Community Blog

With new restrictions, we wanted to share with you some local businesses that have partnered with the EPRA for our Membership Loyalty Program. Your support of these businesses and others is critical this holiday season. Adrienne Furrie Makeup: EPRA Members qualify for free home delivery on online orders (no minimum required) and a complimentary professional makeup brush with your first order. To access free delivery, select "local pickup" as your shipping method. Learn more and order Marda Loop Brewing: EPRA Members will receive 15% off their order! Marda Loop Brewing has stepped up their delivery and take-away and are ready to supply you with delicious eats and treats all lockdown long! Learn more and order P.S. Are you a local business and would like to partner with us? Contact us or learn more online

November 19 marked the 2020 EPRA AGM and the new Board wants to thank all those who were able to attend!!  A lot of information was shared, there was great participation and many were recognized for all the work they put into our community throughout the year.  While 2021 promises to be a busy one with developments, City changes and new "normals", it was fun to look back at some early pictures of Elbow Park. If you missed out on the history presentation at the AGM make sure you check out the new history page on our site. Learn more Thank you for making Elbow Park a great community to live in!

With so many changes and activities surrounding development in Calgary, our EPRA Development Committee wanted to take the time to update you on areas that may impact Elbow Park.

Thank you to the over 530 residents who completed our Development Survey.

Read about Caveats & Restrictive Covenants

Dear Residents, EPRA continues to be active despite the disruption to our lives we are all experiencing. The Clubhouse reopened and the Hall is being rented again. Check out the calendar and the rates at https://elbowpark.com/Rental-Calendar and consider it for your next socially distanced event in the large Hall. The Glencoe Club who runs the tennis club under a sublease arrangement with us has packed up after a great season. You may have noticed that they used the old curtains from the indoor Tennis to cover the courts. We are hoping that this will protect the clay courts during the winter when they are covered with our ice. We are happy that we will be able to provide ice rinks again this year thanks to new Ice Coordinators. We will be using our funds again this year to pay Elite Yards to flood and maintain the rinks. Thank you to our 2nd VP Elrose Klause for her tireless work in applying for multiple grants to help our community. Grant applications take up a lot of time and effort her dedication to completing them has been unwavering.  We continue to work on the Park Concept Plan and hope that we will see some positive responses to several Grant applications that we have submitted. We hope to complete the outdoor heated Patio, Storage Unit and Pathway as our next priority. Thanks to a sponsorship from Valentine Volvo, we have purchased the new Garbage containers and Recycle bins for our park. Please keep EPRA in mind when considering your annual donations this year. The EPRA Development Committee is very active in keeping up with reviewing several Development Permits, Subdivisions and Rezoning applications. We will have our Strategy Session in order to review the Development Survey results, determine direction and develop a work plan. The topic of Development in Elbow Park has been a major focus over the past year and we will continue to be your voice regarding the changes that the City proposes for our community. Keep your eyes out for a special Development Issue of the digital Gazette coming out next week. Our Member Loyalty Program has launched and we are now establishing partnerships with local businesses. Let us know if your business would like to join. Stay tuned for discounts and other promotions offered to EPRA members in the future. We hosted a small Fall Gathering at the park this month to celebrate our volunteer Al Berti who spent hours weeding, planting and watering the traffic circle located at the SE corner of the park. A grant from the Calgary Foundation assisted with the purchase of plants. Our new partner, Blue Grass Nursery, provided a discount. Thanks to all of the neighbours who assisted with the project, including, Scott & Sarah who provided water from their house. We will be implementing a new crime report onto our website in the near future. It appears that we are seeing an increase in thefts from vehicles, garages and porches. The Clubhouse had the key lockbox stolen off the wall, however, fortunately there was no break-in. They were, however, able to access Christ Church which had items stolen. We met with our Police Constable this week to discuss our concern that the statistics don't match what we are hearing. It is important for us to report, report, report. In addition, Amy Norman, Safety Director, will be in close communication weekly with our Constable and the Intel Unit in order to ensure they are aware of what is occurring. Stay tuned for the launch of the online crime report form and stay vigilant. Report suspicious behaviour to the non-emergency line at 403-266-1234. We are happy to announce that Kelly Hewson has taken on the role of Gazette Editor. You will see three of her articles included this month. Stay tuned for more in our monthly Digital newsletter and Quarterly Gazette (next delivery in January). Our AGM is scheduled for next month, November 19. We will have a safe social distanced meeting in the Clubhouse, however, for those who would prefer, we will also have the meeting on Zoom. There will be a few "Cabinet shuffles" and terms completed. Tom Plunkett, our Treasurer, will complete his term. Thank you Tom for agreeing to assist with the transition of the new Treasurer until January 2021! In addition, we are seeking a 1st VP. This position is open for someone interested in taking on the President position in one year's time. I will stay on as President for one year and Past President for another in order to provide a smooth transition. If interested, let me know. Best Regards,  Jane Virtue

