The Ladies of Roslyn: a great tradition continues

Over the years, the block's residents have donated more than $10,000 to a variety of children’s health and community institutions: Camp Champleau, Candarel cancer run, Filou, the Weekend to End Cancer, a bench at the Westmount Public Library, bed nets in Africa, men’s and women’s divisions of the Brewery Mission, just to name a few.

The relaxed, tree-lined block of Roslyn between Sherbrooke and de Maisonneuve is a desirable location within Westmount. The real estate agents know it, the community knows it and the residents know it. Certainly, part of the reason is simple geography: so convenient to downtown, close to every necessary store and community facility, within minutes of public transportation and on the flat; no need to worry about runaway strollers or out-of-control skateboards. But the other, less-visible drawing card is the esprit-de-corps that exists among the residents. Between the addresses of 304 and 398, there are 40 semi-detached two and three-storey structures housing about 200 adults and children, several dogs and lots of personality-rich cats.

But it is the group of close to 30 'Ladies of Roslyn' that make this block special. For more than 25 years, an ever-changing but constant group of women have met regularly to plan block garage sales, barbeques and seasonal get-togethers, complete with a closed-off street and tables donated by the City. The teas or meetings are, naturally, held on a rotating basis in someone’s home, sweetened with an extensive spread of wines and food contributed by all.

Of course, there is the standing joke upon entry: “Good to see you! You are right on time. No problem with traffic getting here?”

But once the socializing is somewhat satisfied, the group gets down to its real business — organizing an event to raise money for some worthwhile cause. The participants are a diverse bunch: physicians, a marketer, teachers, real estate and insurance agents, a financial analyst, a writer, stay-at-home moms, people who work in fashion or with seniors. What everyone shares, though, is a sense of community. At the organizing meeting for the block party, one mom was reminiscing about the ‘collective mothering’ that helped her out of a tricky situation. “It was probably the first time my husband and I went out and left our kids alone”, she recalled. “We came back hours later to find a son asleep with an arm that had been strapped to immobilize a broken clavicle sustained when he fell out of bed."

The siblings had been rough-housing but calmed down pretty quickly when the boy’s pain became apparent. They were matter-of-fact. “Oh boy,” they muttered, “we’d better go find another mom.” Which is exactly what they did; and it was another mom who sat with the child for hours in the emergency ward. The injured child’s parents were embarrassed but appreciative.

“Kind of redefines the phrase ‘block parents’ doesn’t it?” the mom mused.

Yet another mom, Sylvia Reiter, who in recent past has spearheaded the block initiatives, spoke of how people rallied with food and babysitting when her husband, André, was diagnosed with cancer and was going through his treatments a few years ago. “They were just there for us,” she stated. She and others, like Sandra Grant across the street, balances a full work life with dedicated volunteer activities, and wouldn’t have it any other way.

“We have to do more because we have more,” Grant said.

On a lighter note, Lily Peuckert and the writer of this article recalled with fondness how our two families jointly organized and lived through the repaving of the common driveway — the same driveway, by the way, where some of the earliest block parties we co-hosted…and we still remain friends 24 years later; how many neighbors can say that?

Lesley Bishin, 27, a Roslyn child, recently summed up the feeling this way: “Until I moved away from home four years ago, I just took it for granted that it was natural to know — and be somewhat friendly with — each and every adult, child and pet on the entire block; I thought that was a given.”

Maybe not, but it’s certainly handy — especially if you’ve broken your clavicle.

• Sharon Bishin is a longtime resident of Roslyn Avenue.