Operation Come Home Grad, Cool Invite, Looking forward to OCB Week

Another busy week at the brewery. Anne was able to get the bottling line back in business with Morris from Metec. Its great to have skilled folks so close by. Anne is learning a lot about how the line really works, so silver linings are definitely there. Here's hoping we get some good bottling runs this week!

Two very cool things to report from last week. The first came in the form of an invitation...to Rideau Hall to dine with Michaelle Jean, Canada's Governor General. I think I've written before about how humbling and "Forest Gump-ish" it is to be allowed in a small way to be involved in things that are truly Canadian. Our visits to 24 Sussex, our collaborative beer to commemorate 65th annniversary of Dutch liberation, visits from Ontario's Premiere. Having a personal invitation to dine with the Queen's representative of Canada, is one of those moments. Dad and I will be there this Wednesday.

Dad and I took a few hours off work on Thursday to attend the graduation ceremony for Operation Come Home. Operation Come Home is a homeless youth centre, aimed at getting homeless kids critical support and hopefully off the streets. Beau's has been working with Operation Come Home, through the Bottleworks project for some time.

One of the many impressive things Operation Come Home does is run an achievement centre, where homeless youth can continue their education on their own terms. Regular highschool is virtually impossible for street youth to manage for lots of reasons, but lack of education is a major obstacle for youth trying to find employment in order to get off the street. The achievement centre lets the youth work away at credits as they can, provides nutritious food, allows them to bring their pets to class and offers lots of other services to make it possible to attend.

The net result was at the end of the year there were 9 youths graduating high school and a score of others celebrating progress toward that goal. Of the 9 youths, 5 had full time employment and 2 had participated in the Bottleworks program. There is nothing better than watching the underdog win against the odds, and attending this ceremony had all the drama as watching the end of a good Rocky movie; but better dialogue.

Sunday was the start of Ontario Craft Beer Week. This week looks like its going to be a great one for me...I'm heading to Toronto tonight to play Thirsty Hippos at Magpie, hopefully catch a belgian-style beer at Volo. Tomorrow I'll be at Burger Bar for a beer dinner, Wednesday the Governor General's (plus hopefully a stop at Arrow and Loon), Thursday a beer dinner at the Cheshire Cat in Carp and a cask event at the Black Tomato, Friday I'm going to try to get to the Stinking Rose in Campbellford and Saturday back in Toronto for Session! And that's just me! The whole brewery is getting involved in well over , including 14 in the Ottawa/Kingtson area, 5 in Toronto and 6 in the west or north of Toronto. There are well over 100 events listed for the week and hopefully lots of at-home tastings, too.

BottleWorks Update

I received this update on our collaborative effort with Operation Come Home today, and thought I would share it:

BottleWorks
Since launching in November 2008, the Bottleworks social enterprise has greatly increased its client list and now services more than 45+ restaurants, hotels and condominiums as well as operating 6 Beau’s All Natural Brewery depots around the City of Ottawa. The enterprise is making some significant money with bottle collections and will have the ability to sustain the enterprise for many more years to come. To date the program has hired 14 youth to participate on a full time basis. This opportunity has allowed participants to gain on the job training skills leading to future employment or returning to school. In addition, many of the youth that have worked for BottleWorks have found safe, affordable housing.

Thank you to all the restaurants, hotels, condominiums and individuals who have donated their bottles to us! Your on-going bottle donations and support are very much appreciated.

BottleWorks is continually seeking additional establishments who require bottle collection as well as potential Beau’s drop off depots. Please call 613-860-2323 if you have any suggestions or ideas for our social enterprise.