Happy New Year Everyone!
We hope you had a wonderful and safe holiday season, and we look forward to all the excitement that the new year brings!
Please consider this as our notice that going forward all Community Association meetings will be moving to the second Wednesday of the month to help consistency with holiday breaks. We look forward to seeing you online at 7:00 pm on January 12, 2022. Links to the meeting are on the homepage of the website and Facebook page.
The Parade of Lights was an amazing event again this year, and it was wonderful to hear the stories of all the families along the route, enjoying their hot chocolate, treats, and all of the floats in the parade. The elves riding with Santa counted just over 6,000 people during their travels, which gives us an idea of the numbers to expect for next year’s event. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the following organizations and individuals for their help: Calgary Parks Foundation and Brookfield Residential for the donations which covered most of our cost for hosting the event; Auburn House and the Resident’s Association for the use of their parking lot; all the wonderful organizations that entered their floats; the wonderful groups that sponsored the hot chocolate stations; the amazing volunteers that helped make this event happen (I could not have done it without you); and last, to the big guy of the night – Santa – we really do appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to be in Auburn Bay for the night!
Unfortunately, the Making Spirits Bright event (the light show near the Prince of Peace field) didn’t come together as planned as the large tree fell through at the last minute. We will have to make alternate arrangements for next year, if we decide we want to proceed with this part of the event in the future. Instead, we were able to borrow the larger inflatables and Lowe’s 130th gave us a couple of amazing deals on other items we needed so we have set those up for your family to enjoy.
The official approval for LOC to move the Community Garden is done and plans are proceeding with the move in the spring. The City is still trying to determine what they want to do with the LRT site. More details to come in the next couple of months.
Unfortunately, we have an ongoing problem of a shortage of volunteers to participate in many of the events held in the community (Parade of Lights, Making Spirits Bright, Stampede Breakfast, Community Clean Up, and the Auburn Bay Clean Up). In the process of getting the permit for the Parade of Lights, the City of Calgary organizer advised me that they heard that we did not have enough volunteers to help along the parade route and had a few people not stepped up in the days that followed, the event would have been cancelled. Please consider volunteering with us so that we can continue to hold events throughout the year. Going forward, all of the CA events will be posted on “Sign Up Genius” and if we do not have enough volunteers to help by a certain date, we simply can’t host the event. We would also like to know the best way to communicate with you about such events and volunteer opportunities. Please take the time to fill out our form at https://forms.gle/tfRYbtK4x6i6dYap7 so that we can get a better understanding of how to best reach you and encourage your participation.
The Community Kitchen Good Food Box program continues to grow within our community. Last month, NuLeaf Farms donated samples of some of their more popular herbs and leafy greens to everyone who had ordered from Depot 2. NuLeaf is a local hydroponics vertical farm (by the Deerfoot Inn) where you can order online and pick up weekly, and they are offering an Auburn Bay paid delivery option as well. Ensure to enter “Auburn Bay” in the box at check out and they will donate a portion of the proceeds to the community garden. Go to www.nuleaffams.ca to see the full list of items they have to offer.
Did you know that 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… the list is nearly endless. Make sure to go and check out these fabulous interest groups out.
Finally, a reminder that the next CA online meeting will be on January 12 at 7:00 pm. These meetings are open to everyone, and we look forward to having you there for your input and participation.
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Carla Obuck
Sports and Events Director, Auburn Bay Community Association (ABCA)
