The Brick Sport Central Makes an Impact in Calling Lake

Andy Wigston doesn’t need a lot of time to come up with reasons why kids need access to sports.

“It’s important for kids to be healthy,” he says from his cell phone. Fittingly, he has just finished watching his son’s soccer game. He talks as he strolls through the grass back to his vehicle.

Most kids who play sports don’t have time to get into trouble. Another thing is the camaraderie they get—when they’re playing sports, they learn to play on teams, they learn team values and they also learn new skills.”

To Andy, team sports aren’t about developing athletes as much as they are about developing people. He lists more benefits: leadership and the ability to win—and lose—gracefully. Determination. A positive outlook. It’s clear he could keep going.

Given his obvious belief in the value of recreation, it should come as no surprise that Andy is involved with an organization that helps to make sports accessible to all children. The Brick Sport Central has been collecting and repairing used sports equipment and giving them to kids in need since 1991. Andy, now the president, has been involved with the organization for 11 years.

Andy recently partnered with Calling Lake, an ACE community in northern Alberta. He drove up to Calling Lake for an ACE weekend youth conference where he spoke about leadership.

Andy first learned about The Brick Sport Central when he was working for The Brick chain of furniture stores. “I thought, ‘this is amazing,” he recalls. He gladly sat on Brick Sport Central’s board as a sponsor and, when he retired in 2000, jumped at the chance to sit on the board as an executive. “This is a really incredible program. I’ve got another year on my term and I'm looking forward to it.”

The goal? “To get as many kids playing sports as we can,” he says, “whether that sport is soccer, tennis, volleyball, hockey, baseball or basketball, we’ll help them. We even get people dropping off sleds and toboggans.”

The Brick Sport Central deals with about 200 agencies in Alberta that contact the volunteer-driven organization when there’s a child who wants to play a sport, but his or her family can’t afford the equipment. It partners with KidSport Canada, an organization that supplies the funding to cover the cost of registration.

Andy and the team of volunteers serve the needs of sports-minded kids in Alberta from Red Deer all the way north. They’ve even helped hockey groups in Inuvik and Northwest Territories. To get the necessary sizes for these faraway teams, the volunteers get innovative. “We send them a form that has foot tracings and measurements for leg length, arm length, chest width, all those things so we can outfit them,” he explains, adding that the day the equipment arrives is always a happy one for those communities. “It’s really cool. When that plane arrives up north, the kids come out to the plane, and each one of them gets a hockey bag, full of equipment, with their name on it. They’re really excited.”

Last year, The Brick Sport Central outfitted 8,000 kids. They gave away lacrosse, tennis, baseball and hockey equipment—“any sport a kid plays,” Andy says. The organization also distributed 1,500 bicycles, refurbishing them in the full-service bike shop, which is run by volunteer bike mechanics.

As with any volunteer-run organization, The Brick Sport Central relies on a wide network of people that are as committed to the cause as Andy is. Right now there are approximately 45 volunteers who work tirelessly to ensure no sports dream goes unfulfilled.

“We have kids who received equipment when they were younger who are now volunteering with us,” he says. “It’s really rewarding when you see that happen.”

For more information on the program, visit www.sportcentral.org/.

By Jen Janzen for ACE Communities

Community Gardens are Growing in Rural Alberta!

Community gardens are not new to the scene of outdoor recreational activities. Community gardens have been established around the world long before our lifetime. However, it seems in the last few years the concept and implementation of such gardens have become more widespread and well known.

Several partner communities of ACE have either began to talk about developing a community garden in their area or have initiated the ground breaking of a garden. Hinton will soon be developing a combined greenhouse and outdoor garden concept and other ACE Communities are creating their community gardens, such as Irricana and High Level.

There are several reasons why community gardens are important to both the individual and communities. The council of Saanich, BC has identified key reasons why community gardens are valuable:

"Community gardens are a valuable community recreation activity that contributes to health and well-being, positive social interaction, community development, cultural expression, connection to nature, protection and use of open space, and economical food production."
(http://www.gov.saanich.bc.ca/municipal/clerks/bylaws/pdfs/gardens.pdf).

