April ACE Update Newsletter

Posted on: Apr 29 2010 | Posted in: ACE Announcements


In this April issue:

1. SPRING INTO LEARNING WITH A FREE WEBCAST THIS FRIDAY
2. ACE ALUMNI UPDATES
3. ARPA ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITIES FOR LIFESTYLE INFORMATION ETWORK
4. DO YOU HAVE A TOP TEN LIST FOR YOUR COMMUNITY?
5. ENCANA PARTNERS TO SPONSOR COMMUNITIES IN BLOOM
6. RECOGNIZE EXCELLENCE WITH AN ARPA AWARD
7. UPCOMING FREE COMMUNITY BUILDING WORKSHOPS
8. RECREATION IN ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES
9. MORE EVIDENCE OF THE VALUE OF PARKS AND RECREATION
10. BLOGGER HIGHLIGHTS
11. COMMUNITY ACHIEVEMENTS
13. NEW RESOURCES
14. KIDS AT HOPE ALBERTA TOUR
15. YOUTH BLOG UP-AND-RUNNING
16. DEADLINE FOR NEWSLETTER SUBMISSION

ACE COMMUNITIES HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE AS THE RESULT OF FUNDING FROM RURAL ALBERTA’S DEVELOPMENT FUND, ENCANA, CENOVUS ENERGY, AND CANWEST

1. SPRING INTO LEARNING WITH A FREE WEBCAST THIS FRIDAY

Spring is upon us and everyone within the Recreation and Parks/Quality of Life sector is getting ready for all that it means. On FRIDAY, APRIL 30th at 10:00 am, we will explore part four in the series “Becoming a Community Builder ”. We will discuss how to become a catalyst for citizen responsibility, how to motivate and create buy-in in others, and how to use that buy-in to get things done.  Just click on this link to join the webcast this Friday at 10:00 am: http://acecommunities.ca/community-builder/

If you can’t attend on Friday, all four parts of the webcast series will be archived at: http://acecommunities.ca/community-builder/archive/.  And stay tuned for the next webcast on Friday, May 28th at 10:00 am.

2. ACE ALUMNI UPDATES

Some of you will remember ACE Youth Coordinator, CAMERON SAULT,  who left us last fall to pursue a professional hockey career. We thought you might be interested in knowing he had a pretty stellar first season. He won the league scoring title and was also announced league MVP. See http://www.aahlhockey.com/home/2010/4/12/west-michigans-sault-named-aahl-mvp.html.

Congratulations as well to KATE WRIGHT,  ACE Community Leader in Hinton, who has left her recreation position with the town to become a Business Analyst with Community Futures West Yellowhead. As it is an organization focused on helping businesses and communities with business advisory and economic development services, Kate is sure to be an asset.

3. ARPA ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITIES FOR LIFESTYLE INFORMATION NETWORK

As of this month LIN (and the National Recreation Database) made a final and smooth transition to ARPA for governance oversight and general operations.  At its April 16th meeting, the ARPA Board of Directors ratified the final transition details that would effectively have a new LIN Board (comprised of ARPA selected representatives) undertake governance and operational responsibility for LIN.  Staffers, Agnes Croxford and Chris McCreery have been working with ACE Communities on the Benefits Catalogue as well as the fine-tuning of our Google Search appliance and without a doubt have strengthened our collective team.  For more information on LIN, please visit http://www.lin.ca.  And for more on the online Benefits Catalogue see:  http://benefits.acecommunities.ca/

4. DO YOU HAVE A TOP TEN LIST FOR YOUR COMMUNITY?

Irricana has capitalized on the assets of being a small, rural community by generating a very entertaining top ten list of reasons to visit Irricana. Check it out at http://acecoaches.blogspot.com/2010/04/monopolizing-on-rural-assets.html. Consider it as a challenge…could you generate a top ten list of reasons to visit your community? It’s a great exercise for helping to find your “brand” and what it is that makes your community authentic. Send us your top ten list by May 21st for a chance to win an ACE vest or the equivalent value in ACE promotional products.  Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with your entries.

