Leduc County's ACE Projects

Congrats to the Leduc County who is moving forward with the final stages of their ACE Communities planning.

For the Community of Warburg, the ACE initiative will be a Fitness Facility enhancement project. This will include enhancing the existing fitness centre in the high school so that it can be used by the wider community. The funding will go toward the purchase of exercise bikes, treadmills, and cross trainers.

The goal is to have the facility open to use by high school students, Village of Warburg residents, and surrounding Leduc County residents. At present the facility is only open to use by the high school students during school hours.

This initiative will help to get the Warburg and Leduc County community more active and engaged through fitness and healthy living. It also provides a place for youth to be active outside of school hours. It can accommodate those youth that have finished high school but still live in the area. It will also accommodate other adults in the community. By providing a facility that all community members can use, they can start to build stronger community leaders and increase the quality of life in Warburg and surrounding areas. With the completion of the enhancement project the facility can also look into the future to provide programs, volunteer opportunities, and youth development through fitness and recreation.

For the Community of Thorsby, the ACE initiative will be modernizing the Thorsby Recreation Complex through the purchase of equipment. The Complex is currently undergoing renovations to their old BMX track and it will become and multipurpose gym area, complete with Dance studio and workout room. The Thorsby seed money will be used to purchase new mats for the multipurpose area to be used for several programs such as gymnastics, cheerleading, yoga, and other fitness programs.

As a result of the purchase of the mats the community will be ready to host more programs that need specialized equipments.

The community will be able to attract more participants to programs and host a variety of programs that have never been possible at the Thorsby Recreation Complex because of a lack of equipment. This will also greatly impact the younger female population of the area as well because they will have the opportunity to partake in an activity that they have been asking for for quite some time.

Way to go, Leduc County! We can't wait to see the final results.

Connection is key in Nanton

NANTON is moving forward under the guidance of their new ACE Coach, Karen Driedger. At a recent ACE meeting, local leaders identified key areas for action in Nanton and discussed how they could work together as community groups and leaders to make Nanton an even better place to live and work.

This process not only kick started community communication, many realized that they shared a common goal of connecting with like-minded individuals and community groups who are interested in enhancing quality of life in their community. Way to go, Nanton! Can't wait to see your next steps.

Vulcan’s ACE Journey

Interested in learning more about the journey that our ACE Communities take? Then check this great story from Vulcan outlining their ACE Journey from 2009-2010. Great work, Vulcan! We can't wait to see what the next year has in store.

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In January 2009 we had our Ignite Tour. The visit ACE Ambassador, Ian Hill went very well. The Town Council, school children, local groups and citizens were all “choppin’ at the bit” to build our community through the ACE program. We held a town meeting to discuss where the citizens would like to focus their attention and handy work. After much discussion three areas came to the forefront. We had a large group interested in upgrading/new pool, others wanted a series of community events that would bring the community together and the last major idea was a way to communicate to the community at large the events that were taking place within our area.

Consensus was that we would begin by putting our efforts behind a pool. Our pool is 33 years old and we knew that the life left in the pool would be short. We had talked to the Town and they were on board with this. We were set to move forward when it was decided by the County of Vulcan and The Town of Vulcan that a deeper investigation into the pool was needed. The Town talked with the County regarding the funds to make some kind of improvements at the pool. This was not to be an easy or speedy process. We were told that we needed to stop moving forward and go sideways for a bit. There needed to be an independent study on the feasibility of new pool vs an overhauled pool. That took the wind out of sails. We know that with the County wanting a study done before they would talk dollars was an understandable way to move forward.

This was a blow to the ACE program in our community because everyone was focused on the pool and it was a tangible way to support our community. So now, a lot of the people who were involved with the pool and ACE were faced with choosing a new project. We had a meeting which turned out to be a small handful of the people. The small group helped to organize the second objective which was to bring about a way to gather the community together in a meaningful way. This led us to our 2nd objective.

We have already begun working on our 2^nd objective and that is to bring the community together in community building experiences. We have created a “Vulcan Concert Series” which is held in the fall and winter months of the year. Were we are bringing local and Canadian performers to town to help Vulcan gain exposure to our culture and heritage of performing arts in a family setting. This has been a huge success in not only exposure for our community citizens but also by the performing artists who have now got Vulcan on their radar as a great place to perform. Artists have requested that in the near future they would like to come back and perform for our community again. We have now begun our second season of the “Vulcan Concert Series” and look to continuing on with this series for a while yet.

We have also hosted our Vulcan Fall Fair on Oct 8^th, 2010. We had only a handful of people at the planning meeting that wanted to see this come about. We set out to figure out what we wanted to happen and then we divided those ideas between the 5 of us to reach out to community members to help make it happen. They came through in a big way. This event brought people from 1 month to 90 years old out to our Rodeo grounds to partake in a corn bust, quilt display, chili cook-off, wagon rides, family dance and many more activities. Through this event we had many people who wanted to be part of ACE activities.

As with all ACE activities, we want to get people interested in helping our with our next activities and as result of our Fall Fair we were approached by a member of the RCMP to work together to put on an event for Dec 31^st 2010, a Family Fun Night”. We also have a Community Block Party in the planning stages.

The New Years Eve - Family Fun Night is well on it way to happening we have found out that not many people want to be involved with meetings so what we did with our core group of people is we set a date, time and cost for the gathering.

We also made a rough outline of what we want to see happen music, entertainment etc. Referring back to the people who signed up for ACE we put the call out for help and have been happy to say that people are coming together to make this event happen in ways that work for them. We have the Fire Department putting on a bonfire, someone has committed to looking after the fireworks, groups are going to help out with providing food and beverages, and community members are helping in other areas.

