What does McCauley’s community league do? Let’s see . . . we host community conversations to help the neighbourhood hear each other on important issues. We speak to the city and to other neighbourhood stakeholders when our community is concerned about something. We provide guitar lessons, a soccer program, skating, and recreation programs. We help host neighbourhood clean ups, and support festivals like Heart of the City. We put on neighbourhood parties like McCauley’s Fall Fiesta, family events and warmers, and New Year’s and Family Day skating parties. And, we work with our partners in the area to find ways to make our neighbourhood warmer, safer, and more caring and connected to each other. There’s more, of course, but there are some of the large strokes.

At our February board meeting, we received four members of the McCauley Revitalization so that we could share some of our mutual work in the McCauley neighbourhood. Both organizations carry a very full slate of responsibilities, tasks, and projects. But much of our work also overlaps, so it was good to consider where and how we might work together.

One point of excitement for us is the reorganization of the Safety Council. This group has struggled for the last few years to find a good model of engagement, and the right volunteer energies to really make things go. At our meeting, we celebrated some fresh energy and some new leadership in the Council. The Community League considers the Safety Council our lead arm in responding to safety concerns, so we are eager to see what they and we can accomplish together in the next few years.

On Family Day, we held our community party at the Rink. It was great fun! We estimate we had 250 people show up throughout the day. Along with face-painting, skating, and wagon rides, we had a lot of sunshine, fresh air, and many, many smiling neighbours. Check out our event write-up elsewhere in this issue of the paper.

On March 19, the MCL is holding our Annual General Meeting. For the second year running, St. John’s Lutheran Church has opened their doors to us, for which we are very grateful. So, here are the details: the McCauley Community League’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday, March 19 from 2-4:30 p.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 10759 96 Street. Childcare and refreshments provided. Hope to see you there!

This year, we will have the opportunity to hear from our Building Committee as we gear up to build a new facility on the land connected to the skating rink. Please come share some of your thoughts with us on that. As usual, we will elect new board members. We will be looking for a few new faces, so consider lending your voice and experience to our leadership table.

If serving on a board is not your thing, consider lending your energies in an area that you are passionate about. The League works to better our community from many different angles, including recreation, zoning/planning, advocacy, neighbouring, parties, events, and cleanups, social media and communications. We even like people who love keeping financial records and sorting paperwork! So, come join us in the work of making McCauley a community we are all proud to call home. You’ll get to work alongside and (possibly learn some new skills) from some of your awesome neighbours, and you’ll get to play a part in building something beautiful.

We are looking for one or two people to serve as directors for our Soccer program. Grace Kuipers has been serving in this role for many years, and is eager to mentor a new person so that she can volunteer more in some other areas. Let us know if you are interested or pass this on to someone you know who might be a great fit. We know our kids love soccer, and our program is something we’re pretty proud of. Come help us keep it going!

If you’d like to connect with us, here’s the best way to do that: On our website: www.mccauleycl.com. Phone us at: (780) 705-5131. Or, you can email us at mccauleycommunityleague2014@gmail.com. We also have a pretty active Facebook site, so look us up on there if you haven’t already. If you’d prefer a more personal engagement, you can also stop by and visit us at our board meetings. We meet the first Tuesday of every month from 7-10 p.m. at the Boys and Girls Club.

Mike Van Boom is the President of the McCauley Community League.