Hello Neighbours,
Happy New Year! I hope that this year’s holiday season, while much different than planned, brought you much needed rest and relaxation. As we continue to feel the pressure of the ongoing COVID restrictions, as a community, let us continue looking after each other. It hasn’t been easy, and I know we are all feeling exhausted, but fingers crossed, we will be able to host in-person events by summer. In saying that, your Community Association has been hard at work brainstorming and planning programs and events, including outdoor activities, that can be safely executed through individual experiences and online platforms.
Over the holidays, we had a small community collaboration I am excited to update you on. We were able to support connecting the 108 Francis Kilein Centre residents with holiday cheer bags through the sponsorship of Carya and their seniors programming work which they have just started in Acadia. While we don’t have a forecast on what their COVID-restricted programming is going to include, we will be sure to keep you up to date with information as we get it.
The Crokicurl rink will be up and running this month, and we are thrilled that it will include a firepit on location for staying warm, roasting a post-game snack (remember to bring your own hotdogs and marshmallows), or just relaxing in the outdoors near a crackling fire. Additionally, we will be sponsoring the firepit at the adopt-a-rink located at 664 Arlington Drive SE. Both these outdoor rinks have had tremendous volunteer support, and we really want to thank and appreciate all those who have lent a helping hand!
We want to thank all the people who participated in the Christmas light walking tours. It was so lovely to see the neighbourhood lit up and people getting some fresh air. If you haven’t checked out the displays yet, you might still be able to catch them before people start taking everything down.
We have a few upcoming events we are working to bring to the community in the next few months. The first is our beloved South Yeast Brewfest event. Typically, we see 100ish neighbours come down to the ARC and enjoy flights of beer from local breweries. It’s become a well-attended and enjoyed event, so we are finding a way to move it online this year. Secondly, we have constantly been asked for a wine event, as a follow up to the Brewfest. This year, we are finally making that happen with our inaugural Wino-Dino event. What is a Wino-Dino event? You are going to have to stay tuned in to find out more.
Lastly, we are trying to figure out if there is an appetite for sheets of outdoor curling. We know the ARC has the best indoor sheets of ice, but how would we fair building some sheets outdoors this season? If you are a curler and love this idea, we’d like to hear from you! We would be looking for about 15 volunteers to help bring this to fruition. Let us know if you are interested by emailing [email protected]
As always, I encourage you to join our Facebook page @AcadiaToday to keep up to date with neat new initiatives. We would also love to hear from you, send us your ideas of what you would like to see and do in our neighbourhood. How can you get a hold of us? It’s easy, email us at [email protected].
Erika Topola
President