The community calendar is our 3^rd objective and it went online in April 2009. Groups let the Vulcan & District Recreation office know when they are holding an event and we would then have it added to the website calendar so that everyone and anyone would have 24 hr access to what is happening in the County.

This has been a positive thing in our community and we are working with VBDS to improve on the community calendar to make it more easily accessed to input information on by the users and to make adjustment to the overall appearance.

We are also working with VBDS to create community calendar screens to have around town to improve on the visibility of the community calendar. The need and improved calendar that we are working on will allow people to add their event and I just administrate the information. The calendar will be an ongoing thing that we will tweak as needed.

Our adventures with ACE have been a bit of a roller coaster but the benefits to our community have been numerous. The people who were at first interested in ACE because our focus was going to be the pool have rallied around our other focus areas.

We have gotten to know our neighbours through our planning and through the process of putting on quality events within our community. Many people have commented that Vulcan is working together to put on events that make Vulcan a better place to live, work and especially play. We continue to work on our ACE activities and will continue to work with the town and county with the pool, like I said we were moving sideways with the pool but hopefully we will be moving forward with this community concern in the near future. We look forward to many years of working as community with our citizen, business and groups to maintaining a healthy community lifestyle through our ongoing ACE programs in Vulcan.

Yours Sincerely,

Bonnie Ellis

Director of Vulcan & District Recreation

Lighting Up Longview

Longview is well on their way to lighting up the town with their holiday event, Light Up Longview, on December 5th. This ACE project aims to raise funds for Christmas decorations for the main street as part of Longview's beautification initiatives.

As part of their efforts, the Longview Youth Group collected nearly $1000 through their bottle drive and money has also been raised through the Longview Music and Arts Festival ("Longstock"). Longview is also looking for donors who would like to add to their Memorial tree. Way to go everyone!

To follow Longview's activities, check out their fabulous website: http://www.longviewaceprojects.weebly.com/

And to see their story, as presented recently at the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association's annual conference, click here:

http://longviewaceprojects.weebly.com/volunteer-tributes.html

Things are happening in Wainwright!

Great news for our alumni ACE Community of WAINWRIGHT! They have now officially launching their “Tatanka Trails”. This project entailed planning a secondary signage program for one of their town’s major greenspaces.

The ACE group coordinated a comprehensive study on what the area needed for beautification and it was decided that the funding should go into nine mapping and information signs that would be created by a local contractor. Content for and design of the signs was all developed by the group.

Congrats on the launch Wainwright!

The Parks and Recreation Department of the Town of Wainwright has also applied for $100, 000 in funding through the Pepsi Refresh Program for fixed back seating at our Peace Memorial Multiplex arena!

To vote for Wainwright, see: http://www.refresheverything.ca/search/?q=wainwright

Sangudo's 1st annual Festival of the Arts

Congratulations to Sangudo who will be soon celebrating their 1^st annual ‘Festival of the Arts’ on November 13^th. This festival will showcase both local as well as regional talent and an evening Arts Gala (from 6 – 10 pm). This family event will provide opportunities to meet local artists, experience live music, and indulge in home baking. Our fav!

This event is presented by Sangudo Advocates for Education. For more info contact Heather at (780) 785-3587

Okotoks wins ARPA A.V. Pettigrew Award

Congratulations to Okotoks for winning the ARPA A.V. Pettigrew Award!!!

The purpose of this award is to recognize communities in Alberta that have contributed the most to improving the quality of life of their citizens through recreation and parks – in areas of programs, services, facilities, parks and open spaces, or a combination thereof.

ARPA inaugurated this award in 1972 in honour of Albert (Bert) Victor Pettigrew. Known to many in Alberta and Western Canada as “Mr. Recreation”, Bert retired from the Edmonton Parks and Recreation Department after 26 years of devoted service to Edmonton citizens. He was a founding and charter member of the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association, and was dedicated to serving the people of Alberta through his profession.

Award Recipient: Town of Okotoks

“A small town feel with a quality of life” is the motto of the town of Okotoks. This motto has led the community service staff, town council and their residents to introduce programs, and events in and around Okotoks to provide a quality of life that allows for leisure learning, recreational activities, and community-based events that cater to a variety of interests.

The programs offered provide a sustainable option to community members and are a primary vehicle for community building and promoting health and wellness in the community. The wide variety of programs offered to all demographic groups enable residents to experience local programs without a commute to larger centres such as Calgary. Okotokians can live, work and play at home! The development of a Cultural Master Plan, Outdoor Facilities Master Plan, and Outdoor Spaces Plan and facility redevelopment has lead the town of Okotoks to build and provide the necessary infrastructure needed to sustain their population goal of 30,000 by 2030.

The challenge of keeping up with demand has resulted in creative, out-of-the-box program development that utilizes and maximizes the town-owned facilities, in addition to creating partnerships with local businesses. The growth of programs offered and numbers of individuals participating in these programs has doubled between 2005 and 2009.

The town of Okotoks has succeeded in introducing new energy technologies such as solar panels that heat the swimming pools, domestic hot water and ice resurfacing, and a solar wall which pre-heats the air in the Okotoks Recreation Centre.

The town of Okotoks is an outdoor place located in proximity to mountains, prairies, forests, wildlife, and historic and cultural attractions, filled with a team of people who have succeeded in connecting service, youth groups, sport organizations, seniors clubs, social agencies, and parent groups together, which in turn has injected the sense of spirit so important in the evolution of a community in the heart of foothills country.

The town of Okotoks is a deserving recipient of the A.V. Pettigrew Award in recognition of its forward thinking and planning to provide top quality recreation opportunities while still maintaining green policies and a culture of community pride.

