NEWS
Chicago the Band is coming to Hamilton January 30, 2012
Good Shepherd Presents: Blue Jeans and Bling - An intimate evening with Chicago.
Find out more here.
CHML Ted Michaels interviews Chicago's Lee Loughnane
Hamilton psychiatrist completes Channel swim
August 23, 2011 (Courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator)
Hamilton psychiatrist and mother of three, Dr. Marilyn Korzekwa has swum the English Channel.
The 53-year-old swimmer crossed the Channel from England’s Shakespeare Beach near Dover 35 kilometers to France in 16 hours and 28 minutes, arriving late Sunday.
The swim was done to raise money for The Good Shepherd Centres in Hamilton. A Good Shepherd spokesperson confirmed the successful crossing.
Korzekwa, who came out of retirement for the Channel swim, isn’t new to long distance swimming, but it’s been a while.
A lifelong swimmer, she was the first person to swim Lake Ontario from south-to-north and then north-to-south, which she accomplished in 1983 and 1984.
At that time, Korzekwa determined her next goal was to swim the fabled English Channel.
Korzekwa posted her success in high spirits on her swim blog Monday.
“I still can’t believe I swam the English channel.,” she said.
“I did not think I would make it until the last 500 meters. I was rapidly getting very cold after the sun set at 8:11 p.m., hence the rapid pace at the end in a desperate attempt to stay warm.
Korzekwa said the hardest part of the swim was “every minute” as she struggled to stay warm in water between 16 and 17 C and the air temperature dipping to 16 at night.
“ The over 3-metre waves broadsiding me for several hours were no picnic, either,” she said. “They were even more annoying at 1.5 meters when they got choppy.”
If you heard it was a beautiful calm night, that only lasted 3 hours and the waves were over a meter most of the rest of the swim.
“The waves and swallowing sea water resulted in part of every feed coming up and constant nausea,” she said, adding that at one point she could barely lift her right arm.
The day after the swim, becoming the oldest Canadian woman to swim the Channel, Korzekwa said every muscle in her body ached including ones she never knew exposited.
She thanked her boat crew, pilots, supporters in Hamilton and urged anyone who can to donate to the Good Shepherd Centres.
Korzekwa chose to raise raising money for The Good Shepherd Centres because, she said before the swim, “They do a lot of good for my patients.”
Donations can be made at goodshepherdcentres.ca
Clothesline Project
May 30, 2011 (Courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator)
Wendy Bush has pinned her struggle under abuse to a clothesline.
She recently wrote “I had nowhere, now I do” on a pair of old jeans and hung them on a construction fence along King Street West between Pearl Street and Ray Street in Hamilton. “It was empowering, gives you a voice,” Bush said. “I wore those clothing and I was able to leave the clothes behind as well … (The jeans’) knee is blown out; there are rips in it. I struggled in those jeans. It’s good to leave them behind.” Bush’s jeans, T-shirts and a baby sleeper she got from a friend are up on display with about 80 other articles of clothing that the Good Shepherd Women’s Services in Hamilton has hung up to promote dialogue around sexual violence. This colourful row is the organization’s first Clothesline Project, an initiative that started in Massachusetts. Some of the shirts say: “Women are not punching bags,” “Just do it. Say no,” and “It should not hurt to be a child.” The Clothesline Project, which coincides with Sexual Violence Awareness Month, will be up until the beginning of June. They hope it will be an annual event, says Medora Uppal, director of Good Shepherd Women’s Services. The Good Shepherd is one of two organizations in Ontario to have it, Uppal said, adding they had put out a call for T-shirts to women from their shelter, youth services, the Hamilton Regional Indian Centre’s Men’s Circle and Mission Services’ Inasmuch House. “You have lots of people doing brochures and doing the work for you, but (Good Shepherd), they do the work with you,” said Bush, who has been receiving services from the centre for three years. “That’s the empowering piece — because you did it.” Bush’s family members were charged and convicted for sexually, physically and mentally abusing her up until she was 16. Bush, who was born in Brampton, was taken by the Children’s Aid Society, placed in a hospital for a year and has lived in group homes and under foster care. She came to Hamilton about eight years ago. Uppal said the project’s purpose is to send a message both to victims of abuse and the general public. “(The shirts) will message to those involved that they’re not alone, that they’re lots of women, men and children who’ve been affected by sexual violence … But also for the community, it’s about bringing attention to the issue because we don’t talk about violence against women enough and we certainly don’t talk about sexual violence.” Bush said she hopes the clothes she contributed to the clothesline will help other abuse victims. Because she had grown up in an environment that told her it was OK to be treated that way, her subsequent relationships were part of a hurtful cycle, she said. “You need someone eventually to tell you that you deserve better than how you’re being treated or to give you tools or support. Someone needs to intervene at some point.”
16th Annual Women's Services Golf Tournament a Success
May 26, 2011
Growing city gardens
May 11, 2011 (Courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator)
Inch by inch, row by row, a group of volunteers is steadily establishing community gardens off Mary Street that will grow produce for food banks and soup kitchens.
On Saturday, a group of volunteers gathered to help put together raised beds on a lot by the Good Shepherd Centre. The idea is to have 28 raised beds on the 50-by-80 foot parcel of land that uses top soil brought in by truck.
Bill Wilcox is the man behind the plan. He’s done this before on the Mountain, but this year he decided to bring the idea to the lower city.
He says he’s happy with the progress. On April 30, more than 20 volunteers came out to clear rubble and other debris from the property, and about 10 people came out on Saturday.
Wilcox expects to start planting this week. The main vegetables will be carrots, potatoes, turnips and tomatoes. He hopes more than 1,000 pounds of produce will be harvested from the lot by fall.
Kate Flynn was one of the volunteers who came out Saturday as well as the Saturday a week before. She lives in the area and sees it as an effort toward “beautifying the neighbourhood.”
“It’s great to see what you can accomplish in a Saturday morning,” she said. “The amount we can grow in this one lot will definitely feed a lot of people.”
Wilcox says he’s in discussions with the city about putting together another community gardens project in the lower city. But he says it’s too early to pass on details.
The Hamilton Spectator
