I must apologize - it was my intent to tell my Centennial stories in quick succession. Unfortunately the advent of school has reduced my ability to blog. Still, I saunter on and intend to complete these, but I suspect that these posts will be less detailed as time goes on. I digress...

The theme for September 11th, 2009 was youth, so we called it our Future Day. The day itself was really just two large events. The first being the Youth Performing Arts Showcase, and the second was supposed to be a Battle of the Bands for local youth bands. I was in charge of the Battle of the Bands, but for some reason I only ended up with two bands entering. As a result we turned it into a concert, and we were able to secure Seventh Rain as our headline band. This was arranged by Al Jones at Here's the Scoop, and I can't thank him enough!

Jumping back a little bit, the idea of having a youth performing arts showcase was conceived early in the planning process. We had two teachers on our committee that were going to work on it, but like many committee members do, they mysteriously vanished a few months after arriving. Even though I was heading up the planning of the youth day, I had no clue how to plan a showcase of various choirs and bands. So myself and another committee member put out a call to all the schools to attend a meeting about hosting such an event. We told all the teachers that attended that we would provide them with a venue and the staging, seating, etc. they would need as well as promote the event. We tasked them with actually organizing it, which is a ton of work. It didn't help that our event would occur during the first week of school, so all the planning would have to be done the previous school year.

It amazes me now that it all worked out. I only attended one meeting with the teachers, and then sort of sent them on their way. One of the teachers took on a leadership role and ensured everything got done. On my part it wasn't exactly the best model of community development, but I think it just goes to show that if people are passionate about something they will ensure it gets done and done well.

I arrived at the park Friday morning at about 7:00am and began setting up a few things that we'd need for the remaining days. We all thought Friday would be a pretty quiet day that would allow us to get some things ready for Saturday and Sunday. We were wrong. Very wrong. You see, we knew we were getting 600+ kids, but they were coming throughout the day. There weren't going to be more than 100 kids at a time, so no big deal, right? Well, a lot of the schools decided to make a field trip of it and stayed for most of the day. We also failed to consider that 600 kids equals about 1000 to 2000 parents/grandparents/relatives.





Due to this event taking place during a regular school/work day, we had a pretty limited pool of volunteers. Thankfully those we did have possessed superhuman volunteer skills. We managed the onslaught of people pretty well, but our parking was only being manned by one poor volunteer and it quickly fell into carmageddon with people parking wherever they felt like even if it meant blocking in an entire row of vehicles. It got pretty bad, but the volunteers pulled together and made it functional again.





I was in and out of the park quite a bit on this day running various errands. At one point I had to make a mad dash to Enterprise to rent a truck because my coworker's truck broke down at the gas station. It was a crazy day. The upshot was that I ended up with a big obnoxious truck that I was largely incapable of parking until Sunday. (By that point I was backing it up into parking stalls and everything. If you know me, vehicles + parking lots often result in disaster. Going in reverse is just a horrible multiplier.)

Due to my frequent absences I don't have a lot of pictures of the performances. I do have some of the George McDougall band though because I know a few of the kids in it, and I didn't want to miss them.





We had about a four hour break between the school performances and the concert starting. This gave us a nice window of time to catch our breath (and eat) and start setting up for the concert. There was a Centennial High School football game during this time, but none of us attended. Apparently Bert Church High School destroyed George McDougall High School. GMHS has a sweet band, though.

We had three bands lined up for the Centennial Youth Concert. Local bands 'Storm', and 'Autumn Arson' would open for 'Seventh Rain'. All three bands started to show up at around 5:30pm to setup all the equipment. I offered to help, but there was about ten of them and they all knew what they were doing. Me? Not so much… So I just sort of hung out and was generally useless. At least I got pictures.





To be completely honest, I was really concerned about turnout for this event. I’ve run a number of youth events in Airdrie that were very poorly attended. There were only 68 people who confirmed on the Facebook event page, and I honestly would have been happy with that number. :P Teenagers started arriving as early as 6:00, many of them attending the sound check the bands were doing. And then they kept coming and coming. Once the football game was done a new flood of youth swarmed the park. It was wonderful! If I had to guess, I’d say we easily had 1500 people there, possibly more.