Upcoming Hinton Greenhouse Build

ACE Communities alumni town of Hinton is charging forward with the build of their greenhouse. The idea for a community garden for Hinton began in January 2009 as their ACE project.

The “Hinton Community Garden Society” was formed in February to prepare an ACE proposal for seed money to plan and build an all-season, organic, community-operated greenhouse and garden. And now the framework of both greenhouses is nearly completed, with several steps left to do. If you’re able to help out this week, please contact Noel at 817-2675 for instructions.

“Big Build 3” is happening this Saturday, Oct. 30, starting at 10 am. They are hoping to complete all the structural work on the greenhouse! If you have socket sets, cordless drills, or stepladders, please bring them. All welcome - the more, the merrier!

Details about preparation and planting for the 2011 growing season will be posted soon on http://www.hintoncommunitygreenhouse.org/Hinton_Community_Greenhouse/About_Us.html

Cold Lake Spearheads Unique Pilot Program

Deliberations and discussions among Cold Lake residents took place in three community planning gatherings and many smaller meetings over a one-year period. These discussions indicated that a focus on making resources available to those needing them, and collaboration and communication among Non-profits were top priorities for ACE Cold Lake.

This led to a decision for ACE leaders to support the Lakeland Centre for FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder)through a pilot program called SELF (self, energy, life, fulfilling) focussed on helping individuals have a healthy SELF through self-discovery, volunteer, employment and relationship-building opportunities by:

 Removing barriers and opening access for participants to Cold Lake amenities – recreation, parks, arts and culture, heritage and social services
 Working with other Cold Lake non-profits, business and local experts
 Providing child care, food and transportation to enable participation
 Collaborating with the Lakeland employment program and other non-profit organizations in Cold lake
 Creating a model of this program for others to follow.

The Mission of the ACE project is to enhance quality of life in rural Alberta by strengthening community leadership, collaboration and innovation through a community recreation, parks, arts, culture and heritage using a community development framework.

In keeping with this mission this unique and progressive ACE Cold lake initiative will use a community building and asset-focussed approach to open doors and opportunities with the Lake land Centre participants to participate in the many amenities that Cold Lake has to offer its citizens.

Using a participatory approach the initiative will be led by the Lakeland Centre participants, and guided by Lakeland staff, Cold Lake resource experts and the ACE leaders. Participants will each find their connection to the Cold Lake community through a self-discovery of their talents and attributes which will connect them to local volunteer and employment opportunities. The project will start within the Lake land Centre with the Mothers-to-be Mentorship program. Candace Sutterfield, Cold Lake Mentor of the Mothers-to-be, will be the Lead on the project with Ingrid Harvie, Lakeland Centre Employment Coordinator, and Shelley Krook and Michelle Bourdon, ACE leaders, providing a supporting role.

From Pies to Pigeons to Portals

Chestermere has been busy! In addition to their exciting pie making workshop that involved participants age 7 to 90 years of age, local ACE leaders have also worked with the Town to have an outdoor stage redesigned. Originally planned to be built in 1996, their input has ensured it will be a relevant and practical infrastructure that isn't at risk for becoming a home for pigeons. They also convinced Council to invest 10% more on the project! Local ACE leaders are now focused on working with students from Mount Royal College to build an online communication and information portal and ultimately a volunteer database. Collaboration is a priority and a signficant number of community groups are working together. Congratulations Chestermere leaders!

Update from Killam

Congrats to Killam and their ACE team for their successful playground build!! Over 200 volunteers as well as many kids of all ages worked together on the makeover of the park.

The park came alive during the build with excitement of the kids, conversations, music and noises from bobcats and trucks. Some youth worked on planting a truck load of trees while other groups worked on the landscaping, building picnic tables, constructing the roof of the amphitheatre, horse shoe pits and new walking paths. The volunteers provided food and refreshments throughout the day. The community enjoyed the fellowship, food and lovely day.

Unfortunately for the ACE team, the bike and skate park supplies didn’t arrive due to some trucking issues – so the bike and skate park was completed on Sunday and the dedication happened then. There were several people taking pictures as well as the community paper. There is more to do to complete the park but a great start has been made to date. The group still has another fundraiser dance at the end of October so the short term project is on going.

The ACE team plans to build on the success of the park build and move on to focus on updating their MSP with more community engagement. The hope is that this planning will begin this fall. Great work Killam!!

Killam ACE Committee to dedicate Bike Park to Small Town Hero - Gordie Enghoj

The Town of Killam was honoured to receive an ACE Community Designation in 2009. It was at that time the ACE Committee was formed and a short-term project was chosen – Killam X-Treme Makeover Park Edition. The makeover is to include an outdoor amphitheatre, new walking trail, bike park, some beautification, an outdoor barbecue station, new picnic tables, benches and garbage receptacles. Because of the scope of our project, the committee was also awarded the Let Them Be Kids Kool-Aid Smile Award in June 2010.

Recently the committee has been given the challenge of naming the bike park. It really was not a difficult decision at all, as there is one community member that stands out in everyone’s mind. It is Killam’s small town hero – Gordie Enghoj.

Gordie was only two when he contracted a near fatal case of polio complicated by double pneumonia and pleurisy. The disease left him brain damaged with partially paralyzed throat muscles and vocal chords. Two years later he developed a lump on his back, compressing his lungs and giving him pain for his whole life. These handicaps prevented him from receiving any formal education but he taught himself to ride a bike and began running errands for people. Then he volunteered at numerous locations. Uunloading and hauling freight from the train, filling pop coolers and swept floor at local restaurants for just a few examples. In fact, almost every business in town received Gordie’s help at one time or another. Sometimes he was given a free coffee or a piece of pie, but never wages.

