Room 16 read the article, “An ode to Wolseley by Alison Hanks” which appeared in the Leaf Newspaper, November 2018.   We used this article to find examples of how the reader caught our attention with a bold beginning and wrapped it up with a good ending, descriptive language, rich words, how the author expanded ideas and provided many examples and reasons for why she celebrated her neighbourhood.    We read another article from the Metro paper about the Westwood neighbourhood and compared both articles. Together we wrote a shared piece of writing about the Earl Grey neighbourhood.  We reread this many times and revised it each time until we were happy with the final piece. 

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Want to know how to pick out a good neighbourhood?  Well its got to have friendly people sharing sidewalks, good schools, parks, businesses, accessible transportation and wildlife.   The Earl Grey Community has it all!

There’s a high chance that you’ll see excited children walking to school bursting with conversations.  Listen closely and you might hear children jabbering about their latest activities, playdates or upcoming weekend adventures.  Our neighbourhood is full of friendly people ready to give you a smile as you pass them on the sidewalk.   People are quick to help other people shovel snow and rake leaves.  It’s a place where people look out for each other.    It’s a community of many talents.

This community is culturally diverse with people from all over who speak different languages.    People from many different countries all over the world have chosen to live in this area and proudly call it home.  We know this because refugees and new immigrants in our country find homes to live in and go to school.  This is a multiage active neighbourhood with young and old people and everybody in between.

Don’t have a car?  Take a walk down any street, like Corydon for example, one of the main streets in this community, and you will see a variety of people walking, biking, scooting on scooters, driving or standing at bus stops waiting to catch a bus.  This area affords its residents with many different transportation options.    It’s not uncommon to see parents pulling children on wagons or sleds in the winter.

Squirrels roam free.  There is a high possibility you’ll see them skittering from tree branch to tree branch darting from yard to yard. You might see an occasional rabbit.  Cats prowl around too until their owners bring them in. Many pet owners can be seen on sidewalks walking their dogs.  On rare occasions you might see a cat being walked on a leash.  More often though you might see a cat resting on your porch.

Another attractive feature of this community is the trendy cafes, coffee shops, bakeries, ice cream shops, grocery stores, convenient stores, flower shops, libraries and bookstores, gas stations, antique stores, barber shops, salons, hardware stores, and clothing boutiques.  We are within a short distance to large department stores and a shopping mall.

Are you tired of cooking and eating the same food all day everyday?  Then come to the Earl Grey neighbourhood where you can enjoy different types of ethnic cuisine.  There are lots of restaurants to choose from with a variety of culturally different food choices.   Feeling like Chinese food or Italian, Greek, Japanese, American, Indian or Canadian?  It’s not uncommon to see people lounging on patios in the summer sipping a cold drink. There are many fast food choices too.  Everything is close by and accessible.

Houses in this neighbourhood range in age from more than 100 years old to newly built or renovated.  Each house has a story to tell.  Some houses were lived in by young men and women who went off to fight in World War 1.   These old houses are different colours and shapes with unique doors, fences, porches, verandas and back lanes.   The houses are big and small to accommodate different sized families.  There are many different choices including houses to own or rent.  There are 2 and 3 storied houses, apartment buildings, bungalows, duplexes suiting everyone’s needs.

Dotting every boulevard there are rows of large trees.  Some of these trees are quite old and have been standing longer than the homeowners.   The canopy of trees provide shade in the summer and are homes to many animals.   Some children find it fun to climb the trees or rest underneath a tall one to read a good book.

Last but not least at the corner of Cockburn and Fleet Street is our historical school, Earl Grey which has been standing since it was erected in 1914.  It opened its doors to students in 1915 and was the first Junior High School in Western Canada.  This school has three stories along with an attic which was once lived in by a caretaker who kept the school heated throughout the night.   Today the attic sits empty.  Many students, some of which are famous, have passed through the halls of Earl Grey School.

There are many different programs for students at Earl Grey School.  Within our school there is also a daycare, a Montessori program and a Community Centre next door.

Join us in our neighbourhood and experience for yourself what a wonderful community this is in the heart of Winnipeg.