5. ENCANA PARTNERS TO SPONSOR COMMUNITIES IN BLOOM

ARPA is very pleased to announce that it has arranged a three-year partnership with the Encana Corporation as the ‘Provincial Presenting Sponsor’ for Communities in Bloom Alberta. ARPA has had the benefit of Encana’s sponsorship and support for both the Active Communities and ACE Communities initiatives over the past four years.  Encana shares our strong interest in making Alberta’s communities the best they can be by inspiring and investing in local leadership, volunteerism, capacity building, and enhanced quality of life.

6. RECOGNIZE EXCELLENCE WITH AN ARPA AWARD

Applications for this year’s ARPA Awards are now available at http://www.awards.arpaonline.ca.  Nominations are being accepted in the following categories:  Wildrose Award, ARPA Merit Award, Parks Excellence Award, A.V. Pettigrew Award, AABRD Legacy Award, Excellence in Youth Development Award.  ARPA’s awards are a celebration of the innovative and successful endeavours in the recreation and parks industry. These awards and scholarships advocate to the provincial government the need and priority of the recreation and parks services’ role in Alberta communities.  Let’s not allow these contributors go unnoticed!  The deadline for completing the nomination/application form is May 31st, 2010.  Please visit http://www.awards.arpaonline.ca for more information.

7. UPCOMING FREE COMMUNITY BUILDING WORKSHOPS

Response to our ACE community building workshops has been amazing!  Here’s a sampling of quotes from workshop participants: “I will stop looking at the negatives and focus more on the strengths of the community.”;  “I will think about ways to engage with others to address issues.”; “I will continue striving to be a better community leader.”; and “I will continue to bring my passion and enthusiasm to projects, I think every project needs a champion.”

Feeling inspired?  Upcoming 2010 community building workshops to date include:  Youngstown – May 26; Canmore – June 2; Crowsnest Pass – June 3.  Our thanks to those who hosted workshops in April – Samson First Nation, St. Albert, and Municipality of Wood Buffalo. Please email Carolyn Mead, Community Liaison, with any questions or interest: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).  Or for more info see this link: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AWDV09_nQBGJZGc3dHEzeHhfNzdoa2IzZnNxYg&hl=en

8. RECREATION IN ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES

There was a lot of activity with our Aboriginal communities initiatives this month.  First, welcome to our newest ACE blogger Wayne Page from the Indigenous Sport Council Alberta (ISCA).  See his new blog on the Maskwachees Declaration: http://wayne-insights.blogspot.com/2010/04/maskwachees-declaration.html.  On the note of blogs, check out Brenda’s take on the /Aboriginal Thought-Leaders Forum’ in Banff that she attended this month: http://brenda.herchmer.net/index.php?/site/on_being_open_minded/

Thank you to those who were able to join us this month for the Aboriginal Recreation Meeting hosted by ARPA and the ISCA. As you will see from the conference call meeting summary at the link below, information and resources relevant to those delivering aboriginal recreation and sports were shared. Please note the next conference call meeting will be held on TUESDAY, MAY 25 at 10:00 AM. More information will follow closer to the date.  http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AXpKQajHE5jJZGdxNDVqal8zNGN0YnFrc2cz&hl=en

Janet and Brenda will also be presenting this Saturday on ACE Communities as well as ACE’s cultural activities at the ISCA Conference on ‘Building Community Capacity through Recreation and Sports’.  Come say ‘Hi’ if you are also attending.

9. MORE EVIDENCE OF THE VALUE OF PARKS AND RECREATION

A new research study has just been added to the Benefits Catalogue: “The Human Relation With Nature and Technological Nature” suggests that by adapting gradually to the loss of actual nature and to the increase of technological nature, humans will lower the baseline across generations for what counts as a full measure of the human experience and of human flourishing.  To see this and other research recently added, go to:  http://benefitsdb.acecommunities.ca/search.php?=&sortby=Created_on