Gordie made friends wherever he went in town, learning how to play pool at the local pool hall, learning to skate at the local arena he and his father helped the community to build. He also helped at the bowling alley and the swimming pool at the Agriplex. And for years he set up and took down the tables and chairs in the Community Hall for the Lion’s weekly bingo games. He served as errand guy equipment handler and inspiration.

Gordon Enghoj has spent his life beating all the odds while giving countless thousands of hours of volunteer service to the community his mother once described as his lifeblood. And the community has responded. People came from all over the province to his dinner to say thank you and to celebrate his contributions. He is a true Small Town Hero.

Gordie is known to all ages, young and old, and exemplifies someone who is the face and name of Killam so he is a natural choice to receive this kind of recognition and dedication. The ACE Committee feels that Gordie is not only a friend to all Killamites, but he is also a role model for our children and when they are on the Bike Park playing with their peers, they will read the sign of dedication to Gordie and realize anything is possible with hard work and perseverance. Gordie has recently celebrated his 80th Birthday and the ACE Committee would like to help him celebrate by making this dedication to him.

The Heritage Park Makeover Day is this coming Saturday, September 25th, 2010. We are asking the people of Killam to come together and volunteer their time to build a park that will be used by all generations. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. and everyone is welcome to attend and help out. The opening ceremonies and the Gordie Enghoj dedication ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. at the Park. Hope to see you there!

Wainwright's Tatanka Trails

Great news for our alumni ACE Community of WAINWRIGHT! They are now officially launching their “Tatanka Trails”. This project entailed planning a secondary signage program for one of their town’s major greenspaces.

The ACE group coordinated a comprehensive study on what the area needed for beautification and it was decided that the funding should go into nine mapping and information signs that would be created by a local contractor. Content for and design of the signs was all developed by the group.

Congrats on the launch Wainwright!

Fall Forward for Vulcan

The ACE Communities group in Vulcan have been busy planning for the fall. Aside from providing entertainment to Vulcan residents, the ACE group is aiming use these upcoming activities to encourage people in the community to spend more of their time locally.

The ACE group has decided it wanted to try to keep the fall event's theme in tune with older-fashioned events, such as a blue-ribbon fair. Other ideas discussed for a fall event included a 5 km footrace similar to a Turkey Trot. Also still in the discussion stage is the possibility of Rainbow Literacy helping to sponsor an activity tent. Such details will be further discussed at the ACE group's next meeting on Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Lodge Hall so stay tuned!

Longview Launches Community Newsletter

The Longview Community Services Advisory Board (CSAB) and the ACE Communities Committee is proud to launch the very first issue of their new community newsletter. This initiative is in response to the fact that communication has been identified as a priority by the community.

This newsletter will be launched at the Longview Music and Arts Festival on August 21 and local residents will be given the opportunity to name the publication. A digital version will also be available on their website: longviewaceprojects@weebly.com

Keep up the hard work, Longview!

Youth Making a Difference

ACE Alumni Communities and youth are in the news! Youth are making a difference by being committed to their communities through volunteerism and leadership.

Award recipients in High Level, Hinton, and Innisfail were part of a recent ceremony accepting the Queen's Golden Jubilee Citizenship award from Lieutenant Governor, Ethell. Sidney Lapp of High Level, Evelyn Cranston of Hinton (daughter of two of our ACE leaders), and Kelty Douglas of Innisfail received the honor of meeting Lieutenant Governor and being publicly acknowledged for their important community contributions. All are recent high school graduates.

Check it out at www.lieutenantgovernor.ab.ca/NewsandEvents.htm.

These young women were chosen because of their outstanding performance in citizenship, leadership, community service, and volunteerism. They were recognized with a medal and $5,000 for personal development and tuition.

Honorable D. Ethell addressed the crowd by saying "Each recipient has helped make Alberta an even better place to live and I have no doubt that they will continue to do so into the future."

These young woman and their leadership are vital to our communities and it is important to acknowledge their strengths. Equally important is to recognize the people in their community who have been exceptional mentors and role models to these girls' lives. Young people are very capable of being good citizens and these young women have proven it.

Kudos to Killam!

Amazing what a small community (population just over 1,000) can do when everyone comes together! Killam citizens are working to revitalize their Heritage Park with an outdoor amphitheatre, a bike/skate park, a new walking trail, an outdoor fire pit/barbecue and some beautification. They've held a fundraiser (60s dinner and dance) and made $13,000. They're also selling engraved bricks which will be used to construct the outdoor fireplace/BBQ. School-aged children have decorated coffee tins which have been distributed to businesses for people to leave their spare change and they will be rolling the change for the group. The local group has applied for a number of grants, will hold some additional fundraisers such as a Goat Raffle, a Children’s Festival Day, etc., and will seek corporate cash and on-kind donations.

They applied for funding through the “Let Them Be Kids” Program and have been awarded a Helping Hands Award. This means they will receive a 50/50 match opportunity that gives them a dollar of equipment buying power for every fifty cents they raise. This will assist in covering the costs of the structure and equipment for the new bike/skate park. They have also been assigned an experienced Let Them Be Kids volunteer to help guide them through the process of making the project happen.
This project will be completed in one soon-to-be-announced weekend this year.

Killam anticipates having 200+ volunteers come out to help make the project a reality. As their CAO put it, "It is going to bring back the sense of community and volunteerism to Killam. The residents are excited about the project and pride is building as they work toward making it a reality. This will result in endless opportunities for the future because people are seeing that when the sense of community is present anything is possible!"

