President's Report

(from the League’s Annual General Meeting, October 2024)

Highlights

This past year was a very rewarding year for our Board. Membership continued to grow, exceeding 500 members by the mid point of this year. We were able to repeat and improve upon many of our events and programming from the prior year. New programs and initiatives were created and improved communication methods enabled us to engage with new and broader segments of our communities. We were also able to get back to a fundamental purpose of our community league and engage with the City, residents and various resource groups in response to several issue of concern that occurred over the past year. Taken together, this represents a significant step forward by our Board and Community League members. Whereas in the prior year the board was focused on rebuilding programming, engagement and basic board infrastructure. This year we had enough structure, tools and people to maintain/expand event programming, engage with other leagues and community groups and begin to advocate on behalf of residents.

We hope to continue to expand on what we are able to do in the coming year. As with most not for profit organizations, it often comes down to people though. We can always use more board members. Eva has joined the board as the new communications director. Adding her talent and energy allows us to engage with members and residents even more directly. Our community league remains one of the largest in Edmonton. It continues to grow as does the need to increase engagement and support services. We continue to try to recruit new board members as we believe that is the primary way we will have the capacity and creativity needed to meet the purpose of this community league.

Some of the highlights of the past year include:

Communal

Communal is the membership management tool that is now available to all community leagues to sign up new members, communicate and organize program registration. We were an early adopter last October. The process for signing up new members and collecting membership fees was significantly improved by this tool. Communication with members on upcoming events was much easier and program creation and registration was much more streamlined. This allowed our creative programming director Samah to organize youth basketball, pottery classes, candlemaking and other successful events. Hundreds of residents attended these events this year.

Programming

We continued to build our relationships with the neighbouring community leagues: the Ellerslie Community League through joint hosting of the summer and winter festival, as well as the Knottwood Community League through weekly yoga classes.

The outdoor rink space, green shack, swimming at the Meadows the new temporary dog park, accessible trick or treating on Grande Boulevard and community clean-up were programming that the league continued to support this past year.

Improved Membership Registration

Our membership shot up to almost 600 last year. As noted above, communal was a big part of this. A potential concern is that registration for youth hockey may no longer require a community league membership, but we believe that we have the tools in place to expand our membership numbers organically without the need for this.

Temporary Dog Park

The City supported a temporary dog park in 2023 that was unable to continue due to budgetary constraints. Leagues were able to apply for a temporary dog park for 2024. At the behest of a few dozen residents we engaged with CIty officials and secured approval for a temporary dog park at the end of Grande Boulevard. Dog Park ambassadors signed up to help coordinate the maintenance and operation of the park. It has been a resounding success, bringing dog owning neighbours together throughout the year. We have applied to extend this permit through the winter.

Updated Bylaws

We were successful in our application to certify the bylaws approved at last year's AGM.

2023-24 Goals and Priorities

Recruitment and Engagement

We are focused on expanding our membership and board numbers this year. We are also focused on engaging residents in a needs assessment to determine what amenities might best serve all residents. Is it a community hall? A community garden? A permanent dog park? More athletic options? Is crime prevention an issue? We plan to engage residents to determine what our priorities should be and then to build these into our future plans.

Programming and Partnerships

We intend to maintain and expand our sporting, social and community engagement programming this year. From larger festivals and group discounted outings to smaller events that promote personal health and skill development, we want to broaden our programming to appeal to as many residents as possible within our resource capabilities.

Advocacy and Engagement

Porch thefts, dog attack, violent crime, casino approval. These were all issues that affected residents this past year enough to reach out to our board or to City officials who then reached out to us. We want to expand our ability to facilitate communication on the issues that matter to our communities. We will continue to build resource relationships and to develop the communication channels that enable us to support residents on the issues that matter to them.

Thank You

Community is collective word by definition, but connective at its core. It is always evolving. Our League is an exciting place to live in and one that we on the Board are all proud to try represent and improve. Thank you for attending tonight or taking the time to read this after tonight’s meeting has concluded. We hope to see you at a future board meeting or event!

Greg Miskie
President