April 16-St. Matthew's Anglican Church

Last weekend I went to a Caribbean Night fundraiser for Hope's Home (the first daycare in Canada to take both regular kids and medically fragile kids) at St. Matthew's Anglican Church.

While at the fundraiser, I found out that St. Matthew's is celebrating its 100 Anniversary this year. So I thought I would take a picture of how it looks in the cold spring sunshine.

Although there has been a church on this spot since 1910 (called the Grace Church), the building you see here (designed by Frank Portnall) was completed in 1926. Grace Church was renamed St. Matthew's Anglican Church in 1915.

For more information about its history, and to see beautiful pictures of its interior, please download their centennial brochure from the St. Matthew's website.

April 15-Limestone fossil

Many Regina buildings are decorated with limestone (both inside and outside of the building.) This photo is of a fossil that is found in the Cornwall Centre (just west of the food court before you go into the parking lot.)

I think it is some type of coral fossil or a bryozoan, but I can't be sure. I will ask a friend at work (who is a rock hound) what type of fossil it is and report back.

April 14-Broad Street North

Sorry for not posting the last 2 days; crazy hours. But I have remembered to take photos!

This is looking north at the intersection of Broad Street and 7th Avenue at 10:30 at night. It had just finished raining, so the roads were clean and shiny. A few cars in the distance, but most were safe at home, snug in their beds.

April 13-Rainstorm

19.6 mm of rain fell on Regina April 13. From my own personal experience, I think most of the rain fell during the afternoon rush hour.

The photo above shows Victoria Avenue in the rain. Cars are backed up because most of the intersections and the curb lane were flooded. The waves from the water splashed oncoming traffic as you drove through.

The photo below shows an example of this water ponding. (The only reason why the windshield is clear is because I just used the wipers to remove the rain.) The rain is nearly covering both lanes of traffic that I am travelling in, has entirely covered the sidewalk, and is a quarter-way up the parking lot of the business to the right.

April 12-Canada's Flag

Another Canadian soldier died in Afghanistan over the weekend. I thought I would honour Private Todd with a shot of a Canadian flag and explain a little bit about its history.

First of all, Canada's flag is not that old. It turned 45 this year on February 15. When this design, created by George Stanley and John Matheson, was first announced, it created quite a bit of controversy. But in the end, it was adopted. I think it is one of the best designed flags in the world.

By the way...I was told growing up that each point on the flag's maple leaf represented a Canadian province and one point to represent both territories; however, according to the Wikipedia entry about the Canadian flag...this is just a myth. (I'm crushed.)

April 11-SSLC & Sunrise Library

This is the Sandra Schmirler Leisure Centre (known as SSLC for short) and the Sunrise Library in Regina's southeast.

According to the Regina Public Library's website, Sunrise Library opened in this location in 1990. The library boasts a collection of over 60,000 books and 3,100 CDs and DVDs. The staff are always pleasant and helpful. You can also surf the net for free from the library.

The SSLC features a main pool, tot pool, and whirlpool. You can also enjoy their co-ed dry sauna, activity rooms and their strenght and conditioning area. The City offers a wide variety of programs at the Leisure Centre; visit their website for details of what's happening today at the SSLC.

April 10-Regina Union Centre mural

On 12th Avenue and Angus Street is the Regina Union Centre. It's a building that all unions in Regina use to hold meetings, training, and such. Unions have been very much in the news lately because of their fight against Bill-80 (see this Leader Post article for more details).

I took a picture of this mural that is along the side of the building. It features all the different tools, gloves and work that unions protect through their collective agreements. It is over 7 feet in height and about 20 feet long.

UPDATE (Thanks to NYC comments!)

The artist of this worker's mural is Crystal Howie. When she was 23, she was chosen by the Saskatchewan Centennial Workers Celebration Committee to create a mural to celebrate Saskatchewan's workers' history (which was suggested by Armand Roy.) In the "Our Times" story about the mural by Doug Taylor, he quotes Crystal's reasons behind incorporating work gloves as part of her 32 ft by 10 ft mural:

"The glove is a symbol of the hand," says Howie, "and shows every line and crease of history that has been placed on it or, rather, worked into it. The hand, like the glove, is a map of a person's history, work, history, life lived."

The work was unveiled on September 13, 2003 on the International Day of Action Against the World Trade Organization.