Longview wins ARPA 'Parks Excellence Award'!

Congratulations goes out to the Longview Arts, Recreation and Community (ARC) Society for winning the ARPA 'Parks Excellence Award'!  This award was initiated by ARPA's Parks and Open Space Network to recognize achievements or innovative ideas for parks and open space operations, and also to increase the profile of the parks and open space professionals in Alberta.

The Longview ARC Society was formed as a natural progression from their involvement as an ACE Community. A number of areas for improvement were identified upon completion of the community scanning tool including two community desires: a gathering spot and recreational opportunities for the community.  The ARC devised a wish list for an inclusive community space that included everything from necessities to playground, fitness and skateboard equipment.

May 2011, ARC partnered with Longview Council, the Serenity Garden and Veteran’s Memorial Committee, Longview Stampede Association and the Longview Recreation Board to spearhead a fundraising program for the project which they named Longview “Xtreme Makeover”.  The ARC applied for a CFEP Grant with the Longview Recreation Board, Council and the MD of Foothills #31 to put a concrete pad in the rink making it multi season/multi use.

The ARC secured one of 30 annual Canada wide awards from Let Them Be Kids of which 50% went towards all of the above mentioned equipment and matched this award with a variety of corporate donations, fund raising, philanthropic foundations and provincial grants. With the assistance of volunteer labour from the village and surrounding area, the group installed a junior and senior playground, thirteen pieces of outdoor fitness equipment, picnic tables, benches and litter receptacles in Centennial Park. The group also secured funding to install skate board equipment in the outdoor rink adding another use to the structure.

The ARC Society secured funding from Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Association to purchase additional fitness and were able to hired a fitness instructor to teach the community how to use the new equipment. This fitness program was called Go ME!!, an acronym for Go Out Move and Exercise. The program ran for the entire summer free of charge and welcomed adults, seniors, youth, moms and tots. The ARC Society has had numerous citizens report increased mobility, increased stamina, weight loss and cases of uncontrollable laughter as they have more and more fun together!

The Centennial Park in Longview has truly become the focal point of Longview’s small rural community.

Carstairs evaluates their priorities!

ARPA’s ‘Diversity Friendly’ Communities (DFC) have now entered into the second and final year of their activities.  Sponsored by the Alberta Government’s Human Rights Education and Multiculturalism Fund (HREMF), this group of four communities is working to use recreation as a catalyst to support efforts to foster equality, promote fairness, and encourage the creation of inclusive communities.

Carstairs, Grande Cache, Jasper, and Rocky Mountain House are all working diligently to positively affect the quality of life in their communities. The DFC group in Carstairs, in fact, met recently at an event hosted by Carstairs Connections.  The goal of the meeting: 1) to learn about the State of the Carstairs Community through an update on health, recreation, and culture programs and projects, 2) to give input about what’s important in Carstairs in health, recreation, and culture 3) to give input about one to three priorities to make Carstairs more diversity friendly 4) and to set priorities for the use of their $10,000 Seed funding grant and the next actions of Carstairs Connections.

Participants, under the superb guidance of ACE Coach Barb Pedersen, discussed six theme areas identified at a previous community meeting. These included:

• Improved communication
• New People and Commuters
• Promote Carstairs as a place for business, tourism, a place to live, etc.
• Promote Volunteerism
• Leisure activities
• Engage our youth

After much discussion, ‘Engaging Youth’, ‘Promoting Carstairs’, and ‘Improved Communication’ surfaced as the participants top three general priorities.  The objective for Carstairs now is to dovetail these priorities with the goal of making the community more inclusive and diversity friendly.  We can’t wait to see to the final results!