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.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
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!"
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!"
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
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
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 17th for prizes and more!
This pie making workshop happens Friday August 20th, 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 13th, 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
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Lots of Action in Innisfail
On Tuesday, June 15th Innisfail will launch
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.
Envision InnisfailReflecting 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.
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