The Bank Street BIA is spreading the love this February.
It began last week at Snider Plaza, where Bank Street intersects with Laurier and Slater, with the unveiling of a 2-by-2-metre heart shaped ice sculpture during the Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson’s proclamation of the beginning of Heart Month.
The Canadian Ice Carving Society carved the 10 blocks of ice, each weighing 136-kilograms.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation first held the month-long fundraising initiative in 1958. Since then, Heart Month has become the charity’s biggest and most widely known campaign across the country.
But it wasn’t until this year that the Bank Street BIA came up with a unique way to add its two cents to the worthwhile cause.
“The idea came about while we were discussing ways to liven up the street during February,” explained Charlie Crabb, a spokesperson for the BIA. “Creating an awareness campaign for the Heart and Stroke Foundation came about intuitively because of Valentine’s day.”
Christine Leadman, the BIA’s executive director, says “one of the values the board is looking at is re-establishing itself in the community.”
She explains how Bank Street is most commonly recognized as a commercial area and she hopes events such as last Halloween’s infectious “Zombie Invasion” and this year’s Heart Month will help to emphasize its community aspects as well.
One of the things organizers are encouraging is for residents of the Bank Street area to pin hearts on their doorways on Feb.14.
Leadman says the BIA is also sending out a team of artists who will go door-to-door and offer to paint up people’s windows for them.
Erin Lauzon, a practitioner at Planet Botanix, is also offering free hugs on this day and will be dressed in red.
“It’s a great stress reliever and everybody needs a hug,” Leadman says with a laugh. “I thought it was a very cute idea and it doesn’t cost a thing!”
Planet Botanix will be hosting alternative medicine workshops throughout the month to teach people stress relieving tactics that are good for the heart.
The Bank Street BIA is also working in collaboration with the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend to host a fundraising activity on Feb.22.
It’s the first time the race organization has worked in collaboration with a BIA to hold a specific event.
The race will cover a distance of two-kilometres, travelling down Bank Street, around sparks Street and back down again. The proceeds coming from a modest registration fee will go towards the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Leadman insists that anyone can participate in the race, whether they are walkers or runners: “We want it to be a fun thing, a family thing,” she explains. About 50 people are expected to take part in the race.
“It’s an interesting time of year,” says John Halvorsen, director of the Ottawa Race Weekend. “It’s not the most thought of season for one of our walking or running events. But you know,” adds the retired Olympic long-distance runner, “we live in Ottawa and we’re tough, we can handle a bit of cold.”