Trochu officially launches their trails

Congrats to the alumni ACE Community of Trochu who recently hosted the official launch of their Trail systems. Not only was the sun actually shining for the event, the planning committee received congratulatory messages from ACE Communities, Crowfoot MP, the Honorable Kevin Sorenson, Reeve Bob Long of Kneehill County, and  Mayor Tim Shearlaw of Three Hills in addition to Trochu's own Mayor Barry Kletke.

One of the town's community leaders, Pastor Alan Powell, did a great job of being emcee for the evening and ACE leader Darla Gagyi presented a brief history of our Trails journey. Also included was a lovely letter from Trochu's ACE Coach Carol Ohler as well as representation from Encana and various other supporters.

All members of the Trails Committee were there with the eldest two ladies on the committee having the honour of holding the ribbon for cutting. These formalities were followed by the town's third annual Movie in the Park, with popcorn again, supplied and served by Elnora Servus Credit Union andout local Fire Department….the tradition continues!

We can't wait to pop into Trochu and check out the trails ourselves!  Great work as always, Team Trochu!

Trails in Trochu!

Kudos to TROCHU who have managed to turn their ACE Communities seed funding into a Return on Investment (ROI) of 561%! Amazing!

The Town of Trochu’s ACE initiative is set to construct a network of 2,714 metres of eight foot wide, gravel based, asphalt historical walking trails. The trail will promote physical activity and act as a lasting tool to preserve local history while truly transforming the community. The fulfillment of this project will also see a beautiful network of pathways, completely landscaped with native trees and plants, historical markers, bridges, benches, garbage cans, bollards and other decorative touches.

Way to go, Trochu!

Trochu is also stepping up to be a mentor for our next group of ACE Communities at the upcoming ACE 'Diversity Friendly Communities' gathering in October. Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with the next generation of ACE Communities!

Trochu highlighted in The Capital newspaper

Check out this excerpt from The Capital, the local newspaper in Three Hills. It highlights Trochu's recent fundraising success. To read the complete article see this link!

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Trochu Centennial Trails, in partnership with the Trochu and District Agricultural Society, are excited to announce the receipt of $159,300 from the Federal Government's Heritage Legacy Grant. Crowfoot MP Kevin Sorenson reported the good news on March 24, 2011, to the Trochu Centennial Trails Committee and not only congratulated them on receiving their grant, but complimented them on the strength of their grant, further indicating that it is rare to see an application successful for the entire request. This can be seen as a testimony to the commitment that Trochu has demonstrated thus far to the project and their ability to work together to make things happen.

The Trochu Centennial Trails project is a result of the community's acceptance as an Active Creative Engaged (ACE) community in June of 2009. As part of this process, ACE brought in Ian Hill as a guest speaker in December 2009 for the ACE Community Ignite Tour. This empowered residents to participate in a consultation process, whereby a historical trail system was identified as a top priority during Communities in Bloom Community Engagement process for their new five year plan.

Fantastic news for Trochu!

Celebrations are due in TROCHU!!! The Trochu Trails Committee, created through the local ACE Committee, has just received word that their application through the Canadian Heritage Legacy Fund has been successful. This fund aims at building communities through arts and heritage and helps commemorate local historical events, anniversaries, or tributes to local historical personalities.

Trochu has been actively pursuing the creation of heritage trails for their community in celebration of their 100^th anniversary and have been received $159,000.00 from the Legacy Fund for their efforts! Way to be creative AND active, Trochu! To learn more about Trochu's activities, see this blog by Trochu ACE Leader Val.

The Trochu Journey

At the one year anniversary of our exciting "Ignite Tour", our town is feeling the impact of the ACE experience. Since our last newsletter reporting, we have seen an active Fall of serious planning, grant applications and fundraising by our pro-active Trails team including individual donations, Town, and corporate/businesses. There are high expectations once the matching grant process is complete!

The Skateboard Park and Family Fun Centre groups are realizing slower momentum, and the benefit of merging all efforts toward making the Trails project a single priority at this time, harnessing all this learning and experience for a future time when these projects are in the works!

The news of our designation as “The Pinkest Little Town in the West” was received in October which recognized the outstanding participation and community involvement in raising the most money during the 14 day "Wild Pink Yonder Ride" for breast cancer. This announcement coincided nicely with the ARPA Jasper Conference where we could share the good news. The Community Building segment was well done by the 11 ACE Communities who contributed their heart-warming stories. I am delighted to see the Trochu Journey six-minute video featured on the ACE Communities website…looks great there!

We have a community gathering booked for January 5, 2011 as a very fitting year- to- the-day reunion where we will have everyone back together for an update and to hear their valuable feedback. Future events are already in the works starting with a New Year’s Eve traditional fireworks display to kick-off what promises to be the best Centennial celebrations ever!

Trochu marks 100 years and we have more community leaders coming forward to help plan this party than ever before. We will update on this as the year unfolds but will just mention that our 2010 ACE Movie in the Park event, promises to be an annual close of school blast for our kids. It is booked to go again as part of the Centennial plans for 2011 and beyond… stay tuned for more exciting plans throughout our big year!

In closing, I think it is worth mentioning that an unprecedented four women ran in the municipal election in Trochu this past fall; two with success at the polls. Personally, I must attribute some of the decision to make this step, to the encouragement and positivity I have felt throughout the ACE experience. Our community, strong and progressive in many ways already, has definitely become even more cohesive, with leadership starting to emerge anew. Our communities will go where we lead and the more tools and skills we can gather and use to this end, the better for all

Update from ACE Leader Val in Trochu