You Can Ride Two is back at Broxton Park School in Spruce Grove on March 4, 2016 (1-7 PM), adapting bikes for kids with special needs and teaching them to ride. Haven’t heard of this unique organization? Check out my previous blog article detailing the great work they do.   The Rotary Club of Spruce Grove is proud to be involved with this organization.

Exhibits and Vendors

You Can Ride 2’s Try a Bike events include exhibits by many groups supporting children with disabilities, such as the Children’s Ability Fund, Sport Central, Variety the Children’s Charity, Free 2B Me, the Cerebral Palsy Association in Alberta, the Paralympic Sports Association, KidSport, and many others. In addition, select vendors such as Renu Cycle, Trivel and others will be present.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship of exhibits and vendor tables goes a long way in allowing You Can Ride 2 to cover the cost of assigning, maintaining and modifying bikes to meet the needs of children. If your business or service club can help out, please contact You Can Ride 2.

Volunteers

Volunteers (individuals, service clubs, school groups and the like) are urgently needed for a variety of tasks. Bike mechanics in particular are wanted for the March 4 event. Please visit You Can Ride 2’s “Support Us” page for a list of volunteer opportunities.

Donations

You Can Ride 2’s loan pool now has about 120 bikes, and can always use more. Anyone wishing to donate a used bike to the program is asked to bring it to the event. Each bike donated enters you into a draw for a signed Edmonton Eskimos football and helps allow another child to experience the joy of riding a bike. Donations of cash are always welcome as well!

Registration

Currently there are around 110 kids registered for the Try a Bike event on March 4! Parents of kids with special needs are invited to contact You Can Ride 2 for information about this program.

One final thing:  Name You Can Ride 2’s new mascot (supplied by the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove), and you could win a $100 MEC gift certificate!

As a proud Rotarian, I’m delighted to be able to help this worthwhile organization.  Comments or questions? Call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

Celebrate as our local libraries, municipalities, and the Spruce Grove, Stony Plain and Parkland After Dark Rotary clubs share steps they are making to build relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal neighbours in our Tri-Region area.

As part of our desire to engage with our aboriginal communities, the Rotary Clubs of Spruce Grove, Stony Plain and Parkland After Dark helped organize an event to celebrate reconciliation and build relationships with our aboriginal neighbours. We invite everyone to share in this event.

February 3, 2016
6:30 p.m.
Horizon Stage Performing Arts Centre
1001 Calahoo Road Spruce Grove, Alberta

Tickets $30, plus service fees

• Join Shelagh Rogers, celebrated host of CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter, Honorary Witness to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Chancellor of the University of Victoria, as she interviews local authors Patti LaBoucane-Benson, Esther Supernault, Tracey Lindberg and Dianne Meili to explore the importance of Indigenous literature.
• Enjoy musical entertainment with Juno-nominated special guest Asani who will sing in Cree, French and English.
• Sample traditional Aboriginal foods and visit with local artisans who will explain their creative process and have products available for purchase.

Thank you to our Sponsors:
Rotary Clubs of Spruce Grove, Stony Plain and Parkland After Dark, together with the Rotary Aboriginal Partnership and Norquest College.

Tickets available at the Spruce Grove City Hall Ticket Centre, 315 Jespersen Avenue, by phone at 780-962-8995 or online at www.horizonstage.com/tickets
Proceeds will support the purchase of books by Indigenous authors. For more information, please call Lisa Smith at 587-986-8758.

There is always so much going on in the Tri-Municipal region, and as a proud Rotarian, I’m happy to promote important events such as this one. Comments or questions? Call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

(Image by KiddaiKiddee Studio, courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

As a resident of the Tri-Municipal area of Spruce Grove, Stony Plain and Parkland County, you know that life here is pretty good. Our high standard of living and quality of life is much enhanced by the large number of people who give freely of their time and skills to help others. Of course, there’s payback for those friendly, giving folks too. They not only have the chance to do new things and meet new people, but they know that their volunteer contributions are real and appreciated. Besides, it just feels good to help!

If you’re new to the community, or maybe your life circumstances have changed, and you’re looking to make a difference, there are so many opportunities for volunteers to get involved.

How do you find out who could use your help?

• City of Spruce Grove website: City of Spruce Grove Volunteer Opportunities

Information about how to get involved with the many special events organized by the City throughout the year (such as the Canada Day celebration, or Spruce Up Spruce Grove Community Clean Up, for example), as well as various boards and committees (such as the Economic Development Advisory Committee, Horizon Stage Theatre Advisory Board, Spruce Grove Public Library Board, and numerous others).

See also volunteer opportunities for adults (such as Adopt-a-Driveway program, Meals on Wheels, Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, Horizon Stage opportunities including Stagelighters, Tech Team and Horizon Players, etc.) and volunteer opportunities for youth (Summer in the City, Canada Day Street Performers Festival and more).

• Check out the Community Resource Directory (Green Book) for a listing of organizations throughout the Tri-Municipal region that use volunteers. Resources here include service clubs, groups, associations and societies of every type.

• Town of Stony Plain: Stony Plain Volunteer Centre

This centre acts as a hub, connecting organizations in Stony Plain and Parkland County needing volunteer assistance of every variety with people willing and able to help out. The range of volunteer jobs available at any one time is vast, ensuring a volunteer job for every skill and interest.

At the end of January 2015, volunteers were needed for health and social service organizations (such as the Alberta Cancer Foundation, WestView Health Centre, Elizabeth Fry Society, Victim Services Society), youth concerns (Big Brothers Big Sisters, Zebra Club), sports (Special Olympics, Stony Plain Amateur Minor Ball Association), education and culture (Forest Green School, Parkland Adult Literacy, Stony Plain and Parkland Pioneer Museum, Multicultural Heritage Centre, Friends of the Stony Plain Library), and many more.