10.  BLOGGER HIGHLIGHTS

There were many timely blogs this month!  For Carolyn Mead’s adept ode to Volunteer Week see: http://rollinghillsalberta.blogspot.com/2010/04/hidden-volunteer.html.  Catch up with Janet Naclia and the ARTS Tour in Grande Cache: http://artsandculturewithace.blogspot.com/2010/04/ties-that-bind.html.  Hear Les Brost’s take on the events in St. Albert: http://conversationcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/04/lessons-from-st-albert.html.  And see how soap operas can equal social change with Duna Bayley’s blog: http://pioneerleadership.wordpress.com/2010/03/22/soap-operas-cultural-shifts-and-peace/

Also keep an eye out for a new blog by Angela Torry, Education Coordinator for the Alberta Centre for Active Living, that will be related to physical activity.  More to come!

11.  COMMUNITY ACHIEVEMENTS

The world’s eyes turned to VULCAN this month and their much anticipated visit by Leonard Nimoy.  Over 2500 people attended the festivities in Vulcan this month which included Mr. Nimoy’s visit, a town parade, the unveiling of a bust of Nimoy’s Star Trek character Spock, as well as a hand print of Nimoy’s famous ‘Live long and prosper’ salute. These items will be added to the memorabilia collection that makes Vulcan a tourist destination for many sci-fi enthusiasts.  Way to go Vulcan for meeting your long-anticipated goal of bringing Spock back to Vulcan!

OLDS is currently building on the social action priorities of their Strategic Sustainability Plan. These include quality of life aspects including Arts/Heritage/Culture, Affordability and Housing, Food, Governance and Partnerships, Health and Social, and Transportation.  ACE Communities will now collaborate with the Community Lifestyles Committee of Olds Institute to implement some of the actions.

Planning has been the focus for ECKVILLE over the last few months.  Eckville has just completed a Recreation Strategic Plan that stressed the community-identifed priorities of supporting and coordinating volunteerism and recreation in the town. They have also proposed a recreation director position for a one year contract position which demonstrates a notable economic impact in their community.  Great work Eckville!

KILLIAM has recently met with a park specialist and now have a design for their Heritage Park Enhancement Project. Once design changes are agreed upon, the ACE committee will meet again with the working team, park specialist and Town Council. The next meeting is slated for May 4 to approve the design/plan and begin planning for implementation.  Looks like Killiam is moving ahead…

12.  NEW RESOURCES

Have you checked out the great new weekly resources at acecommunities.ca?  ACE Communities is diligently adding new resources and training opportunities related to community development to its website.  Make sure to check out: the ‘Resource Links’, the ‘Arts, Culture, & Heritage’ resource section, the ‘Training Opportunities’ section, ‘ACE Announcements’, the new ‘Aboriginal Communities’ blog, and our live Twitter feed.

13.  SPRING RETREAT (Flight 2 and 3) 

The dates for ACE Communities’ SPRING RETREAT for Flights 2 and 3 will take place in Sylvan Lake from May 11 – 13, 2010.  For further questions, please contact Carolyn Mead at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

14.  KIDS AT HOPE ALBERTA TOUR

Between April 5-14th, the Kids At Hope tour made a whirlwind trek throughout Alberta.  Over nine days, Rick Miller, Founder and President of Kids At Hope, visited and spoke in High Level, Paddle Prairie, Calling Lake, Bashaw, Camrose, Olds, Hanna, Aridrie, Calgary, Edmonton, and Red Deer.  It total, 20 Kids At Hope…NO EXCEPTIONS! presentations were delivered, promoting province-wide awareness of this inspiring, hope-based belief system.  For more information on Kids At Hope, please visit http://www.kidsathope.org

15.  YOUTH BLOG UP-AND-RUNNING

Our blog by our ACE Youth Reporters is now up and running.  Do you know of any youth who might be interested in reporting on ACE activities in their community?  Email Janet Naclia, Creative Cultural Liaison: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with any questions or interest.  In the meantime, check out the new blog:  http://acecommunities.ca.

16.  DEADLINE FOR NEWSLETTER SUBMISSION

Do you have ACE-related news to share for inclusion in the newsletter?  Please submit any news to Janet Naclia jnacliaaceleaders.ca by the 20th of every month.

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