Super Disco Sportsplex

Yesterday there was a Giant Children's Garage Sale in Ottawa. Actually, it was in Nepean, at the Nepean Sportsplex Curling Rink. Nepean was one of ten municipalities that were almagamated together in 2001 to form the current City of Ottawa. Before it was founded in 1792 and named for the British Under-Secretary of State (Evan Nepean), Nepean was first called "Township D". What a peculiar name for a township.

So the Nepean Sportsplex is now in the city of Ottawa, and that's where the Giant Children's Garage Sale was, where you pay $1 to get in and load up on all sorts baby and toddler gear. A friend of ours told us that the serious shoppers get there early and work quickly to find the good deals.

We didn't go.

We'd thought about going, but we had the Realtor coming over in the morning. He was here for several hours, because there is a lot of paperwork associated with putting your house up for sale. By the time he left, there wasn't much time for the Nepean Sportsplex, and we weren't in the mood to battle for the leftovers. Plus, it was only a few hours until the vocal recital for R's students -- the big disco event.

Being a classically training soloist, R encourages her students (mainly teenage girls) to try singing pieces that are somewhat beyond their immediate musical horizon. Usually, the recitals are in a nice hall at the University of Ottawa, where R accompanies her students on an elegant grand piano. To save her the stress of learning to play 28 songs (14 students @ 2 songs each), she opted to use recorded backing tracks this time around, much like a karoake track. This meant that the girls were free to sing their favourite pop hits, ringtones, etc.

Since the university did not have the right equipment, she found a suitable alternative venue called The Ottawa Conservatory Vocal & Dance Performance Academy -- a place with a very long name in Westboro (which is another way of saying "west of downtown Ottawa and trendy").

In addition to the large name, the Conservatory-Academy also has a large disco ball. It's in the dance studio, which doubles as the concert hall. The students lived out their "Canadian Idol" dreams with cordless microphones and flashing lights. Best of all, R was able to enjoy the show from the comfort of the front row, letting other people take care of the technical details. After 5 years of teaching, it was a very rewarding send-off, since she is going to take a break for a little while after the baby comes.

With some of these things behind us, we'll try to make it to the next Giant Children's Garage Sale, whether it be in Ottawa, Nepean, Westboro or wherever.