Nanton Builds a Playground and Connects a Community

Early ACE Communities work in Nanton identified that while there were a lot of strengths in the community, efforts weren't always connected and coordinated.

That changed on Saturday, June 19th when over 300 volunteers came together to build a playground after connecting with ACE Ambassador Ian Hill and being awarded assistance and support from his Let Them Be Kids initiative.

"It's wonderful to see a community come together like this," said Mayor John Blake. If we can build a playground, what can't we do if we put our collective energy to work! This was a ground up program," said Blake, with people identifying a need, and getting it done."

After the build, the park was dedicated in a moving ceremony as being "Where kids should come to play," with a memorial to the children of the community who have died. As each child's name was read, a balloon was released.

Robyn Todd, master of ceremonies for the event, noted that Saturday would have been Nathan Hornburg's 27th birthday. Hornburg was killed in action in Afghanistan in
2007. A memorial tree has been planted in his honour and each year on June 19th, flowers will be planted at its base. A soon to be built nearby skateboard park will be named in Nathan's honour.

Children participating in the event were each given balloons, which were released following the dedication.

The ribbon for the ribbon cutting was made up of paper hands, made by students at A.B. Daley School, and cut by Livingstone-Macleod MLA Evan Berger, Blake, and members of the Nanton Children Society.

For the full story see their video at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ltbk---nanton

Bake it Don't Fake It!!

Check out this innovative project by Chestermere - one of our ACE Communities! "Bake It Don’t Fake It" is a fun, creative opportunity for everyone to come and learn an old fashioned skill in a new way! Bring your family, make up a baking team and learn how to bake a Red Ribbon Apple Pie—for FREE!

All you bring is your enthusiasm and a few kitchen tools. Chestermere Ag Society and ACE Communities will provide the ingredients & a videographer to record the successful pie making for a webcast.

Learn the skills of making FLAKY pastry for FREE and then enter the Chestermere Country Fair Red Ribbon Pie Contest in September 17^th for prizes and more!

This pie making workshop happens Friday August 20^th, 7 to 8 pm, doors open 6:30pm at Chestermere Regional Community Centre, 201 W Chestermere Drive, Chestermere, Alberta (Multi Purpose Room). Please Pre-register by Friday August 13^th, by phone or e-mail 403 272 7170 x 223 or accounting@chestermerecrca.com

Any questions call Grannie Jen ( Pie Coach) at 403 272 3764

Didsbury Finalizing Their ACE Initiatives

Didsbury is leaping forward with the plans for their ACE initiative. Essentially, they will be focusing on three components:

-communication, which includes the two way communication between organizations and the community as well as communication and collaboration between organizations

-youth, which includes consistent and safe places, reliable mentorship and varied activities such as sports, arts, cooking, lifeskills, leadership, etc.

-volunteerism

Currently, they are developing a survey via survey monkey to determine what mechanisms the community is using to communicate and to discover if they are missing key mechanisms that the community would prefer, such as community event signage.

They also have a new collaboration between the town and a local youth serving organization. There are many exciting ideas and opportunities in this collaboration.

They also have a new commitment from the town to support a web based volunteer bank once it is established. They are proposing a contract position for the creation of the volunteer bank and for training town staff in the maintenance of the bank.

Way to go Didsbury! Can't wait to see how it unfolds....

Youth and Gardening in Sylvan Lake

Gardeners come in all ages and abilities and that is proven in Sylvan Lake. The local ACE group approached the Youth Advisory Council on how to build volunteerism and leadership with youth. The Youth Advisory Council decided on the goal to build a garden in the high school court yard. After that, the garden concept has "blossomed" to other schools and the focus is building vegetable gardens on school grounds.

The vision for the school gardens is that students will care for the indoor garden pots and outdoor gardens during the school year. Students can continue to care for the gardens after the school year with the assistance of several community groups, including the Youth Advisory Council. The seed funding that Sylvan Lake will receive through the ACE Communities initiative will be divided amongst the participating schools for building supplies.

Coupled with an even wider vision, the school gardens project aligns with the Municipal Sustainability Plan of Sylvan Lake including sustainable agricultural practices and opportunities to grow and purchase local foods.

Students will learn how to plant, care for plants, weed and a whole host of other gardening skills. Becoming knowledgeable about food security is foundational to the process. The food will be used in a number of ways including the food bank, good food boxes, home economic classes, breakfast and lunch programs, and community dinners.

Aside from students being encouraged to volunteer and be leaders, both students and community members will be more actively engaged in the community in a very creative way.

Lots of Action in Innisfail

On Tuesday, June 15th Innisfail will launch

Envision Innisfail

Reflecting true ACE values, local community leaders have integrated a number of planning initiatives to generate a community driven vision and action plan.
On Saturday June 5th, the community will pick up their shovels for the Dr. Greg Ritson-Bennett Park redevelopment (with assistance from Let Them Be Kids). One of the features of the new park is an “Art Wall”. They have installed a four foot concrete retaining wall on one side of the park and are hoping the kids will use it as a public art wall. Check out their website at www.innisfail.ltbk.ca.

Upcoming Kitscoty Election

Municipal elections are fast approaching this October and Council has asked me to encourage Kitscoty residents to considering putting their name forward for Kitscoty Village Council. Municipal elections are democracy at the level closest to people. Municipal governance is residents building their community, their neighbourhood and their lives.

Governance is a difficult topic to define because it has many grey boundaries. If you look up the definition you will find a wide variety of descriptions all which cover the business part in different ways (adhering to regulations, Acts, bylaws, etc) but the common overarching theme is always leadership. Through elections, residents choose Council members they want for their leaders and look to them for leadership. Good Leaders make a difference.