Working with young people is what I do, so I do not hold the typical stereotypes about them that many people do. Despite having many, many youth in the park most of them were being very well behaved. We had a few minor incidents, but nothing to really get worried about. Still, I’ve done this type of work long enough that if you get a whole lot of teenagers in one spot, especially on a Friday night, you should be prepared for all possible outcomes. As such, I called the RCMP just to give them a heads-up that we would have a large gathering of people that would be there until at least 10pm. The security that we hired for the weekend asked if they could bring on an additional officer. Initially I said no, but as more and more kids started coming and we had more incidents of alcohol possession, I agreed to have another officer come out. In the end the company donated the extra officer, so that was really nice.



The performances themselves were awesome! We started with Storm, a local band that I’ve had come out to a few of my events now. Storm consists of two brothers who play guitar, bass, piano, and sing., as well as a friend of theirs who is the drummer. The drummer didn’t make this show (as well as some previous ones) and I got the feeling he might not be their drummer for much longer! The two brothers in the band are very down to earth and some of the nicest kids I’ve ever met. They have amazing support in their parents that come out to all their gigs and usually setup their equipment and film the whole thing. Let me tell you, these are model parents. I love them! I also love the fact that every time I ask them to perform (always for free) the whole family is incredibly grateful and thankful. Anyway, they did an excellent job and really got the crowd going.







Next up was Autumn Arson. I hadn’t heard these guys before aside from their submission for the Battle of the Bands. I had actually met a couple of the members before as part of something I was doing in the schools, but I didn’t know they had a band. I listened to their first couple songs and was quite impressed with what I heard. The crowd was going crazy with these guys. Unfortunately I was running errands around the park (mostly picking up garbage and shooing kids out of tents) so I missed a lot of their stuff. Still managed to snap some pics though:







Rounding out the evening was Seventh Rain. Once these guys hit the stage a lot of the kids roaming about made their way to the entertainment tent. Seventh Rain isn’t a hugely popular band, but they’re quite well known in Calgary and area. They actually opened for Sloan a few months back, but I missed that concert. They played all original stuff except for one cover of ‘I Gotta Feeling’, which was pretty epic. These guys even had quite a few groupies swarming over them and doing the whole ‘scream when he looks at me’ thing. Not that that’s the only sign of a good concert, but it was a pretty good seal of approval. Once again, pictures:







Once the concert was done a lot of people left the park, but there were still plenty of youth mingling around. Technically the park closes at 10pm, so I just let the security people see that everyone left. They might have been lingering but there were no problems, so I seemed harmless enough. Where we did have a problem was trying to get all the girls off the stage and out of the tent once Seventh Rain was done. At one point one of the members of the band asked us to get them all off stage because he didn’t want to do it and look like a jerk. :) Some of them remained until well after the concert and didn’t leave until the bands left. In the end I was very, very satisfied with how everything went and really impressed with the youth in this community not only for coming out but also for behaving really well. I can easily say that this day is probably the highlight of my youth-serving career so far.

Well, Centennial has come and gone and I should probably blog about it before it slips my memory. The four days have kind of blurred together and I have a pretty nasty cold now, so I do no promise complete chronological accuracy. I will do this one day at a time since there’s no way I have the patience to blog about the whole four days at once.

When I left you last, we had set up many of the tents for the weekend and were getting ready for volunteer orientation. Orientation went as expected and we had about 50 people on hand. We could have easily used 200 volunteers throughout, but those that we had were AMAZING! We also had many drop-in volunteers during the weekend, but I’ll get to that later.



Thursday, September 10th started out as any other day at the office would, although I had to be here at 7:30am to make sure the trailer (which we were using for our stage) was parked in the correct spot. It’s arrived promptly at 7:35 and afterwards I went to check my email and do other office-like routines. At about 10:00 volunteers arrived to start decorating the stage and building operations removed the fencing around the Legacy Art Project and covered it in a tarp.



