Greetings neighbours!

The 2021 McCauley Community League Annual General Meeting was held virtually on Wednesday, June 16. Many thanks to the 23 community members and five guests (a.k.a. “friends of McCauley”) who attended! It was a positive meeting, full of meaningful dialogue, good questions and productive conversations.

At this meeting, we bid a fond farewell to Adam Snider, who completed a two-year term on the Board. Adam’s level-headedness and prevailing sense of calm have been wonderful assets to our Board. Many thanks to Adam and Adam’s family for his time and commitment!

We are also thrilled to welcome three new Board members: Rickard Enstroem, Regan Gee, and Todd Janes. You can read more about the people on your eight-member Board in the bios accompanying this article.

AND – while she wasn’t quite ready to announce it at the AGM, our warmest congrats to Jordynn Vis who is pregnant with her second child! Jordynn has decided to take a break from the Board come fall. Over the next few months, she will be transitioning her presidential duties to new League president Alice Kos.

Jordynn has quietly and diligently accomplished a great deal for McCauley in her (approximately) one year as Board President, despite all the roadblocks presented by a global pandemic. We are particularly grateful for her behind-the-scenes work in modernizing Board processes, centralizing data, and streamlining operations. We are deeply grateful for Jordynn’s work, and wish her and her growing family the very best!

The McCauley Community League Board typically takes a summer break from its regular monthly meetings. However, at the brief meeting that immediately followed the AGM, our new Board agreed that we’d like to ride the positive momentum happening within our group and among community partners and neighbours. As such, we’ll continue meeting throughout the summer (meeting dates: Tues. July 6 at 7:30 p.m.; Tues. Aug 10 at 7:30 p.m.). We want to remind everyone that our meetings are open to all! If you wish to attend any of our monthly meetings, simply email us at league@mccauleycl.com so that we can email you the Zoom link in advance.

Here are some of the things we’re currently working on:

MCCAULEY NEIGHBOURHOOD-BUILDING AND ENGAGEMENT SURVEY:

How do YOU want to engage with your community? We want to know! 

We all have different passions and different amounts of time to give. And there are many opportunities for all neighbours to participate in an inclusive, thriving McCauley!

We believe the McCauley Community League is most effective when we collaborate with community partners like McCauley Revitalization, Safer McCauley, Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues, and our City of Edmonton Neighbourhood Resource Coordinator. Using the results of this Neighbourhood-Building and Engagement Survey, we’ll work with our partners to connect neighbours to volunteer opportunities.

If you haven’t completed it yet, here’s the survey link: https://forms.gle/1RfFYcjWmWXhfvir6. Your input will help to build a database of active McCauley neighbours and support them to contribute in areas they are passionate about.

Many thanks to those of you who have already provided your input. We are gathering data and will be in touch! Those who complete the survey before July 31 will be entered to win $50 to a restaurant of your choosing in Chinatown or Little Italy! 


Your survey input can be as brief or extensive as you wish. Only 3 fields marked with an *asterisk are mandatory.

RINK BEAUTIFICATION & SUMMER ACTIVATION

Our Board is discussing how we might further activate our existing community assets. This has led to exciting dialogue around how the beloved McCauley Rink can be used throughout the year. And while we explore a variety of possibilities, we’re working on tidying up and beautifying the space.

The Board recently hired a groundskeeper to maintain the rink property for a few hours per week over the summer months: longtime McCauley resident and 10-year rink volunteer Albert Bernard. Over the past few weeks, Albert and our Board Vice President volunteer, Kevin Jones, have done a bang-up job dealing with weeds and overgrowth at the rink. Ruth Sorochan, who runs the McCauley Children’s Garden, contributed some lovely potted strawberry plants in homage to our Ward O’Day-min (Cree for “strawberry”). Together, we planted annuals in the planter along the north fence. “Something cheerful,” in Ruth’s words. Thanks to Ruth and her daughter Maia!

The League Board also intends to apply for grant funds to purchase and hang string lights along the entire rink fence perimeter, in efforts to add charm and to further promote safety and security at the rink.


Finally, we hope to partner with the McCauley Children’s Garden and McCauley Families to run art sessions wherein McCauley children and youth create painted weatherproof tiles that can be mounted on the chain link fence.

JOIN THE MCCAULEY MOVES STRAVA CLUB!


Strava is a free, web-based app on which you can log various exercises, such as walking, cycling, running, swimming, x-country skiing, and more. Strava tracks your movement using GPS. It also incorporates social media features with options to follow others and give them “kudos” on exercises they’ve logged.

We’ve started a Strava club called “McCauley Moves” and invite you to join! We are currently 13 members strong. 



Why join?

• Connect with your neighbours by getting outside and moving your body! All movers, from leisure-level to hardcore athlete are most welcome.
• Enjoy the myriad physical and mental health benefits that come with being active outdoors.
• Our hope is that it may lead to (post-pandemic) groups walking, cycling, cross-country skiing etc…in person, together!

McCauley Moves is currently participating in the Edmonton Community League-based “June Bike Challenge” organized by Ritchie Community League. We are one of 27 Leagues who’ve signed up. McCauley Moves cyclists have collectively logged nearly 500 kms so far this month!

Anyone interested can sign up at https://strava.com, then download the Strava app to your smartphone. After you’ve created your profile, search for McCauley Moves under “Clubs” and click Join! You can also use this direct link: https://www.strava.com/clubs/mccauleymoves. Then, whenever you’re about to embark on an outdoor activity, open the app, hit “record” and then “start.” That’s pretty much all there is to it!

*SOCCER PROGRAM
*

We’re delighted to announce that the McCauley Community Summer Soccer program is a go! Huge thanks to Allan Suarez who has generously volunteered to lead and coach this program.


Kids and youth will play Tuesday evenings. Game times will be 6:00 – 6:30 p.m. for the youngest kids (roughly ages 3-7) and 6:30-7:30 p.m. for kids 8 and up. Families can register by completing the form at https://www.mccauleycl.com/soccer/, or they can register in-person on the first day (Tues. July 13 from 6 – 7:30 p.m.).


We’ll also be offering all-ages, casual drop-in soccer on Sundays at 5 p.m., starting July 18. All are welcome, and there is no need to register for the Sunday games.


All games will take place at Giovanni Caboto Park, weather permitting. Please spread the word!

OTHER SUMMER PROGRAMMING YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT

Summer Green Shack at Giovanni Caboto

July 5 – August 27, Mon – Fri, 2:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Crafts, games, sports, free play

Targeted for children aged 6-12, but all are welcome


Free Play for Kids Summer Program

Free Play for Kids (previously Free Footie) is accepting registrations for their day-long summer camps which will run for 5 weeks beginning in July. Register for one week or all of them.



Their summer program will be available for FREE to families who need it most. If you are one of these families, please email: registration@freeplayforkids.com. For the families that can afford to pay, a portion of those registration fees will be used to help kids in need.



Register today by emailing registration@freeplayforkids.com or filling out the form at https://freeplayforkids.com/register

Your McCauley Community League Board would love to hear from you anytime! We invite you to reach out by emailing league@mccauleycl.com.

Have a wonderful summer!

Alice Kos is the McCauley Community League’s Board President.