Auburn Bay Things to Note:
• Parade of Lights 10th Anniversary!
• Community Gardens
• Shade Structure
• City of Calgary Elections
• Respectful Behaviour – Ding Dong Ditch
• Good Food Box Program Details
Happy fall everyone, we hope you had a great summer holiday and safely made it through.
In starting the plans for the upcoming Parade of Lights, I discovered that it is in fact our 10th anniversary for hosting this community event. And we want to make it bigger and better than ever. So, what do you want to see happen this year? Is there any organization/group/business that you know that would like the exposure to 7,000 spectators? Last year we got to surprise our past president Terry by providing him a spot to ride with Santa, and he said even with the cold weather, he could not believe the number of people that came out to the event. The first couple of years we had a few residents that put together floats and would love to see more community groups be part of it. If you know of anyone we should be reaching out to, please contact us via email or phone.
Painting has been progressing at the community gardens, and we are looking forward to seeing it all come together in the coming months. Once again thank you to everyone respecting the spots this year as it appears that the amount of food theft and vandalism is down. As a reminder, each of the spots is tended to by local community gardeners, this space isn’t open to harvesting if you didn’t plant. If you are experiencing food insecurity, please feel free to reach out to us and we will include you when we harvest. We have posted the site map which shows the City of Calgary fruit orchard trees that we have by the white shed, and last time I was at the site there were still pears for harvesting once ready.
I had the opportunity to attend a workshop put on by the Calgary Horticultural Society and will be having a conversation with the gardeners to see if they would like to switch up the format of our gardens for the future.
We are still compiling more information on the Shade Structure and will be sharing details in our monthly meetings, as it is the only thing approved by the City of Calgary for our site.
With the upcoming City of Calgary elections in October, I have seen a number of signs from the various candidates. But none of the candidates have reached out to the CA to introduce themselves and see what community issues we face in the SE. So, when they come knocking on your doors, I challenge you to ask the hard questions to see who they are and how they will make our community better as our voice with the city. Please don’t just vote for the person with the most signs.
I have seen a lot of home security camera footage of youth playing Ding, Dong, Ditch at various homeowners’ properties, at various times of the day and night. I understand in talking with a police officer that this is a wonderful trend on a social media platform, showing youth how “fun” it is to terrify families by not only ringing their doorbell, but to mule kick and pound on their front door. When my kids were in this age group, we would always have conversations about vandalism and appropriate behaviour, and I am sure my kids hated me for those conversations, but they can only learn from what we teach them.
The Community Kitchen Good Food Box program is open to any person who would like to purchase affordable and delicious produce. Please see the ABCA website and Facebook page for the link to the online order form. You can get a small box (approximately 20 to 25lbs) for $30, medium (30 to 35lbs) for $35, or large (40 to 45lbs) for $40, delivered to Auburn Bay once a month. Please check out the post on our website for the google form to place your order.
Auburn Bay has a large number of Facebook groups. There is a Pet Group, Seniors Group, Grillers Group, Ladies Group, Food Lovers Group, Gardening Group, Community Garden Group, Ladies Clothing Exchange Group, Business Group, Buy-Nothing Group… the list is nearly endless. Make sure to go and check these fabulous interest groups out.
Carla Obuck
President and Sports and Events Director
Auburn Bay Community Association (ABCA)
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