September 16 was Community League Day across the City of Edmonton, and the McCauley Community League held its annual Fall Fiesta in Giovanni Caboto Park as our celebration of community in McCauley. We were fortunate to have a beautiful fall day, and had a wonderful turnout of all ages from the neighbourhood. Some of the highlights, other than lots of hotdogs on the barbecue, were doughnuts from the Italian Bakery, bannock from Teepee Treats, cookies from Shan Shan Bakery, along with some homemade jam and relish from Naomi and her gardening group.

Once again, we brought out the drills and hammers and folks, both young and old, hammered, glued and painted a variety of abstract wood creations in our craft corner. We also set up a music circle around a fire, and had our own Gary Garrison lead us in some songs around the fire. Thanks to Dan & Dave’s Bouncy Adventures, and their lovely Wizard Bouncer/Slide, that kept many young kids busy. We also had the famous Lady Dolphin (a.k.a. Heather) who’s whimsical face painting, in my opinion, is the best in the city. We were also fortunate to have some local art displays, by Street Prints and the McCauley Photo Voice Project, which were both interesting and creative additions to our day.

Special thanks to the many volunteers that make this event so successful and that made it fun to organize. Thanks Kelvin, Scott, Ken, Ashley, and Clint from the George Spady Centre, as well as James, Kyle, Dave, Forest, Greg, and Cameron from Hope Mission – you guys ROCK! Thanks McCauley Apartments: Shelley Hollingsworth for doing a great job of the fire all day; Darren P. Jr., our first aid attendant, and David LF. Thanks to Winnie Chow-Horn and her group of talented photographers from the McCauley Photo Voice project, and also to Mike Siek and his artistic group from Street Works for their contributions. Thanks to the many board members and neighbours who helped out in many ways: Mike, Heather, Yana, and Jonas; Calvin and Aya; Ileana and James; Naomi, Andrew and family; Gary and Sara; Cole, Josh, Harley, Dan, Phil, Rosalie, Darren, and Adam. What a great group!

Also, thanks to the City of Edmonton for the use of Giovanni Caboto Park, cleaning it up for us on Friday, and supplying the extra tables and garbage cans for our event. Thanks to Jeremiah and the Mustard Seed for lending us your tents. And, thanks to the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues for supplying us with a BBQ kit of plates and napkins.

If you are interested in volunteering for events and recreation in our neighbourhood, please contact the McCauley Community League at “mailto:“mccauleycommunityleague2014@gmail.com”.