Check out also the opportunities listed on www.govolunteer.ca

• Another good source of information is the weekly local newspaper (Grove Examiner in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain Reporter in Stony Plain).

Many volunteer opportunities aren’t advertised because the need is ongoing. Think of all the places you go in any given week. Could your child’s school use your skills? What about your church, or the local public library? How about joining Stony Plain’s volunteer fire department? All you’ll have to do is ask “Need some help?”, and you can bet that someone can put you to work!

Comments or questions about all the interesting things to do in our local communities? Call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

Away from home or your office and need to access the internet?  More and more places in Spruce Grove and Stony Plain offer free wifi.

City of Spruce Grove

Access free wifi from 6 am to midnight at four City facilities:  the Agrena, Central Park, Rotary Playscape and Fuhr Sports Park.  Click here for more information.

Spruce Grove Public Library:  420 King Street, Spruce Grove, AB T7X 2C6; 780-962-4423 ‎

From the SGPL website:  “Wireless tickets can be picked up at the circulation desk. Each ticket lasts for one hour and there is no limit to the number of tickets you can use.”

Second Cup (Spruce Grove):  100 Campsite Rd, Spruce Grove AB; 780-960-3721 ‎

Not many plug-ins, but check out the “secret” one under the fireplace!

Café Simone:  505 Queen Street, Spruce Grove AB; 780-948-0056 ‎

Located in the Queen Street Medical Centre.  Café is open till 5 pm.

Starbucks in Safeway (Spruce Grove and Stony Plain)

Open till 11 pm most days.

Town of Stony Plain

Beginning mid-June 2011:

• Shikaoi Park: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday
• Stony Plain Golf Course: one hour prior to morning tee-offs to two hours after close
• Stony Plain Outdoor Public Pool:  8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. daily (seasonal only)
• Rotary Park: 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily (closed in winter)

Stony Plain Library:  4613 52 Avenue, Stony Plain AB T7Z 2W5; 780-963-5440 ‎

Best Western Sunrise Inn & Suites Stony Plain:  3101-43 Ave, Stony Plain AB; 780-968-1716

Looking for more information about businesses and services in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain or Parkland County?  Check out my Community Connections Business Directory.

Your comments and questions are always welcome!  Email me at barry@barryt.ca, phone me at 780-910-9669, or contact me here.

Recently I became a member of Rotary International in Spruce Grove.  I am not usually a joiner, but this organization’s philosophy and good works appeal to me.  The information below comes from two of Rotary International’s publications, This is Rotary and The ABCs of Rotary.

What is Rotary? 

Rotary defines itself as “an organization of business and professional persons united world wide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.”

Rotary, I’ve come to learn, really is a service club in the truest meaning of that phrase.  In fact, Rotary’s principal motto is “Service Above Self”.  Rotary’s main objective is “to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise”.  This concept of service is applied at every level:  Club, Vocation, Community, International.

Rotary also originated one of the most widely quoted statements of business ethics in the world, the Four-Way Test, one which closely aligns with my personal business philosophy:  “Of all the things we think, say or do:  1. Is it the TRUTH?  2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?  3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?  4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?”

Rotary’s many worldwide projects are legendary and include the following:

• PolioPlus is Rotary’s massive effort to eradicate polio.  To date, Rotarians have contributed nearly $650 million and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours to this project that has resulted in an astounding decrease in polio cases world-wide of 99% since 1988.
• Rotary Youth Exchange:  “one of the most popular programs to promote international understanding and develop lifelong friendships”.  At present more than 9,000 high-school-age young people from around the world participate annually in “opportunities to learn about the customs, languages, traditions, and family life in another country”.
• Youth Service Projects:  Rotary’s slogan “Every Rotarian an Example to Youth” takes many different forms, depending on community needs.  “Rotarians sponsor Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, athletic teams, centers for disabled children, school safety patrols, summer camps, recreation areas, safe driving clinics, county fairs, child care centers and children’s hospitals.”  In addition, vocational counseling and youth employment programs, drug or alcohol abuse prevention and HIV/AIDS awareness are supported.
• World Community Service:  “the Rotary program by which a club or district in one country provides humanitarian assistance to a project of a club in another country”.  This usually entails giving aid to a developing community to raise the standard of living and quality of life.  But it also involves stepping in wherever crises occur in the world; New Zealand Rotarians are already hard at work in the earthquake zone in Christchurch.
• Literacy Projects around the world where needed.
• Rotary Friendship Exchange encourages Rotarians and their families, usually along with several other families traveling as a group, to visit Rotarian families in other parts of the world in a reciprocal exchange that results in an unusual vacation and interesting experiences.
• Group Study Exchange pairs Rotary districts to send and receive study teams whose goal is to learn about the host district while interpreting their home district, nation and culture to their hosts.
• Many opportunities for people of all ages to perform service as international volunteers of every type, receive leadership training, learn about responsible citizenship and the fostering of world fellowship and international understanding.
• Rotary sponsors numerous awards and scholarships such as Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, Ambassadorial Scholarships, Rotary World Peace Fellowships, and more.
• Rotary also gives out numerous grants of which some of the most important are the Health, Hunger and Humanity (3-H) Grants.  Since 1978 $74 million USD have been spent on 290 projects in 75 countries for the purpose of improving health, alleviating hunger, and enhancing human, cultural and social development around the world.  The first 3-H project was the immunization of 6 million children in the Philippines against polio – the beginning of PolioPlus.

For more information about Rotary International please visit the website http://www.rotary.org/

I always welcome your questions and comments!  Email me at barry@barryt.ca, phone me at 780-910-9669, or contact me here.