Other benefits include: food security, food sharing, reduced kitchen and restaurant waste, increased compost awareness, educational opportunities, increased skill base, and opportunities for all ages and abilities to come together around a common goal. The City of Victoria, BC is active in supporting community gardens and the link outlines several more benefits of community gardens.(http://www.victoria.ca/cityhall/pdfs/cmmnty_garden_policy.pdf)

Community gardens cross-over through several sectors in a community: recreation, arts, culture, business, social, health, and more. Community partners may include parks and recreation departments, planning and development departments, and several private and public partners. As any community development initiative, tapping into resources that may seem "out-of-the box" may reap several benefits.

When the local council supports the development and implementation of community gardens there is greater success in the longevity of these projects. Likewise, gaining community partners in developing the gardens are important to build networks, create a stronger profile in the community, gain support, and have increased access to resources.

It is important to understand that community gardens and sustainable community planning are two vital concepts to urban planning. This means the city planners need to re-think and be innovative about utilizing space during development. Securing areas in urban centres for community gardens establishes a way to increase the quality of life for residents. (http://www.cityfarmer.org/dianaCGplanning.html).

Check out in your area if there is a community garden. Learn more about them and how to become involved. Be proactive in securing our local food sources and creating opportunities for residents to be active, creative, and engaged in rural Alberta!

Sangudo Builds a New Playground

One of the ACE Communities, Sangudo has recently worked together at the local level with the "Let Them Be Kids" initiative to build a community playground. There was much preliminary work, but the main features of the playground were up in a day! This community spirit represents how drive and passion is not lost in when a group of committed citizens of all ages work together.

Sangudo's Community Playground Build has been featured this week on the “Let Them Be Kids” website. To take a look, just go to http://www.ltbk.ca/ and also http://www.viddler.com/explore/ltbk/videos/37/.

The community has shown how collaboration and determination can turn an idea into fruition and such an incredible success!

Sangudo Celebrates

Sangudo, an ACE Communities partner, has received funding from Alberta Community and Co-operative Association's Rural Co-operative Development Project. This means funding and support has been made available to Sangudo to develop a co-operative that is member owned and operated.

A Sangudo Co-Operative Center for the Arts is the project goal. The art co-operative would provide a store-front gallery-type space to showcase visual arts and a place for creative folks to gather and be inspired. Several other areas of the gallery would include a concession, consignment articles, live performances of various types, workshops, festivals, arts related classes, book signings, and a host to several other arts and culture activities.

Benefits of such a co-operative in Sangudo means increased employment, broader entertainment and activities, engagement of youth and seniors, and potential improvement and utilization of current infrastructures.

However, money is not just handed over to Sangudo and the work finished. The members of this grass-roots initiative will be using a collaborative approach. This means that the members drive the focus of Co-operative Centre for the Arts, as well as manage it. Likewise, the community will be required to bring forth local funds and resources.

The innovation and leadership that is demonstrated within this small rural Alberta community does indeed create a cause for celebration!

Congratulations to ACE Leader Cathy O'Donoghue

Partnering and opportunities have created a buzz for Irricana. The Town of Irricana got a tip o’ the hat from the province, April 30, for its initiatives to promote healthy eating, physical activity and social interaction. “We are honoured by this recognition,” said Cathy O’Donoghue, the Town’s community services officer.

The Alberta Recreation and Parks Association awarded communities from across the province as part of the Communities Choose Well 2008-2009 initiative at a ceremony held in Okotoks. “Communities Choose Well continues to be a popular way for communities to involve their residents in a wide range of fun and healthy activities,” said Dr. Raj Sherman, parliamentary
assistant for Health and Wellness. “For the second year in a row we are encouraged to see an increase in the number of communities that took up the challenge to eat healthy, be active and engage in positive social pursuits.” A total of 26 communities were recognized in Alberta, out of a record 162 participating communities.