I don’t remember exactly what I was doing that morning, but I recall I was out of the office and missed most of the decorating. Regardless, the volunteers turned an ugly old trailer into a very nice looking stage.



Shortly after they were done, one of the fellows at work set up the audio system we were using for the evening. I was to be in charge of A/V that night, but I had someone more competent set it up! The audio worked great, but after it was done I had to figure out the visual part on my own. This was all outside and it presented some unique challenges. I hooked up the City laptop and projector and everything on that end worked fine. It was far too bright out to see anything the projector was showing, but we knew it was going to be dark when we showed our video. My main challenge, and this was unexpected, was the screen. The city owns a large collapsible screen, so I figured that would serve us well. Unfortunately it was extremely windy out, so the screen was like a giant sail. Even after I tried to weigh it down, it would still blow over. We tried plan ‘B’ which was to use two big pieces of cloroplast with a wooden base. However the wind was still a problem. I tried putting them against a wall of city hall, but that didn’t work. What must have been plan ‘E’ was proposed by one of our building operations managers. We could borrow one of the large metal fences that previously concealed the art project and then tie the cloroplast to it with zip ties. After a frantic drive to a construction site to retrieve the fencing, we brought it back and it worked perfectly! I was honestly about to give up on the whole thing, but a few persistent people with clever minds came through for me!

Before the public portion of the evening started, we had a private reception for our dignitaries. They included our MP - Blake Richards, our MLA - Rob Anderson, Minister of Culture and Community Spirit - Lindsay Blackett, Lieutenant Governor - Norman Kwong, Provost of Airdrie Scotland - Tum Curley, and en entire delegation from our sister city of Gwacheon, South Korea, including Mayor Yeo.



I felt rather awkward during this part of the evening, and for the most part stayed away, ran some last minute errands and tested out the sound system with the MC, Deputy Mayor, Shawn Howard. We were just about ready to start off the ceremonies at 7:00pm when we found out that it was decided to show the dignitaries the Airdrie Centennial DVD inside before heading outside. This was fine, but it put our whole agenda behind schedule by about 15 minutes.



We finally got going at 7:15 and the dignitaries went onto the stage complete with bagpipe accompaniment. There were lots of great speeches, gift giving, and general comradery amongst our guests. Despite the very formal procedures surrounding the Lieutenant Governor, his speech was very informal and quite funny. He made fun of his wife, who was on stage, more than once! Unfortunately there were some hang-ups with the evening. Of course the audio decided to be finicky. Several times a large amount of feedback came from the speakers and everyone shot me looks when it happened. I don’t know what was going on! Actually, I think it was because we had a monitor speaker facing the dignitaries. The monitor was for the singer we were having later, so I really should have had it facing away until he went up. Anyway, someone eventually did move it, so it was okay after that. The other problem was that because we were behind schedule, it started to get dark while people were still speaking. This wasn’t supposed to happen until after the art was unveiled. :/

Anyway, the art was unveiled successfully by our volunteers and I think everyone liked it. It was commission by the City of Airdrie and the Centennial Committee and was done by artist Honsun Chu out of Cochrane. If you’re curious what it all means, here’s the description:



“The big sphere represents Airdrie, and each ring represents ten years since its inception in 1909. The three square beams represent three elements; time, space, and people. These elements support and were influenced by the growth and development of Airdrie over the past 100 years. These three beams represent the essence of the city; they are interrelated. If we study their movement, time advances in a linear direction, space expands three dimensionally, and people are the most dynamic force that move freely. Time advances in a linear direction, therefore we always have past, present, and future. People represents the residents, the communities, the businesses, the government and all the activities. People are the creator, the force that makes a location into a city. Space represents expansion and growth.”



After unveiling the art, we immediately showed our Centennial DVD. I wish I had an online version I could imbed as it’s absolutely amazing, but we are trying to sell copies (only $5!). As soon as the video was done (which went off without a hitch) the fireworks were set off, everyone had free birthday cake, and the evening was done. A tremendous success!

