I never thought as past president, I’d once again be writing an article “from the board” for the Villager.
So here we are firmly into the new year, 2021, with hope and faith that the COVID crisis will diminish.
2020 was just plain bogus, yet somehow your community association survived. Why? We have a heck of a team. Our centre manager, Rob, has been stalwart in keeping the building from falling into ruin, and kept operations running smoothly even with reduced activity. Mercy and the day care staff came through the extended lockout. We are so grateful they hung in and returned when we could finally reopen in September. Thank you to all the new and returning parents that rely on us to help with your family.
Many of the groups that scheduled activities in the centre such as volleyball, karate, yoga, jazzercise, martial arts, and Grace Anglican Church, stuck with us and came back until the latest restrictions came about. Thanks to all for keeping the faith… we appreciate your support. Although losing revenue, we are confident of a rebound.
COVID restrictions, unfortunately, cancelled most of our usual events.
One thing that we realized would be very important for the community were the skating rinks. The Rink Ratz have been fantastic in maintaining them. The ice surfaces are probably in the best shape they have ever been. Folks have been very appreciative of the crews and accommodating the disruption of flooding and smoothing. The Rink Ratz use machinery to keep the ice surface usable. Because some of the crew have mechanical talent, we are managing to fix some equipment issues for the time being. The tractor brush unit had to be replaced last year which was a big expense. Any idea how much our water bill increases during the winter due to the flooding of the rinks? It is a major jump!
Kudos to everyone who made our annual Christmas Wish Tree a success. It is such a satisfying endeavor to participate in. With the centre open on a limited basis, we had to improvise and go online. Thanks to Etienne for creating a virtual tree using his own resources, we were able to make the holiday happier for five local families. A huge thank you to Mercy and the centre staff for determining those in need, defining lists, accepting items, tracking the donations, sorting, and more. The wrapping party was limited to a few – thank you Lois, David, Susan, Victoria, Ed, Judy, and Etienne. Al and his truck made the delivery of the gifts possible, in spite of the ginormous snow event! The really big thing here is the absolutely fantastic response by our community for the donations and gifts. You all deserve a huge round of applause – without you this would not have been possible. Deer run rocks!
We also squeezed in a virtual Christmas party with Santa visiting children on Zoom – thanks again to Etienne and Grace Anglican Church Calgary.
Keeping the gym floor up to city standards is a maintenance item and is not covered by grant money. The gym floor was resurfaced during the Christmas break. As always, Keifer did a great job. Financially, we are maintaining the gym while we are refunding groups that had to cancel events due to COVID restrictions.
For the last two winters, we have engaged the services of Disciple Homes to clear the entire parking lot during heavy snow events. I mention this for a reason. Even though Disciple give us a very fair rate, it still costs the community association a bunch of money. So, if you use the parking lot, whether dropping off your kids for school every day or only once in a while, and are not a member, consider getting a membership or making a donation.
One last word: the centre is not a self-sufficient operation. I mentioned lack of revenue and costs earlier for a reason. You can help. Our members support us. If you are not currently a member or have let your membership expire, please use the form in this newsletter or visit our website and signup online. Memberships are $30. We accept e-transfers to [email protected]. We accept payments by cash, credit, debit, and cheque at the centre. Memberships are annual, based on the date executed. Membership perks are outlined in the Villager and on our website.
That’s it… thanks for putting up with me again.
Don Zver
Past President, DRCA
