The Community Hall opened up for rentals and the Edelweiss Preparatory School began classes September 8. New COVID-19 protocols are in place as recommended by Alberta Health Services (“AHS”). The City of Calgary has also implemented the requirement for face masks in all public indoor spaces. The Community Hall has a license of occupation with the City and is thus considered a public indoor space. However, private rental functions are excluded from the mask requirements although social distancing and the voluntary use of masks is encouraged. The need for Hall rental income and community social events has now to be balanced by the risks associated with the spread of the COVID-19 virus. As such strict sanitization procedures have been put in place and only all-day Saturday rentals will be initially allowed due to risks associated with the Edelweiss School children.
As a new initiative in these restrictive times, the Community Association sponsored a free pumpkin patch give away on Saturday, October 3. Over 160 pumpkins were distributed to families in Cambrian Heights. Our Social Director, Jodi Dixon, organized the purchase of these pumpkins from a local farmer and enlisted volunteers such as Mary Hopkins and her twin boys, Robert and Michael, to distribute the pumpkins. At the end of the day, other volunteers agreed to distribute by individual delivery to seniors in the neighbourhood and those unable to pickup the pumpkins that day. I have included a few pictures from the event. A full catalogue may be found on our website (https://cambrianheightscommunity.com). Other online contests helped replace our annual Halloween month end party.
Our usual Fall indoor events, such as the Halloween Party and our Fall Wine Event, have been cancelled due to safety concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic. The annual children’s Lego Contest will not be held live this year for safety reasons. We are however sponsoring an online virtual contest in November. The Event will be judged November 21. Details are included in this newsletter and on our website. Updates and reminders will be posted on our Facebook page and sent out to you via an email blast, if you are registered with the Community. Registration details are provided on the website. We encourage all residents to register, especially in these unusual times, for updates on all Community activities and initiatives.
In the same vein, our weekly drop-in Yoga Program and our general Fitness Programs will continue to be offered online through the end of the year. Both Lorene Hughes (fitness, [email protected]) and Kyrsten Blair (yoga, [email protected]) will operate these programs, gaining from their experience when COVID-19 forced this change in March. As we approach the end of 2020, we will be monitoring AHS guidelines as to planning any return to actual community hall sessions.
The introductory Spanish language classes are continuing at the Community Hall. This entry level course runs for 12 weeks ending December 8. It is provided through Azren, the Language Nerd staff. We hope this will be the first of many such language course curriculums. Watch for information on 2021 language courses in the December Community Newsletter and our website.
The beginning of November also serves as the start of a Calgary winter. This is offset by the installation of our two ice rinks behind the community hall. These rinks provide an annual winter focus for the community due to the hard work of the rink rats. Once again volunteers make this possible. If you are available to help out, please contact the team headed by Scott at [email protected] to offer some hours of worthwhile effort for the kids.
The Community Association is also looking for a volunteer to undertake the job of Secretary for the 2021 year. There remains an opportunity to join the Board of Directors and learn the job from the current Secretary and contribute to the successful running of the Cambrian Heights Com-munity, while contributing new ideas and joining an active group of volunteers that are your neighbours. Please contact me at [email protected] for more information.
The next meeting of the Board is scheduled for December 7. While these meetings normally take place at the Georgina Thomson City building on 14 Street and Northmount Drive, recent City guidelines have restricted that buildings use and for the near term all Board meetings will be held at the Community Hall. These meetings occur at 6:30 pm,, and residents are normally welcome to attend. At this point we are not encouraging community residents to attend due to health safety concerns. If you do wish to bring some issue forward to the Board, please contact [email protected] in advance of any meeting. Should you wish to attend the Board meeting, please follow the COVID safety protocols posted on the Hall entrance and on the website.
Stay Safe.
Daryl Connolly, President CHCA
