Happy summer!
It’s finally here, and we hope you have plans to enjoy it, whether at home, on the road, exploring, camping, gardening, or visiting. We wish you and your loved ones all the excitement or relaxation that you could wish for, together with safety, and a great big double scoop of fun and ice cream.
Spring and early summer have been busy this year, and we’re not done yet! Here’s the roundup of events just past and coming up:
Spring Pathway and Green Space Cleanup
Our community pathway and green space cleanup was held on June 9. We had a great group of volunteers turn out to hike the neighbourhood and pick up all the trash they could find – bags and bags of it. Our Deer Ridge public spaces look a lot better now, thanks to this dedicated group.
Thanks, also, to Bob Hall for coffee and treats, for getting us all organized with supplies and walking routes, and for taking care of the bags of trash afterward.
Annual General Meeting
The Deer Ridge Community Association Annual General Meeting and board member elections were held on June 18. Thank you to everyone who attended – your interest and support are what keeps this community strong.
A great big welcome goes out to our new board members. We look forward to hearing your ideas and to working with you to make exciting things happen. Thanks, also, to the returning board members, and to those who have changed roles – your continued interest, experience, and energy are the glue that helps the new board gel and get busy managing the affairs of the community association. An updated board list will be published in time for the start of the new membership year. In the meantime, please accept our thanks for joining up to help keep this community, our little corner of Calgary, vibrant, active, and simply all out great!
Couldn’t make it to the AGM, but still want to get involved? We are looking for volunteers for big jobs or small, whatever fits in your schedule and interests you. Connect with us at [email protected] and get involved with a fun and interesting bunch of folks who like to get together and make things happen.
Deer Ridge/Queensland/Diamond Cove Community Cleanup
Deer Ridge partnered with Queensland/Diamond Cove for a community cleanup on Saturday, June 29. If the row of vehicles bringing residential waste items to the Queensland Community Centre parking lot was any indication, this opportunity to save a trip to the landfill was a huge hit in both communities.
A big shout out to the volunteers from both communities who organized this event, directed traffic, ensured things ran smoothly, and then cleaned up afterwards. Our neighbourhood alleyways, backyards, and basements look a lot better thanks to you – you are amazing, and we are so lucky to have such dedicated volunteers.
Community Festival
June 30 marked our 5th Annual Community Festival and a busy one it was! Entry was free. There were lots of artisan and community tents with interesting things to see and do. There was good food, excellent live music, and shopping at the vendors’ market. There were friends to meet up with, kids’ entertainment including a bouncy castle, and a whole lot of buzz.
A great big thank you goes out to Sylvia of the Community Festival Foundation, and to all the communities that participated – Deer Run, Queensland, Bonavista, and Deer Ridge – for the work and all the love that went into this event. Let’s do it again next year, shall we?
Yellow Slide Park Shelter
If you’ve been down to the park lately, you will have noticed a whole lot of work happening next to the playscape, with the park shelter taking shape and a little closer to completion each week. The shelter is planned to be a 35’ x 35’ space with a roof and open sides and will include picnic tables. It is designed to provide a shady, pleasant respite from the summer sun for park users, and to provide a place to gather and enjoy outdoor activities in Yellow Slide Park. The picnic table that was previously at that spot has been moved to the east side of the playscape. A grand opening for the shelter will be planned for later, but in the meantime, when the hoarding comes down and the park looks ready for use, please enjoy it.
Tennis Lessons at the Deer Ridge Courts
Deer Ridge Community Association has partnered with a local tennis centre to bring youth tennis camps to the community in July and August. Private lessons are also offered. We are proud to bring the opportunity for more active living opportunities for our youngsters, ages five to 14, to the community. Kids from other neighbourhoods are welcome as well, so let your kids bring their friends, or invite your nieces and nephews from other communities to come register. Just remember that, as the lessons are Deer Ridge community sponsored, the purchase of a $15 Deer Ridge membership is required.
Information about the lessons, dates and times, and registration details are on the 2024 Summer Programs announcement in this newsletter and on our website.
Movie in the Park
Movie in the Park will take place on August 10 this year, once again at Yellow Slide Park. We have got some newer movie screening technology booked for this year’s event, which will enable us to show the movie earlier and make it easier for families with young children to attend and enjoy the evening.
Movie in the Park is a free event and includes hotdogs, treats, and non-alcoholic drinks, entertainment and things to do for the kids, and an opportunity for the adults to get together and visit with friends and neighbours. Come early and bring your family and friends. Bring lawn chairs or a blanket, some bug spray and maybe sunscreen, and plan to have fun!
If you like keeping busy, let us know – we have openings for volunteers who would like to help with set up and tear down, and various other tasks during the event. Contact us at [email protected] if you can spare an hour or two to help make this a fun event for everyone.
Community Gardens
Have you been by the community gardens lately? Don’t they look great? Bob Hall, Gordon Miller, and a long list of volunteers have been hard at work repairing beds, repairing netting, mowing, and trimming. The flower beds have plants from the Friends of Fish Creek native plant rescue program in them. Individual gardeners have been busy maintaining, weeding, watering, and in some cases, already even harvesting from their gardens. This is a very busy place at this time of year!
Friends of Fish Creek – Community Garden and Grow with Us
The Friends of Fish Creek have connected with the Deer Ridge Community Association and in response to their letter and initiative, we have given them space to plant rescued southern Alberta native plants in our community garden. In their words: “Planting in community spaces and backyards are one way the Friends of Fish Creek is tackling the critical native seed shortage in southern Alberta. Through partnering with the Alberta Native Plant Rescue Society, the Friends have gained access to private development sites in Calgary that are being stripped of native plants to make way for residential infrastructure. The Friends so far have rescued over 2,000 native plants that we are planting in the community to create a sustainable seed source for restoration projects in Fish Creek Provincial Park. We are counting on backyard gardeners to help us grow by nurturing seedlings from their homes and then sharing back some seeds and/or transplants at the end of the year. It’s free!”
You, too, can get involved! This exciting program is for backyard gardeners all over Calgary and in the surrounding area. The idea is to create one big cycle of growing native plant species and then transitioning them back into the park, where they have flourished for thousands of years and with our help, will flourish again. Join Grow with Us and the Friends will give you live plants at the start of a growing season. Once your plants have dropped seeds, the Friends will take those and plant them in their nursery to grow further, and eventually reintroduce them into their native environment.
Would you like to participate? There is a wide variety of beautiful flowers and grasses to choose from if you would like to give a home to native plants in your garden. The Friends of Fish Creek nursery is located close to the Burnsmead parking lot. You can park there and walk to the nursery. If you are interested in being a part of this program, please contact the Friends through [email protected]. Please feel free to share with anyone you can think of!
Community Association Membership Renewals
The Deer Ridge Community Association membership year runs from August to August, and membership renewals will come due next month. Membership fees have not increased – we are holding them at $15 per family at a single residence. The 2024-2025 membership form will be available in next month’s newsletter and online on our website at https://deerridgeca.com/membership/.
Upcoming Board Meetings
Board meetings will resume in September with the first board meeting of the membership year to be held on the 17th of the month, at 7:00 pm, location to be announced. If you would like to attend or have something you’d like us to discuss at the meeting, please let us know. Contact us at [email protected] – we would be delighted to hear from you.
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