Leaders come in all shapes and sizes. Leaders have expertise and experience in many varied areas ranging from just graduated high school to just finished a masters degree; from just married to 7^th grandchild just born; from business owner to home maker; from single to married; from 18 years old to 85 years young, you name it!

Leaders are everywhere and a good Council has leaders from different backgrounds and experience. Varied leaders enables Council to look at decisions from all angles before making a final decision – how will this decision affect pre-schoolers; how will this decision affect Seniors; how will this decision affect business owners; how will this decision affect young families – and so on. Kitscoty needs leaders from all walks of life – that means you.

Governance Best Practices - some of the important skills you will need as a Councillor:

• A Willingness to Lead -- Listen, Learn, Decide
• Integrity; Focus on the Issues and Results – don’t get down in the mud
• Seeing the Big Picture and Staying on Track
• Staying Close to and Engaging the People Being Served – Community of Kitscoty
• Respect for Role Differences
• Understanding the Partnership with Administration
• Understanding the Value of Priorities
• Commitment to Openness and Transparency
• Respect for Limitations of Power – Council’s power comes only from motions it passes; Individual Councillors do not have individual power
• Clarity of Accountability; Willingness to Share Responsibility
• Commitment to Sharing Ideas and Authority

Kitscoty needs you – think about it; consider running for Kitscoty Village Council.

Lois Byers, ACE Community Coach for Kitscoty

Smiling LB Consulting

New Art Co-op in Irricana

It looks like there is a lot of arts and cultural-related activity in Irricana! A brand new art co-op has been established in the community thanks, partially, to funds received from the Canadian Badlands.

The co-op is hoping to open their doors June 5th with plans for a grand opening on July 10th. Included in the space is the Grasshopper Gallery as well as two classrooms that will hopefully be offering a wide variety of classes for the public. This co-op is run by its membership with the goal of attracting more artists from the surrounding Irricana-area.

If you would like any more info on this please feel free to contact Brenda Campbell: bcampbell@irricana.com

Get up and go, WOOD BUFFALO!

A shout goes out to WOOD BUFFALO for the success with their 'Get Up and Go Wood Buffalo' event! The event attracted over 1000 people and a significant number of agencies collaborated in the hosting. This is a fabulous example of how a larger community can build trusted networks while working toward getting their citizens active, creative, and engaged. Congratulations to one of our Flight 1 communities for leading the way!

Entwistle in the news!

Entwistle's skateboard park initiative made the news recently. The hopes of some young Entwistle residents for a new skateboard park in the hamlet grew on Tuesday as the possibility of a finished product some time in July became more of a reality. The Grove Examiner highlighted the village's youth engagement activities as it was related to the proposed project.

To read this article in full see: http://www.sprucegroveexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2558772

Boogie-ing down for the ARTS in Longview

Congrats to Longview and their entrepreneurial spirit. This past Saturday, a fantastic volunteer crew put together their "Blast from the Past" Dance with the aim of raising funds for their upcoming ACE ARTS Tour in June.

The hall was packed and jumping to tunes from the 50,60,70's and most people dressed the part. And it was even reported that this initiative was the first public dance since 1988! After all expenses were paid out, Longview raised enough money to cover their ARTS Tour costs. Leftover funds will go towards the rental of the sound system for Little New York Daze and the August Music festival. Fine work, Longview!

Vulcan welcomes Leonard Nimoy

The world's eyes turned to VULCAN this month and their much anticipated visit by Leonard Nimoy. Over 2500 people attend the festivities in Vulcan this month which included Mr. Nimoy's visit, a town parade, the unveiling of a bust of Nimoy's Star Trek character Spock, as well as a hand print of Nimoy's famous 'Live long and prosper' salut. These items will be added to the memorabilia collection that makes Vulcan a tourist destination for many sci-fi enthusiasts. Way to go Vulcan for meeting your long-anticipated goal of bringing Spock back to Vulcan.

Image from Reuters UK

Capitalizing on Rural Assets

There are several perceptions about rural communities and one community has learned to capitalize on those perceptions: Irricana. Irricana has turned community assets into the "Top Ten Reasons to Visit Irricana".

10. Our gas station washroom is the cleanest gas station washroom in Alberta. (Go ahead and check).

9. You never have to wait at a stop light (we don't have any stop lights!)

8. If you forget the return address on your mail the post master will probably recognize your writing.

7. We actually have "slow races".

6. The neighbours are still "your" best form of security.

5. An acceptable vehicle, to drive into town to pick something up, is still a tractor.

4. Who needs billboards when you have round bales to paint on?

3. The Fire Department knows the fire hydrants by their character names (our fire hydrants are painted like cartoon characters).

2. You can still turn a combine or wagon around on main street.

1. We are a "one horse town"... and proud of it. (www.irricana.com)

You will notice that the numbers count down. On the leaflet where these reasons are listed the number one reason is listed on the bottom, rather than the top. I believe this is because the message is to showcase community pride.

What a wonderful way to monopolize on rural assets and influence those perceptions about rural communities. Sometimes these lists of 'what to do' or 'why you should visit' a community often list activities and places. Whereas Irricana has listed more intangible activities which are very attractive in rural communities.

Irricana has demonstrated community pride and a method to capitalize on the rural assets that exist in the community. The extra step taken was to publicize the information, or, tell the story. What a great exercise to go through with a community to focus on the rural assets and share that information with others.

Eckville Launches Recreation Plan

Planning has been the focus for Eckville over the last few months. Eckville has just released a Community Recreation Plan at a community wide event. The community had previously identified the need to bring together volunteers, residents, and leisure in a more effective way and recognized the need for a recreation director to aide in that process.

