is a graphic designer and is on the design team for SU (Stampin' Up!)...another company I really like.

There are a few others I check from time to time but these two I check daily to see what's going on. I am always on the hunt for more great scrappin' blogs (with or without video tutorials) so if you know of one, maybe your own...let me know! I loved to check it out!

Side note: Anyone know what is going on with the Creating Keepsakes website? They used to have great new videos each week but they haven't been doing them recently. I really miss them. Maybe it's too costly or something because Simple Scrapbooks hasn't been doing theirs anymore and Epson/Scrapbooks Etc.'s webshow Scrapbook Lifestyle is no longer being produced. Too bad...

Becky Fleck's Page Maps are in da house!!

I was so excited when I went to the mail today and found my package from Scrapbook Club Online! Becky Fleck's Page Maps is one of the hot tickets out there right now...I know so many people who have ordered it or have it on their wishlist. I couldn't wait to open it up and study the pages from cover to cover. I have to say that it is one of the best scrapping resources yet! I love the sketch cards that come with the book too...they will be so handy when going to crops. I figure they will fit nicely in my AMM tote and won't take up as much room as a full size book. There is a sketch on one side of the card and on the other is a completed layout to inspire you. So if you haven't caved and bought this book already...I highly recommend it!