It has begun! Today has been both draining and energizing. Tomorrow is Airdrie's 100th birthday and the celebrations begin. Today has been full of last minute preparations, panicked phone calls, and a general flurry of activity. My desk is pure chaos and I have post-its on top of post-its:



The parks department was out in droves to make sure everything at Nose Creek is looking pretty and stocked full of picnic tables:







Great Events tent rentals, as well as many local businesses such as ATCO, Century 21, and Re-max were out setting up their donated tents as well:







Of course, there were many staff and volunteers there this morning coordinating all this as well as hauling things around. I think I moved about 1000L of water from a struck into a storage area. I'm positively pooped, but I have lots to do, including volunteer orientation tonight.

Tomorrow's the big birthday party with fireworks and art unveiling!

Today's my first day of the new semester, and I'm taking MAIS 603 - Community Development. Usually the first week consists of introducing yourself to the other students and starting your readings. Here's how the course board looks so far:



Hello? Anyone out there?

Considering my significant blogging absence, I need to rewind a bit and give a bit of an update on our whole pet situation. Sadly, our beloved rabbit Willow passed away last winter. Here he is the previous spring:



Willow was an awesome bunny, and he was the oldest of all our pets. I got him back in 2001 when I was still living in residence at U of C. I definitely wasn't allowed to have him, but I somehow managed to keep him secret the whole time I was there. He had a lot of character for a rabbit, and it was sad to see him go.

Not that he needed replacing, but not long after we decided that we would get Elodie a mouse for her birthday. Her name is Star, and she's a pretty good mouse:



Way back in 2006 we watched our friends' cat Phoenix while they went to China to teach English. Continuing with the 'we'll watch your cat while you're in Asia' theme, we are now the proud cat-sitters of Princess:



Princess' owner, Sarah, is off to Japan for a year for University. Princess would have had to go to the SPCA otherwise, and we didn't want that. Princess is a very sweet kitty, but she's only been here for a couple of hours so she's understandably upset. She's going from an only pet in a kid-free home to one with a very noisy toddler, a big drooly dog, a small yappy dog, and a cat who thinks she owns the place. Still, Princess is perhaps the most laid back cat I've ever met, so I think she'll adjust well. She just passed out in our chair despite her chaotic surroundings, so it's a good sign.

We're happy to have Princess. Have fun in Japan, Sarah! We'll take good care of her.

I always have trouble explaining to people what I do for work. My job title is Community Developer - Youth. In the simplest terms, a community developer works for the community. We help groups get started, we assist existing groups with projects and also help find them funding. Sp specifically for me, I work for the youth in this community. What's interesting in my case is that I'm not in the Community Development unit, I'm in Social Planning. I don't want to get too much into the differences, but Social Planning is also known as Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) and we're funded partially by the province. Perhaps I'll explain one day...

Anyway, whether we like it or not, a large part of our job is event planning. One of these events, called Community Showcase, is something we hold each fall. All the local agencies, groups, nonprofits, and sports organizations are invited out to flaunt their stuff. Many sports groups use this event to hold registration, so it can get pretty crazy. Basically, we provide a table and some space and let them do their thing. To attract the public we have a free BBQ, kids games, and some live entertainment. We tried to keep it small this year because we're going all out with our Centennial celebrations next weekend. Still, it's an event that I always enjoy doing.

This year we had the BBQ, and the mayor did an awesome job cooking hot dogs. We had staff from Genesis Place run some kids games, we had the broom ball association do some demos, and we had like 12 ladies from Good Life Fitness do a bunch of working out in skimpy outfits. It was a family affair, I assure you.

As usual, my wonderful Hyjinx Youth Council volunteers came out to help and were amazing. I've got such a great group right now, but sadly they're all in grade 12 and will be leaving me come June. I remember meeting most of them when they were in grade 9 and they were all so small and innocent. They're practically adults now, and I know I'm going to miss them when they go. We've formed an amazing bond, and although that sometimes leads to them telling me things I shouldn't know, I'm glad they're comfortable with me. The task now is to recruit some new members who will be with me for a few more years.

