Welcome to the New Year! 2022 saw changes to our community in ways that we never thought were possible. The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on many things in our society and as a result we were forced to shut down the community centre for an extended period of time. It was not until 2022 that we were able to slowly reopen and bring back programs like Pickleball and the Seniors Group.
The community centre underwent some improvements with the support of city and provincial grants! As a result, we were able to fix “lake Cedarbrae”, the parking lot, and upgraded our furnace and electrical panel. Thank you, City of Calgary and the Provincial Department of Urban Affairs for providing funding that covered a majority of the repair costs. These upgrades completed our Community Improvement grant funding.
In January of 2022, we started having bottle drives to help shore up the community’s resources, which provided approximately $3,000 in donations to the community centre. Due to the astounding success from our residents’ support, we will continue to organize Bottle Drives throughout 2023 on a quarterly basis. These will take place in January, April, July, and October.
There was also a return of the Jellybean Dances for the first time since the pandemic and the children were thrilled to attend, we will host more dances in 2023.
February kicked off with Winterfest, featuring family friendly activities such as skating, an obstacle course, tobogganing, ice sculptures, and curling. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate as it was minus holy moly it’s cold out here, but we pushed through and stayed warm due to the fire pits and free hot chocolate! Attendees participated in some indoor activities, including Giant Jenga, Giant Yahtzee, and face painting. We foresee an even better turn out in 2023 as we prepare to host this event again on Family Day, February 20.
We were blessed with warmth and sunshine when we hosted the Trunk Sale and Neighbour Day in June of 2022 which was well attended and enjoyed by all. We look forward to another exciting summer event in 2023, organized by Ashley, our new Director of Special Events. Our Community Gardens team planted, watered, and toiled during hot summer days to grow a variety of vegetables for the end of season harvest. Sadly, there will be no community gardens this year as we plan to rebuild the garden beds in August of 2023. Stay tuned for more information on the unveiling of our new community garden, scheduled for fall 2023.
As we headed into fall, September saw our biggest event of the year as we hosted the 40th Anniversary Celebration of the community hall being opened. We loved sharing the history and information about this area to old and new residents alike. The Community Cleanup event was a huge success due to our outstanding volunteers and event organizers, and we cannot wait for its return again in September of 2023.
During our 2022 Annual General Meeting, we were excited to have new board members to create a fresh and diverse team. Sadly, Ron Bichel our treasurer of 18 years, retired and passed the reins to our new young gun. We are looking forward to having our finances in Carter’s capable hands for many years to come. Currently, the Director of Memberships and Volunteers position remains vacant as we hope to find someone in 2023 who will oversee Cedarbrae’s memberships and engage volunteers!
November’s Christmas Market and Bake Sale was also very successful due to the variety of vendors, activities, and children’s crafts that were offered – even Santa stopped by! Thank you to everyone that attended and donated baking.
We are considering a Meet the Neighbour event in the spring of 2023 to encourage resident connection and hope to see the return of our highly anticipated Stampede BBQ!
Once again, we thank the residents and businesses of Cedarbrae for making our neighbourhood an extraordinary place to be! We look forward to connecting with you at one of the many events and programs that we will be offering in 2023.
