Eclipsing Shinny
We live in Edmonton’s Rio Terrace neighbourhood which has a very active community league. So as my children were growing up, absolutely everything we did centered around our community. That’s how we met our friends – people who we spend our time with even now that the kids are older. We were very fortunate that way. And the kids really grew up with that community experience. They’d ask to go to the rink on a Friday night and I would be comfortable saying “Okay, you can walk over,” and they would go skating and see all their friends. Then they’d all come over for hot chocolate later. That’s the kind of city you want your kids to grow up in.
It all started with putting my kids in the preschool. You start meeting the other parents and kids and before I knew it they’d be playing soccer together for the local team and then there’d be a barbecue the next week and a family bingo. It’s a great way to get to know people. My whole family has great memories of all the community league activities we’ve participated in over the years – from Halloween parties and New Year’s Eve events to adult and youth sports.
One very memorable experience for me was during our ladies shinny hockey night. As I played hockey with other rookie women of all ages and backgrounds one February several years ago, we watched a lunar eclipse unfold over the outdoor rink. We all stood in awe, and were feeling very Canadian!
If we want something going on in our community league I have an email base of dozens and dozens of people that I could ask. Sometimes we do fundraisers – you know if there’s someone in our community who’s been through a tough time. It’s pretty special. Everybody knows if they need anything they can phone around. We welcome the new people too. I’ve met younger couples in the neighbourhood and said “Oh, I can put you in touch with the person who runs the tennis or who runs the Brownies.”
Now my kids are getting older, so I’m a little less involved with the community league. But certainly that was a big reason to stay in Rio Terrace. At one point we wanted a bigger home, but that meant moving. So, we sat down the family to decide to either move or renovate to make the kitchen and home work better for us. We looked at all the options and definitely chose to renovate. We fixed up the older home just so we could stay in this neighbourhood.
Where Next?
Tracey Urquhart
Tracey Urquhart is an occupational therapist. Born and raised in Edmonton, she believes in taking advantage of all the city has to offer. In summer, you’ll find her at Edmonton’s many festivals and golf courses, and in winter you’ll find her skating at the Victoria Oval or Hawrelak Park or checking out Edmonton’s the theatre and dining scene. A few years ago, she was one of the extras in the award-winning HBO movie, “Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee,” which was filmed in part at Edmonton’s Hotel Macdonald.