So, even though work has been stressing me out, there are moments when I absolutely adore what I do. This next week is going to be bat shit insane with Centennial, but we're all going to have fun doing it. I have a great work team and a wonderful pool of volunteers. Here's what's planned:

September 10, 2009 - Official Centennial Weekend Kick-off

* 3 pm - 5:30 pm - Unveiling of the Historical Markers Tour starting at the Plainsmen Arena for a bus tour to unveil five historical markers around the city.
* 7:30 pm - Speeches at City Hall
· speech from Mayor Bruce
· introduction of attending dignitaries
· speech from Blake Richards, MP
· speech from Rob Anderson, MLA (if in attendance)
* 8:00 pm - Performance by Ron Simon – Centennial Song
* 8:05 pm - Unveiling of the Legacy Art Project
* 8:10 pm - Birthday Cake
* 9:00 pm - Fireworks - Viewing from City Hall or Nose Creek Park

September 11, 2009 - 'Future' Day
School events and celebrations, school musical showcase, and Battle of the Bands (@ Nose Creek Park - Volunteers Required), and the Airdrie Youth Performing Arts Showcase!


Airdrie Youth Performing Arts Showcase at Nose Creek Park
9:30 am – 3:00 pm

* 9:00 - 9:30 am - R. J. Hawkey Elementary School Grade 4
* 9:45 - 10:15 am - Edwards Elementary Grade 4
* 10:30 - 11:00 am - Ralph McCall
* 11:15 - 11:45 am - Our Lady Queen of Peace / Good Shepherd
* 12:00 - 12:30 pm - A. E. Bowers
* 12:45 - 1:15 pm - Nose Creek Elementary
* 1:30 - 2:00 pm - George MacDougal High School Band
* 2:15 - 3:00 pm - St. Martin de Porres

Centennial Football Game

* 5:30 pm at Bert Church High School

FREE Concert by Se7enth Rain, with opening bands Storm and Autumn Arson

* 7 pm - 10 pm at Nose Creek Park


Airdrie Little Theatre Live Performance

* 7 pm - 9 pm at Bert Church Live Theatre



September 12, 2009 - 'Past Day'

Old Time Fair, Live Entertainment, BBQ (Nose Creek Park), Street Dance / Barn Dance

NOSE CREEK PARK

* 9:00 am - 11:00 am – Free Breakfast (sponsored by ATCO Gas)
* 11:00 am – 6:00 pm - Old Time Fair
o "Old Time" demonstrations (movie house/General Store/Black Smith/threshing machine/antique cars/crafts & quilting/fall fair/old time photographs)
o Public contests (pie eating, hotdog eating and homebaking)
- Homebaking Contest Rules and Details
o Kids games and races
o Butterfield Acres Fun Farm petting area
o 2 stages of local entertainment
o Horse & wagon rides
o Nose Creek Museum viewing
* 5:00 pm -7:00 pm - FREE BBQ (sponsored by Edward Jones)
* 6:00 pm –Midnight – Barn Dance
Featuring: Prairie Mountain Fiddlers/Ronnie & the Fixations and Why Martin

IRON HORSE PARK

* 10:00 am – 5:00 pm - FREE Miniature Steam Train Rides
* 10:30 am – Performance by Our Lady Queen of Peace School, "The Last Spike"

NOSE CREEK VALLEY MUSEUM

* 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm - UFA Centennial Display


BERT CHURCH LIVE THEATRE

* 2:30 pm – Airdrie Little Theatre Play

ECOLE AIRDRIE MIDDLE SCHOOL

* 2:00 pm – Unveiling of Historical Marker and School Reunion
Student/Teacher Reunion at Woodside Seniors Clubhouse at 411 Woodside Dr.


September 13, 2009 - 'Present Day' @ Nose Creek Park


* 8 am - FREE Breakfast (sponsored by the Airdrie Chamber of Commerce)
* 9:30 am - Mayor's Run starts (registration is earlier)
* 9:30 am - Non-denominational Church Service
* 11 am - 4 pm
o Farmer's Market, local artisans, Airdrie Community Choir, kid's activities, medieval group

Trying a different one and it seems to be working better for me. I need to figure out how to centre my header though. Anyone know XML?