MacGregor-Albert residents welcome new students with BBQ
Posted Sep 16, 2017 07:07:12 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Today marks the sixth annual MacGregor-Albert Neighbourhoods Association’s ‘Welcome to the Neighbourhood’ BBQ — designed as a way to introduce new students to residents of that neighbourhood.
Residents of the MacGregor-Albert Heritage Conservation District will welcome a new crop of university students with a free barbecue on Saturday, “in an effort to break down the ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality between old and new residents,” says Kae Elgie, member of the MacGregor-Albert Neighbourhood Association.
Every September, approximately half the residents in MacGregor-Albert change, as new students move into the many rental houses and apartments in the neighbourhood. Today’s event is an attempt to get newcomers, long-term residents and landlords talking to each other and discovering common interests.
Residents are under no illusion that one free sausage will solve all the challenges that arise when mixing elderly seniors, exuberant young students, working people, tiny infants and professionals, Elgie says, but, “we truly do love, or I love seeing the new students come in each year,” she says. “This BBQ is a way for us to get to know them and for them to get to know us.”
Fountain Street between Spring and Central will be closed from noon until 2 p.m., for the BBQ, which will also include a “maker bike” with activities run by the Waterloo Public Library, a green screen/photo booth run by the City of Waterloo Museum, a firetruck and firefighters from the Waterloo Fire Department, and displays by the Wilfrid Laurier Ecohawks and Indigenous Students Centre. There will also be door prizes and welcome bags for students.