It takes a few determined people to zero in on a good initiative and bring it out to the community where it can spread like wildfire, O’Donoghue said. “In whatever we do, partnering with everyone is key,” she said. O’Donoghue added Irricana is well equipped with a whole network of community organizations and a volunteering tradition such as the local firefighters. “The organizations in our community are great,” she said.

Irricana’s initiatives include a Pitchin annual event, which collected 100 bags of garbage from roadways and park areas last year. The local youth centre The Crib provides nutritious food and creates events such as healthy Halloween, while providing entertainment options that include physical activity. To that end, the local council has promoted a ‘stay fit while having fun’ approach, by approving the purchase of equipment such as table tennis, air hockey, a bubble hockey game, and a Nintendo Wii video game system.

Irricana has also been developing an electronic information board, a flooring system for the curling rink and a trailhead park under the Active, Creative, Engaged (ACE) community initiative. Recognition was also given to the Town of Chestermere, for its Youth Encouraging Lasting Leadership (YELL). The Town council assumed the role of planning, developing and building a bike park. YELL has been successful in communicating with the public, the local government and community groups. Peer communication also played a critical part in gathering youth of all ages to the park.

Serving Albertans since 1952, the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association is a non-for-profit, charitable organization made up of volunteer committees to building healthy citizens and communities through recreation and parks. Active, Creative, Engaged (ACE) Communities is an initiative under the umbrella of Alberta Recreation and Parks Association.

Rokkit Wake-A-thon a Success

The Rokkit youth group of Drayton Valley successfully held their Wake-A-thon on April 17th at the H.W. Pickup Jr. High School located in the centre of the town. With the help of ACE’s Youth Engagement Coordinator Cameron Sault, Rokkit developed, planned, and implemented the entire Wake-A-thon, with meetings reaching as far back as early February.

Rokkit’s mission was to provide youth with positive, fulfilling activities and in doing so, raise funds to benefit themselves and their community. Rokkit definitely stuck to their mission statement by hosting such activities as crafts, movies, Nintendo wii and Rock Band tournaments, cosmetology, sports, cooking, and team building games, just to name a few. Cameron also held a session to educate the youth about the Drayton Valley ACE Youth Support Group that had recently formed with the help of ACE’s coach Toni Lashbrook. Without the support of the adults within the community none of this could have happened.

Congratulations to Rokkit and Drayton Valley!

COMMUNITY GARDEN SOCIETY AWARDED $10,000

The local Alberta Active Creative Engaged Communities (ACE) evaluation committee has decided to award the $10,000 seed money to the newly formed Hinton Community Garden Society.

The Hinton Community Garden will be a productive, self-supporting, community greenhouse and outdoor garden. The goal is to plant the outside garden in spring of 2010, and to plant inside a greenhouse by the spring of 2011. The project will be promoted as a unique and innovative solution to high food prices, greenhouse gas emissions, and social fragmentation, eventually run as a non-profit company operating under the direction of the Society.

Mayor Glenn Taylor states that, “This community driven project will not only showcase Hinton as a progressive community, it will also showcase the desire for a greener way of doing things. The seed money for this project will go a long way in the planning for this project. I expect that the volunteers of Hinton will once again make Hinton proud by dedicating their time and energy to a distinctive project.”

The community garden has 3 objectives:
1. To provide food security to Hinton, by ensuring a perennial supply of fresh, organic produce.
2. To reduce Hinton’s greenhouse gas emissions, by reducing the fossil fuels consumed in the production, processing, and transportation of imported produce.
3. To foster social cohesion and inclusiveness by providing a “Third Place” where people of all ages can participate in gardening.

At a public meeting on January 12, 2009, a proposal for an all-season, organic, community-operated garden was presented to an audience of 36 to determine the level of community interest. In the three months since this meeting was held;
* nine more public meetings have been held,
* an email list of 75 interested people has been maintained,
* a non-profit Society has been formed,
* preliminary research has been conducted,
* letters of support have been received from numerous individuals and organizations.

For more information please contact Jerome Cranston at 780-865-3809 or email hintoncommunitygarden@gmail.com.