Silver Bells

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Dressed in holiday style
In the air there's a feeling
Of Christmas
Children laughing, people passing
Meeting smile after smile
And on every street corner you'll hear

Silver bells
Silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling
Hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas Day

Strings of streetlights, even stoplights
Blink of bright red and green
As the shoppers rush home with their treasures
Hear the snow crunch
See the kids bunch
This is Santa's big scene
And above all the bustle you'll hear

Silver bells
Silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas Day
Soon it will be Christmas Day

Centennial Square Christmas

There is a large evergreen tree growing in Centennial Square next to Victoria's City Hall that is always a pleasure to see, but especially when it is decorated for Christmas. It doesn't look like we're going to have a white Christmas this year though the mornings lately have been pretty frosty but those of us who have reached the age of discrimination are happy with a green Christmas.

An Interesting Accident

On the bus ride home, I snapped this hoping to get an interesting picture of City Hall and so while it didn't turn out as I hoped, I like the result. - Fern

Sir John A. MacDonald

We've seen the front entrance to Victoria's City Hall in an earlier post. The original building, however, proved too small for the modern city and there is a newer addition on the back with another entrance. Here visitors pass in and out under the benign scrutiny of this statue of Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. MacDonald. The statue was sculpted by John Dann in 1982.

Spirit Square

In July the city designated part of Centennial Square (adjacent to the City Hall) as "Spirit Square." It consists of a small outdoor stage and seating area and this native plant garden graced with two small totem poles. A nice feature of this area is the sign below, which provides some insight into the carvings on the poles.

City Hall

I've posted a photo of Victoria's City Hall before almost exactly a year ago. But it's an interesting heritage building worth a second look. There's a good short history of it you can read by clicking HERE. The main reason for this post however, is to encourage residents of Victoria to sign a petition requesting the city council to hold a referendum on the Johnson Street Bridge replacement. Please click here to visit the petition site. It will only take a few minutes of your time to make your voice heard on this issue. Secondly, at City Hall on Tuesday morning at 9:00 am, City Council will unveil three proposed designs for the new $63 million bridge they want to build. This is part of the "public engagement" plan so why not show up and get engaged? Visit the JohnsonStreetBridge.org site to find out more about the issues involved. The city's website on this issue is at JohnsonStreetBridge.com

UPDATE: Oops! Looks like we're not invited. The above "presentation" is only for the media.

Victoria City Hall

Riding home tonight in the early twilight I realized I've not yet posted a photograph of this building, Victoria's City Hall, one of our older buildings and very pleasant to look at in any light. It was built in 1877 and has been in use as the City Hall ever since.