DID YOU KNOW? that before the Glenmore Dam was built in the 1930s, the lower Elbow River, by Elbow Drive and 30th Avenue SW, was full and clear enough to become one of Calgary’s biggest swimming holes, second in attendance only to the Bowness Lagoon? Developed by William Reader, Calgary’s inaugural Parks Superintendent (1913-42), the swimming facility was the first of its kind, and certainly the first to have what today still stands -- a change room/warming shack. (The swimming hole served as a skating rink in winter). Designated a Municipal Historic resource in 2014, the building is an example of ‘vernacular’ architecture, as demonstrated by its narrow bevelled wood siding, wood shingle roof, its multi-paned fixed windows, and its separate women’s and men’s entrances. (Source: City of Calgary Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources) History of Elbow Park

As with many communities we have seen an increase in bike thefts, porch piracy, car ransacking, and home/garage break-ins. Our neighbourhood safety committee along with the Calgary Police have some tips to protect your property and goods. To stave off bike thefts: Register your bike on the non-profit bikeindex.org Use 2 U-locks (not cheap ones) or a U-lock and a heavy-duty cable, and secure bike to an immovable object, even if the bike is in your garage To mitigate the stealing of porch packages: Have the parcels delivered to a work address, or to the house of someone you know will be home Ask to have parcels held at the post office Ship parcels to the store for pick-up Require a signed confirmation of parcel Car Ransacking: Lock your car doors; and make sure everything of value is out of car or in truck out of sight—particularly your garage door opener and extra set of keys. Unlock car doors; make sure everything of value is out of car or in trunk out of sight; and put a sign on car that says nothing of value in here. Keep your key fobs at least 50 feet away from your car when you place them in the house. Park in bright light, and get a good front-of-house motion detector. But make sure the motion sensor is placed high enough on your house so the bulb can’t be reached and unscrewed. Advertise the security system of your car. Even if you don’t have one, slap up a sticker. Some prowlers are turned off by blinking lights on cars’ dashboards, which indicate a tracking device. (Dollarama has reasonable facsimiles thereof…) Tempted as you may be, do not booby trap your vehicle. You could end up in jail rather than the thief. Home and Garage Break-ins: The Calgary Police service offers the following CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) tips online. Learn more. CPS stresses the importance, no matter how minor the theft, of reporting it, and any suspicious neighbourhood activity/people, by calling 403-266-1234 (911 in an emergency). Documentation of ALL crime is crucial in making the case for additional resources.

We are excited to launch our EPRA Member Loyalty Program over the next couple of months. This new program will provide current members with perks and discounts from local businesses.  We are currently seeking local businesses and professionals to join us as business partners. Business Partners will be listed on our website, mentioned on social media and promoted via email communications.  To learn more about becoming a Business Partner check out our website Learn more

Thank you to Valentine Volvo for the sponsorship of four garbage containers and one recycling container for our park!  The Containers are a big upgrade from the old ones and a great start to the Park Improvement Project. We are thrilled to have the Containers installed and a contractor collecting the garbage for us. Our garbage worries are a thing of the past!  Thank you to our residents for their patience during the delay due to COVID.