The Eckville Community Development Association and Recreation Board has conducted extensive research both within and outside of the community and with communities of similar size. Out of that research it was evident to have a recreation director work with a plan to meet the recreation needs of the area. Over the last four months the two groups have worked with an ACE contractor to formalize a recreation plan with all the research and community input that had already been gathered.

The recreation plan is fantastic because the process was driven by the community. The community identified the priorities, goals, vision and outcomes and now the plan is in print. One of their first steps is to hire recreation director on a two year pilot project. There is little doubt whether the plan will be used or not. This plan will not become dusty on a shelf because the community has been involved from the start and the accountability is held there. This document is "living" because it is "flexible, accessible to community members, and will be continually reviewed".

Eckville is in a position of growth and opportunity in terms of recreation opportunities and now they have the plan to reach those opportunities. Way to go Eckville!

Stick It!

Community residents in Chestermere had an opportunity to stick it! Sticking "it" translates into posting a sticky note on to a community map to determine what is important in the community.

A community wide gathering was held where people could fill out a scanning tool to identify some key areas of quality of life in Chestermere. Group discussions created much focus on the strengths and celebrations that Chestermere has to offer its residents.

Some of the key areas that residents focused on as strengths and assets were: events; organizations, programs, facilities, and services; nature and natural appreciation; atmosphere and people.

If you take apart those headings it is easy to see that the pipes and pavement were not necessarily what the residents were looking at. While those aspects of a community are important, the residents were looking deeper into the quality of life. Residents were actually reflecting upon what makes Chestermere an active, creative, and engaged community.

A facilitator, the community development coach, took the group through a process to determine community priorities. This overall process helped the community determine how to best focus time and energy. The process also helped the community gain ownership on how to move forward with the priorities.

Creating a meaningful and significant, yet fun process to determine what is important to people helps to set the stage for community empowerment. Take time to "stick it" and gain an understanding of what is important to your organization or community. It works!

Accolades in High Level

Here are some positive reflections on how ACE is developing leaders in communities. ACE leaders Carrie Demkiw and Adam Clarkson have recently won the Chamber of Commerce’s 'Volunteer of the Year Award' for their work in High Level. They were co-nominated primarily due to the work they have done with ACE Communities. Amazing work Carrie and Adam!

Parks are Growing in Alberta

It is amazing what transpires when a group of local citizens have input into the renewal of a local park. The Town of Killam has a group of local leaders working along side town staff and council to renew the local heritage park. All citizens, including youth, will equally be involved in the planning and decision making process.

The planning group has amazing foresight to the park details. The design team is looking for ways to enhance the cultural and heritage aspects of the Heritage Park. Much attention is being spent on the cultural potential of the park. This means even benches and signage would incorporate the cultural side of Killam.

It seems that the park will not be unused in any shape or form as the focus is to renew the park for all year use. This could include features of a toboggan and ice surface area to fitness and tennis space and theatre potential.

The best part of the Killam Heritage Park renewal is not the product, but the process. Involving citizens in creating, planning, and decision making processes will help create a public space that is reflective of the community.

Sylvan Lake's MSP Youth Forum

Sylvan Lake has just completed their Youth Forum regarding youth input into the town's upcoming Municipal Sustainability Plan. The Sylvan Lake ACE committee also used the forum to tap into what the youth think about in terms of a potential ACE initiative in their community.

The youth who attended the forum expressed a need for items like: better transportation, an embracing of their lake culture, mentorship opportunities, multi-cultural events, and more youth engagement in the realm of arts, culture, and recreation.

They also expressed pride in their activities to promote an active and healthy approach to maintaining the Lake through greener activities and advocacy. Great work, Sylvan Lake! We are excited to see what your youth leaders will accomplish.

Didsbury's Community Cafe

Didsbury had a coffee and dessert Community Cafe this month as part of their ACE Scanning Tool activities. 32 participants showing very broad representation of the population attended including a range from new residents, long time residents, volunteers with lots of experience and people new to volunteering as well as youth and seniors.

The purpose of the Community Cafe was to use the ACE Community Scanning Tool to gain residents’ opinions on the strengths of the community, areas to work upon, and initiatives that the Didsbury ACE Committee could undertake.

By the end of the workshop, participants had:

· Indicated what direction they as citizens of Didsbury and District want the ACE initiative to take

· Identified some of the community’s strengths and areas that need improvement

· Expressed ideas for the top three priorities for the ACE community to work upon

· Indicated their interest in contributing and being involved with ACE.

Good work, Didsbury! We can't wait to see the results in action.

Communicating via Blogging

A Kitscoty leader took the challenge and started to blog for the community of Kitscoty. What Diane uses the blog for is a communication tool. The focus is having a calendar of events so residents can look at a glance to discover what is happening in the community. Or, residents can look ahead to find out future events. If you look at the site you will notice that there is a lot happening! Check it out at kitscoty.blogspot.com Rural communities are busy!

I actually went on-line to find out the definition of a blog. It is one of those words that I know what it means, but where does it come from? Blog stems from "web log" and is a blend of the two words. In essence, it is a website where a person can add content in the form of a calendar, stories, pictures, and other relevant material. What a fantastic way to share what is happening in a community!

Blogging- what a creative, yet practical way to communicate to others in a community.

Newsworthy Vulcan

Check out this article in the Vulcan Advocate about the Ignite Event in Vulcan. Vulcan had an amazing day where the ACE team spent time in the high school as well as with the public at large. The Vulcan ACE Committee has already followed up with their scanning tool workshop so Vulcan is well on their way in their planning as an ACE Community. We are also in the midst of working with both the Vulcan Advocate and the local high school on our new Youth Reporter Initiative.

