Hello, Edgemont!
We’re knocking on the door of summer and looking forward to those lazy, crazy days, but before we get too excited about what summer might bring, let’s take a look at what the Edgemont Community Association (ECA) has done along the way. Then, let’s talk about what’s to come.
In May, we held our Annual General Meeting and getting a quorum out on the night of a Calgary Flames game was a non-starter. We hosted a rescheduled meeting on May 18 and managed to complete all the required business. Thanks to those members who joined us at the Edgemont Community Centre (ECC) for our first in-person meeting in two years. Thanks to Rick Wierzbicki for stickhandling the meeting preparations and the nomination process. I am pleased to say we have a Board of fourteen Directors who have volunteered to work on keeping Edgemont on top when it comes to the best communities in Calgary. After the AGM, the Board met to elect its Executive Officers and yours truly has taken on the President’s role. Many thanks to Bill Kirk for his contribution to the Board as President. I am certainly pleased that he has another year as a Director, as I know I will be leaning on him and drawing on his experience. Bill is a good communicator with a terrific sense of humor which we all need when we have tough decisions to make.
Now I have a challenge for the residents of Edgemont. Are you community builders? Would you consider becoming an investor in Edgemont through the payment of membership dues? The AGM brought to light the challenge of increasing our membership numbers. For a family, the dues are $35 annually, and for seniors, dues are $20. With those fees, we are able to leverage grants that support the recreational opportunities we make available to residents. Last year membership dues collected were $2,422. With those dollars we were able to leverage additional revenue from rentals, grants, casinos, and other fundraising initiatives. We built a disc golf course, enhanced the community through our ELM program, showcasing wonderful flowers in the summer and seasonal displays in the winter, started the renovations of our community centre, which is a multi-year project and a complicated undertaking, ordered the outdoor furniture for a community hub adjacent to the centre (you will see that start to take shape over the summer), and the list goes on. Currently, we are sitting at just over 100 members. According to the City of Calgary’s profile for Edgemont, we have 5,400 private households (2016 data). Just think what we could do if even 10% of those households stepped up to be community builders and invested in ECA with the payment of their membership dues. ECA has made it easy to make that investment by making online payment available at https://www.edgemont.ab.ca/become-a-member/. You can also drop by the community centre to pay your membership.
The Edgemont Community Centre is another service we’ve been able to offer that counts on the ability to leverage funding. We are starting to ramp up programming now that most of the restrictions about public gatherings have been removed. Many thanks to our fantastic ECC staff who, under the leadership of Rachel Wierzbicki, have kept the centre operating and running lean over the past two years. In addition to Rachel, I’d like to acknowledge the work and commitment of Jiayi Wang, Jack Finlay, Steven Day, Cameron Edwards, Chloe Hayward, James Hayward, and Robert Wetherell. The Board couldn’t do its work without their support and that of Brenda Gonzalez, Bookkeeper, and Shari Pitka, ELM Coordinator. Benton Louis and Jennyfer Louis also deserve a shout out!
Now let’s get back to talking about programs and events. Here’s a quick list of some of the activities you can expect:
- FarmStand Farmers’ Market in the ECC Parking lot on Thursdays
- Food Trucks on the last Thursday of the month
- Clean the Ravine, in early September. A community event to remove litter from the ravine with activities to celebrate our neighbourhood.
- Women’s Empowerment Program. This discussion is in its very early days. ECA, in partnership with YW Calgary, is exploring this idea and you can expect to see a survey to help focus the activities on what will be most valuable to Edgemont women and their families.
- Car Boot Sale. Unfortunately, we’ve had to cancel these plans for now.
If you would like to volunteer for any Edgemont activities or serve on a committee, let me know. We are looking for someone to help Jeff Edwards with the role of Volunteer Coordinator. Interested? I can connect you with Jeff for more information.
Watch the Edgemont website at https://www.edgemont.ab.ca/ and community signage to keep up to date.
Finally, heads up to those Edgemont residents whose property borders a natural area. The City of Calgary is committed to fostering natural parkland where native species can flourish. With that in mind, there is a restriction that enables residents to mow no more than one meter from their property line. Please keep that in mind. There seems to be a tendency to keep mowing once we get that lawn mower going, and that can destroy what the City is trying to create.
Now I’m going to see if my blue jeans still fit and dig out my cowboy boots. I think I can smell pancakes and maple syrup. Is that a “Yahoo” I hear? Let’s go enjoy the Stampede! Until August…
Pamela Wilson, President
