Longview gets active for the summer!

Congrats to the ACE Community of Longview who has now completed the 2^nd installment of their Xtreme town makeover! This accomplishment included the installation of their skateboard park as well as the remainder of the fitness equipment in Centennial Park.

The residents of Longview and their ARC Society would like to send out special thanks to 16-years old Austin Caumartin. Austin worked especially hard and was a key factor in helping assemble the whole skate park! Well done, Austin... this skate park is for you!

This means that Longview’s free Summer exercise-in-the-park program called GO ME!  (Go Out Move and Exercise!) is now up and operating.

The Longview ARC Society has been successful in securing funds from the Alberta Government and Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Association to run a 15-week fitness program in Centennial Park from June until mid September. This program, entitled GO ME!, will show local residents how to use the newly installed exercise equipment and participate in regular exercise classes tailored to meet all ages, levels and abilities.

Please register for classes online at http://www.longviewaceprojects.weebly.com

Way to begin the summer on an active note, Longview!  You are as inspiring as always!

Irricana goes the distance!

Check out this FANTASTIC update from the ACE Community of IRRICANA!

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I am excited to share that the time has been set for the installation of the Irricana Lion’s Centennial Park, one of our three ACE Communities initiatives. The Irricana Lion’s Club, an ACE Community partner, has taken over the task of spearheading, including fundraising, and planning the project. The Lion’s Club has taken the $4500.00 initial seed funding from our ACE Communities and grew it into a half a million dollar project. They have partnered with Alberta TrailNet to lease the land for a park and future development of Irricana’s trail system that includes plans for an outdoor amphitheatre.

The Irricana Lions Club was also able to access a donation of $10,000.00 plus in-kind funding from Encana towards the project. Larry Marshall, Community Relations Advisor with Encana, has rounded up 100 Encana volunteers for the installation and landscaping of the playground and park area. They will be providing food and drinks for all of the volunteers. Volunteers from the Irricana Lion’s Club, the Irricana Fire Department, the Town ofIrricana Staff and Community Members at large will be giving a hand with the event. 

The Lion’s Club members have been selling $100.00 bricks (engraved with your name) for the courtyard as a fundraiser; if you are interested please contact Lions Club Member Brian Culp, email: irricanalions@efirehose.net.  And if you would like further information, Brian will be pleased to speak to you.

    

The date for installation will be Friday, June 22^nd and will start at 9:00 am, if you are in the neighbourhood please feel free to drop by.

Thanks again for all of the support from ACE that we have received regarding our community development. It has been an amazing ride!

Cheers,

Cathy

ACE Community Leader

If It Works in Sangudo, Why Not In Your Community?

Check out this great blog by Dan Ohler entitled: "If It Works in Sangudo, Why Not In Your Community?". This blog was recently showcased in the Alberta Rural Development Network (ARDN) newsletter and features economic revitalization projects like the Sangudo Opportunity Development Co-operative (SODC). This unique investment co-op is working to revitalize the economic viability of the ACE Community of SANGUDO, Alberta, one hour northwest of Edmonton.

SODC is revitalizing Sangudo’s economy by keeping local investment dollars in Sangudo and redirecting them into the community.

Click here to read more!

Collective Community Impact in Irricana

In 2010, IRRICANA was chosen to be a part of the Active Community Strategy (ACS) initiative together with three other ACE alumni communities in Alberta - High Level, Camrose, and Lethbridge. Having been involved with ACE Communities in 2007-2008, the intent of the ACS was to utilize their growing community capacity and leadership by focussing more specifically on a comprehensive active recreation/physical activity strategy.

Each community has taken a unique path using a similar process. Using the ACE Communities "Planning Framework for Community Development" as a guide, they all took the time to engage a variety of partners, build on strengths, and utilize existing knowledge, plans and research to inform priorities.

All four of the communities engaged community members, organizations and Councils to determine priorities for building a more physically active community. Each community's strategy was distinctive as it was based on their needs, resources, and location. All linked their priorities to local Community Sustainability Plans, the draft Active Alberta Policy, and other relevant plans and policies. Identifying the linkages with local, provincial and national efforts provided opportunities to build collaborative partnerships that extended beyond municipal boundaries.

