ACE OKOTOKS Community Network in action!

Congratulations to the ACE OKOTOKS Community Network who hosted their first networking social event this month. This network aims to bring area residents together in a variety of fun activities and social events with the goal of being active and more connected to fellow community members.

This latest event was tied into the local Okotoks parade day and was meant to celebrate all of the fantastic events in Okotoks.

To check out more about this initiative, see this feature on the ACE Okotoks Community Network in the Okotoks Living Magazine.

A busy summer for Irricana

Kudos to IRRICANA who is using the summer to fully capitalizing on the ACE-driven upgrades to their local Recreation Complex. Not only is adult floor hockey a hit on Monday night, the youth centre kids love all the drop-in times available to them as well.

The local Ag Society is also on board and has booked the complex almost every weekend for birthday parities with recreation play themes. Good bye ‘Fast Food’ parties, hello Irricana Rec Complex!

And more good news… Irricana has received a Canada Summer Jobs Grant to hire a summer student for the Complex to help with their summer programming! Great work, Irricana!

ACE Communities featured in Apple Magazine

Check out this feature in the Alberta Health Services magazine apple. Highlighted in the latest May/June issue were the activities of eight ACE Communities.

Click here and scroll to page 45 to see what’s happening in Alexis Nakota Sioux First Nation, Cold Lake, Hinton, Killam, Irricana, Longview, Vulcan, and Wainwright.

We love that the word is getting out there about the FANTASTIC things happening in rural Alberta!

Didsbury Talks

Healthy Didsbury is pleased to announce a new community initiative: “Didsbury Talks!” and the hiring of our “Didsbury Talks!” Coordinator: Lyle Schulz.

“Didsbury Talks!” is a two year series of theme -based community cafes designed to intentionally bring together community organizations and the citizens in Didsbury. The goal is to create a welcoming forum for engaged and authentic, action-oriented conversations about topics that are relevant to the people of Didsbury. The cafes become the catalysts for generating ideas, identifying necessary actions and connecting with community members who are enthusiastic about the specific theme. At the completion of each café, action plans and follow-up activities will be created to assist community leaders, organizations and residents to move great ideas into major actions.

Thanks to the generous support of ACE Communities of Alberta Recreation and Parks Association, Healthy Didsbury has hired Lyle Schulz as the Community Café Coordinator. Lyle brings diverse skills and experiences to the initiative, including electronic media, community engagement, marketing and graphic design. He will be working closely with Healthy Didsbury for the planning and implementation of the upcoming community cafes. Healthy Didsbury is thrilled that Lyle has decided to accept this challenging and rewarding role.

Background:

Healthy Didsbury is a coalition of community members and organizations working towards a long range vision for a Healthy Didsbury. This group grew out of a public forum in January, 2008 that was hosted by the Town of Didsbury, the Rosebud Health Foundation and the former Calgary Health Region (now Alberta Health Services). Since that first public forum, the group has been quietly working to develop a vision and action plan for Didsbury. Our vision for Didsbury is a healthy, safe and involved community. Our mission is to facilitate wellness through community involvement, partnership and action. In 2009, Didsbury was selected as an ACE (Active, Creative, Engaged) Partner Community. This two year partnership focused on enhancing the quality of life in rural communities by strengthening community leadership, collaboration, and innovation through recreation, parks, arts, culture and heritage. One of the fundamental purposes of ACE is to recognize and help develop sustainable leadership using a grass roots or community driven approach.

Funding for Eckville

A shout out to ECKVILLE who has now officially received their grant funds from Alberta’s Community Initiative Program (CIP).

This means that they have now secured enough funds for a two-year part time contract for their new recreation director. Talk about economic impact! The Town of Eckville, Conoco Phillips, the Eckville Legion, the Community Development Association, Medicine River Oil Recyclers, Fred’s Trucking, Keyera Energy, and the Lion’s Club all contributed funds towards the creation of this position.

So welcome again to Eckville’s new Director, Wayne Hazell. We can’t wait to see what else the ACE Committee in Eckville can accomplish!