See this link for more info on the news in Vulcan: http://www.vulcanadvocate.com/

And here is the article links: http://docs.google.com/a/aceleaders.ca/fileview?id=0B3pKQajHE5jJY2NlZmVjMGMtNmUzYi00YzZkLTljZTQtYjM1ZGYwZmUyYTZl&hl=en

and

http://docs.google.com/a/aceleaders.ca/fileview?id=0B3pKQajHE5jJZWQ4YTdhNDEtZmI1Ni00MWY2LTgzOWMtNWZiYzA4MDk0OWVk&hl=en

The Olympic Spirit in Irricana

It's the Olympic Spirit in Irricana! Irricana was one of the lucky communities to have the Olympic torch to come through on its way to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics. Attached is a photo of the torch bearer, Jake Parker. Jake was a member of SOGO and had a successful year with the group as a youth volunteer. Great job Irricana!

Igniting Longview

Igniting seems like a strong word, doesn't? But in Longview and other ACE Communities it is about using a positive event to move communities forward, rather than a catastrophe to bring people together.

Longview had Ian Hill, ACE Ambassador, speak to key groups and the community at large in mid-January.

Local leaders reflected on the day's events and one shared "what an incredible and productive day we all had!!...It has been smouldering but you managed to spark it into a pretty substantial fire! If I had to put it in a picture, this was Longview after you all left" And Michelle Geistlinger provided the fireworks picture.

Michelle continues and shares that "the feedback we have been getting has been excellent with many expressing their extreme gratitude for the opportunity to hear your message and many more wanting to know when you can come back! The very next morning Mayor McCorquindale had an email from a resident offering his carpentry skills free of charge for any main street merchants wishing to spruce up their store front and this person also hopes your message spreads as do we all who were at the meeting."

Michelle added the many residents indicated that they want to be involved in the local ACE group and others saying they will participate when a project is started. Michelle added that "one resident has enlisted a sound engineer to donate a 24 channel mixer and his skills for our Music Tour in June and his design skills for the proposed stage in the park." The Music Tour is the ACE Arts Tour that is being held in rural Alberta starting later this winter.

Needless to say, a community can pull together and focus on working collaboratively without a crisis. That is what rural Alberta communities are doing today.

Celebration for Active Communities!

Late in 2009, leaders from ten communities celebrated the conclusion of their two year commitment as partners in the Alberta Active Communities initiative, and also celebrated their progress in getting more people, more active, more often in their individual communities.

Since the initiative received funding in April 2006, tremendous capacity has been created to support communities in becoming more active. Relationships have been built, networks created, and plans developed to change communities for the better. Projects that range from communication schemes and trail connections, to greenhouses and youth leadership groups, were created by citizens to promote health and quality of life in their communities.

Alberta Active Communities ultimately inspired a funding proposal to Rural Alberta's Development Fund to build upon the initiative's success. With corporate support from EnCana and CanWest Media ARPA received the funding, and as a result, ACE Communities has taken off, now supporting over 50 communities in the province.

Although the Alberta Active Communities project is at an end, the philosophies and strategies carry on through ACE Communities. ARPA would like to congratulate the first ten partner communities: Calling Lake, Camrose, Drayton Valley, High Level, Hinton, Irricana, Lethbridge, Paddle Prairie, Wainright, and Wood Buffalo. They have taken great action to strengthen and broaden leadership, and to get more people engaged and active in their communities.

Leduc County Moving Forward

Leduc County has three villages that it has been working with in conjunction with its partnership with ACE Communities: New Sarepta, Thorsby, and Warburg. Community leaders have worked with local residents determining priorities and it is clear that action has been taken by recent activity.

New Sarepta is now hosting a Community Kitchen. People are able to cook together to create low cost, healthy meals for their families. What an opportunity to learn about some meal planning and have fun at the same time! Food is always an attraction for community building!

Thorsby is focusing on recreation with creating a more up-to-date recreation complex. Likewise, Warburg is focusing on adding needed equipment to their facility.

A county wide event is the "Get Up and Go Girl" workshop being held later in February. All the communities in the county will be included. Young women will have the opportunity to learn about healthy living, sport, and recreation.

Way to go Leduc County!

Lethbridge's journey to a healthier 2010

Lethbridge is a very busy and healthy city in 2010. Not only will it be partnering with Alberta Centre for Active Living (ACAL) to host a presentation on barriers and solutions to physical activity in February 2010, they will also be co-hosting a Physical Activity forum with ACAL in June to promote active transportation.

Also on the plate, is an event with the 'Urban Farmer" Ron Berezan from Edmonton to do a presentation in Lethbridge around edible landscaping and community gardening.

Congrats to Lethbridge for making their city not only active but more environmentally aware!

Healthy Workplace Awards

Kathyrn Badry in Camrose, with the help of her colleagues, has completed an outline for a Healthy Workplace Recognition Award program.

This program will see businesses being presented with support, resources and recognition for contributing to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle in the workplace. The initial lauch of the program was held December 3rd at the annual Christmas social for the Chamber of Commerce.

Way to go Camrose for your hard work at keeping your community active, creative, and engaged!

Youth Training in Calling Lake

Calling Lake's community leader Angela Lightning and 43 residents successfully completed the Handling Food Safely Training provided by Health Services. At least 20 of those involved were youth from Team ACE.

Team ACE will also be operating the concession at the rink in Calling Lake beginning immediately! This is a project designed to help youth find ways of contributing positively to the community while learning a skill and making some money.

Kudos to Calling Lake and their efforts at successfully engaging and training the next generation of ACE leaders!