Hello McCauley, and Happy New Year!

Your community league continues to be hard at work with lots of exciting things on the go. Here’s a quick look at what happened in December and January.

On December 10, we hosted a community conversation at Sacred Heart Church to talk about a new building we are planning for on the site currently host to McCauley Rink. We discussed possible uses of the building, and explored what kind of features would be a good fit. We didn’t have a big turnout, but it was a very good meeting with some great ideas and observations discussed.

MCL also partnered with Boys and Girls Club to host a McCauley Family Night. About 40 people turned out for crafts, hot dogs, marshmallows, and hot chocolate. We really enjoyed working with the Boys and Girls Club on this and we will definitely be working with them again in the future.

The skating rink has been a buzz of activity, as usual. In December, along with our KIDS partners, we again hosted our annual McCauley Cup – Cops vs. Kids game. Nail Yakupov from the Edmonton Oilers came out to join the fun, and each kid got a signed hockey stick. It was great fun! Then, on December 31, we held our second annual New Year’s Eve skating party. For regular updates on programming at the rink, please tune in to our Facebook page and website.

For our January Board meeting, the MCL accepted an invitation from the Bissell Centre to meet in the space above their drop-in centre. We got a tour of the facility, and had an opportunity to hear about some renovations they are planning to do in the near future. It was also a chance to talk with them about their efforts to be a better neighbour. We discussed possible responses to ongoing concerns about disorder in the surrounding area, and how we can work together to make McCauley a safe and healthy space for everyone.

At our December meeting, the MCL agreed to draft a letter requesting funding commitments and the building of affordable and supportive housing options across the city. At our January meeting, we approved the final version of that draft, and it has now been distributed to all three levels of government, and is published in this issue of BMC News.

We have also set a date for our Annual General Meeting. Details are still being set, but it will be on the afternoon of March 19. We will be looking for some new board members, so if you or anyone you know is interested, please think about it. We’re also more than happy to talk it through what that role looks like. Just give us a call!

One more exciting note: McCauley has officially received approval to participate in Abundant Communities, Edmonton! Along with that approval, we will receive some money to hire a part-time person to help us cultivate a stronger culture of neighbouring here in McCauley.

It’s exciting times at the League. If you’d like to connect with us, here’s the best way to do that – at our website: www.mccauleycl.com. 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.