According to folklore, the groundhog is seen as a sort of weather predictor on February 2 each year. Tradition tells us that, if the day is a sunny one and the groundhog sees his shadow, he will be scared and will retreat into his burrow, which means the winter weather will last at least another six weeks. Calgarians have been fortunate with the weather this winter and the large amount of snow we received just before Christmas allowed for winter sports, like tobogganing, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. Hope you were able to enjoy time outdoors.
Chinese New Year is Friday, February 12. This year the horoscope animal sign is the Ox. Chinese New Year is the first day of the new year in the Chinese lunisolar calendar (Chinese traditional calendar). It is also known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival. Happy New Year!
Alberta’s Family Day is February 15. This is the first break since Christmas and, for those who have kids in school, the break is extended with the Teachers’ Convention that occurs the Thursday and Friday immediately before.
As I mentioned in my January note, this year we will be celebrating 35 years as a Community Association. While the original Board decided not to construct a community building, they did build a hockey rink on the location of the current pleasure rink. Ultimately, it was determined the hockey rink was best suited between the two schools where it is presently, and an island was constructed to make the pleasure rink an oval. We would love to hear stories about your experiences watching Sandstone and MacEwan grow into mature communities. If you have something to share, please send an email to [email protected].
We receive emails every month letting us know that residents appreciate the work that is done on both rinks, the Christmas lights, and the planters. We also receive emails, with the opposite message, indicating we do not measure up to other communities with our planters, Christmas lights, signage and so on. The Sandstone MacEwan Community Association does not receive Homeowners Association Fees (HOA), which are variable fees collected through City taxes and redistributed to the Community Associations to pay for community enhancements. Rather, aside from casino funds we receive approximately every 18 months, we rely on residents to purchase memberships to offset our costs. We typically sell memberships at our community clean up, annual Music in the Park (Sandstock), and other planned events. As you know, all our activities were cancelled this past year, and our memberships are considerably less than in previous years. We have considered a volunteer user pay system for our rinks to offset the costs but do not want to do anything that could impact those who cannot afford to pay. Instead, we are asking those who have been enjoying our rinks to please purchase a membership and show us you support our efforts.
To purchase your membership by cheque, our address is 300, 8120 Beddington Blvd NW T3K 2A8 or online go to sandstonemacewan.com or email Carolyn Gomez at [email protected]. Three-year memberships ($50.00) qualify for a SMCA go mug and one-year memberships ($20.00) receive two SMCA beverage koozies.
Sue Coatham
President, SMCA | [email protected]
Celebrating 35 years of SMCA