This month, we'd like to share with you the plan that Irricana created as part of their Active Community Strategy initiative. The goal is to inspire and to assist other communities with their efforts in creating collective community action.

See this link for the report!

Longview Gets Active

Congrats to the ACE Community of Longview who has been recently approved for $1000 from SOGO Active through Communities ChooseWell (Communities ChooseWell is an energizing healthy eating and active living initiative supported by Alberta Health and Wellness and managed by the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association) to run a fitness challenge with both school kids and anyone else who is interested using the Participaction suggestions and calendar. This challenge will run from April 1 until the end of June, culminating with a big party in the Centennial Park on Saturday, June 23 from 1-4 PM.

A second, even bigger bit of news to celebrate is that the ACE community team in Longview has just heard from the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation (ASRPWF) that they have received a $13,500 grant for a 15-week summer exercise program slotted to run in the local refurbished park. This program is entitled GO ME (GO OUT MOVE & EXERCISE) and will entail 3 different classes for 1) Moms and Tots, 2) Seniors, 3) Adults and Youth, three times a week, from June 1 to mid September. The aim is to also purchase some extra fitness equipment like exercise balls, weighted hula hoops and even a small shed to store the equipment in the park.

The final tidbit of info from Longview is that they are planning a Volunteer Appreciation Dinner for all of Longview's Volunteers from all of the groups in the town to be held on Saturday, April 21 during National Volunteer Appreciation Week.

Way to keep the community both active and engaged, Longview! We might be heading your way to participate in those workouts in the park now that the snow has finally said good bye!

Rocky Mountain House makes Diversity a Priority

Kudos definitely need to go out to ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE who recently hosted a community scanning event as part of their work as one of ACE’s ‘Diversity Friendly’ Communities. After compiling and analyzing the overall Scanning Tool results, the following suggestions were made by participants as possible ways of improving the quality of life for its residents.

We at ACE Communities were so impressed with the depth and breadth of their discussion that we are including their complete list here. Great work, Rocky! We can’t wait to see what happens when these suggestions become action items in the community.

And here is the list:

• An initiative that helps residents examine the many faces of discrimination that exist in our community.

• Strong individuals, families, and community. An initiative that looks at and develops ways of making recreation programs and services more accessible for low income individual and families.

• An initiative that would examine and provide additional low income housing spaces for residents.

• Innovative initiatives addressing quality of life issues in the community including anti-social behaviour, examining the idea of community (how it is defined/what we mean by community/who is part of a community).

• Initiatives/opportunities to increase communication both individually and as a group.

• An initiative that would work with specific groups of people to provide worker training.

• Adult Education Opportunities for employers to learn about being leading edge employers.

• The development of an Immigrant Centre.

• Working with the First Nations people and systems. Create ways of collaborating that will build a stronger sense of community as well as increase quality of life/sense of belonging.

• Create opportunities to help visitors and residents understand what actions/attitudes can encourage the sustainability of the natural environment.

Summary

The following project priorities are:

1. First Nations Collaboration*
2. Low income residents.*
3. Ecological Stewardship*
4. Transportation
5. Newcomers
* areas chosen to work on as first priorities


And for more pictures from this fantastic event, click here!

ACE COLD LAKE brings hope!

Congrats to ACE COLD LAKE who recently celebrated the successes of their ACE project with a celebration luncheon!

This ACE sponsored program, hosted by the Lakeland Centre for FASD (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder), helped clients affected by FASD to learn life skills, coping and relationship skills as well as exposed them to nature, recreational, and environmental activities. The seed funding provided by the ACE Initiative covered the tangible costs for over 5000 km of travel to transport clients, 225 hours of childcare for clients, and numerous supplies for life skills training. What is more difficult to measure, however, but was ultimately the greatest investment, was dignity for ten clients, pride for two staff, accolades for two organizations, numerous community partnerships, community pride and awareness, new community partners looking to invest in this creative and successful program, and a template for changing lives.

Congratulations ACE Cold Lake for exceeding your own expectations and for adding to ACE’s collective of success stories! To read more about this great initiative, see this newest blog by Rose Carmichael, ACE Community Liaison.

And for more pics from the ACE Cold Lake celebration, click here!