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Sunnyhill Voice - September News Letter

Sunnyhill Voice

September 15th, 2023


As always, we encourage all members to send us recipes, pictures, drawings, compelling news stories, and other items that you think will brighten the day of people in our community. 

As life is getting busier again, we are now sending out a Newsletter twice a month! We kindly ask that you submit updates, stories, and photos by the 8th of each month for the newsletter released on the 15th, and the 24th of each month the newsletter released on the 1st.  

In this newsletter: 

Wildlife corner 1

September Good Food Box Orders 2



Wildlife Corner

Submitted by Scottie Potter

Have you seen (or heard) the chatty blue jays around the co-op? Late summer to early fall is when blue jays are at their most vocal, as they join together into larger flocks for their southward migration. Their most common call (called a “jeer”) sounds like they’re saying their name: “jay-jay-jay!” Jeers are used by blue jays to stay in contact with their flock-mates while they travel.


September Good Food Box Orders

Submitted by Marion Gauzer


The next Good Food Box delivery date is September 28.  To place an order, please fill out and submit our online order form no later than noon on September 19.  If for any reason you can’t submit your order online, please email me (mgauzer@yahoo.ca) with your order information.


You can pay for your order either with cash when you pick up your order (in an envelope with your name on it) or by sending an email transfer to Belle Auld (belleauld@gmail.com) before September 28.


Please note that due to the rising cost of food, the Community Kitchen Program of Calgary has raised its prices:


  • $30 for a small box (15 - 20 lbs), 

  • $35 for a medium box (25-30 lbs), and

  • $40 for a large box (35-40 lbs).


Remaining 2023 dates for Good Food Box deliveries:


  • October 26

  • November 23

Good Food Box is a Community Kitchen program.


Sunnyhill Voice- August 15th, 2023

As always, we encourage all members to send us recipes, pictures, drawings, compelling news stories, and other items that you think will brighten the day of people in our community. If there are enough submissions, we will publish newsletters twice a month on the 1st and the 15th. If not, we will publish once a month. We kindly ask that you submit updates, stories, and photos by the 8th of each month for the newsletter released on the 15th, and the 24th of each month the newsletter released on the 1st.

In this newsletter:

  • Member Concerns

  • Good Food Box

  • Crossword Puzzle

Member Concerns

The newsletter is not the place for member concerns regarding other members (anonymous or otherwise), and the Sunnyhill Voice will not publish them. Please fill in the Intake Form and send to Intake4sh@gmail.com if you have a concern about another member.

Crossword Puzzle - Submitted by Brenda Willman

Click here to download

Good Food Box Order for August - Submitted by Marion Gauzer

Our next Good Food Box delivery is scheduled for August 31. To ensure you receive your fresh produce, please take note of the following details:

  • Order Deadline: Please complete and submit your order via our online order form no later than noon on August 22.

  • Alternative Ordering: If you encounter any issues with online ordering, please don't hesitate to contact me via email at mgauzer@yahoo.ca with your order information.

  • Payment Options: You have two convenient payment options:

    • Pay in cash when you pick up your order. Ensure you place your payment in an envelope with your name on it.

    • Opt for an email transfer to Belle Auld at belleauld@gmail.com. Please complete the transfer before August 31.

Price Adjustment Notice:

In light of the increasing cost of food, the Community Kitchen Program of Calgary has made the difficult decision to adjust our prices, effective August:

  • Small Box (15 - 20 lbs) - $30

  • Medium Box (25 - 30 lbs) - $35

  • Large Box (35 - 40 lbs) - $40

We appreciate your understanding and support as we continue our mission to provide quality produce to our community.

Save the Dates:

Mark your calendar for the remaining Good Food Box delivery dates in 2023:

  • September 28

  • October 26

  • November 23

July Grounds Update

Sunnyhill Co-op Signs - the new ones are being installed, with the expectation that they should last for at least 2 years, by which time we may have some new building happening on site!

Our next mural is going to be painted on the garbage enclosure at the entrance to the 3rd Street parking lot. Local artist, Leya Russell, who did our "Birds of Sunnyside" mural last year, is going to create "Below as Above" - a mural depicting the Bow River ecosystem, including images of river residents and a map illustrating the course of the river through our community. We will notify members when Leya has given us her timeline, but work should start within the next month.

Thank you to everyone for being diligent about picking up kids toys and outdoor chairs, etc, to allow our lawn cutting to happen quickly and easily!

Sunnyhill Grounds

Garbage, Recycling, Composting

Submitted by Cindy Schnee

Did you know?

  • There is a BIG recycle bin in the dumpster enclosure by the parking lot for oversized cardboard or if blue bins are full. All cardboard must be flattened or it will not be removed.

  • Shredded paper should be in a clear bag.

  • Plastic bags should be combined into 1 bag.

  • All other items for blue bin must be loose (i.e. do not throw your bag of recycling items directly into blue bin).

  • Plastic numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 are accepted in blue bin. No Styrofoam, no chip bags or other crinkly plastic.

  • All items in blue bin must be clean and empty.

  • bluplanet will not take items left outside of the bins such as old furniture etc. If you missed the Sunnyhill junk removal container, you can do a Google search to find out who will pick up your unwanted stuff, or you can take it to the dump.

  • bluplanet charges a fee for each brown compost bag in the dumpster enclosure. You can talk to Grounds Committee if you have a lot of yard waste.

  • Bluplanet has excellent information sheets on their website.

  • If your closest dumpster is full, you can take a walk to find another that has more space. Or wait ‘til it’s empty to add your garbage.

Board Bytes July 2023

Sorry for the Delay

Some of you may be aware that I broke my arm in April. I was unable to attend the Board Meetings and then when I was able to attend, I had to retrain my left hand to type. I now have my dexterity and range of motion back to about 80% normal so I have returned to my duties. Apologies for the lapse in communication. Here are some highlights from the last few board meetings.

HSCA Memberships

The board discussed renewing memberships with the HSCA. We found the easiest way forward is to reimburse any member who renews their current membership. So, if you are going to renew please retain a receipt and request reimbursement through the usual channels. If you have any questions regarding this, please email SHCDirectors@shaw.ca.

Mortgage Renewed

Despite some setbacks and hurtles the board renewed the mortgage for 4 years at 6.65%. This was done during a transition period between office coordinators and a breakdown in communication from SACHA and the Bank. Personally, I’m very happy we managed to get it done in time and proud of the mad rush effort to accomplish the task.

AGM Minutes

We have them, perhaps by the time this goes out you will have them too. If not, we apologize for the delay, they are on their way out to membership as fast as we can get them out. There have been some great suggestions for expediting this process in the future. The most attractive idea is creating a live document during the meeting that we all have access to read online. This way the minutes are available almost immediately. We just lack the resources to execute this plan at the moment.

New Board 2023

The members have elected a new director to the board, Mahlah, and I am thrilled to have a new perspective at the table. They bring insight from being committee head and through their experience we hope to change how we engage our committees for the new term (more on that later). The rest of the board is the same as it was for 2022, Robert Perry (Chair) James Jordan (Vice Chair) Don McCabe (treasurer) David Sargent (Secretary) Joe Nunn (Director).

Survey Results

Our conclusion from the survey results shouldn’t come as a surprise. There has been a deterioration of the community spirit and we hope to start addressing some of these issues with the help of some committee efforts. In the fall we will begin planning a few workshops to rebuild lines of communication and neighborly trust. Things to address include Intervention Training, Compassionate Candor, Board of Director Duties, Governance and Policy Guidelines. If there are other areas you recognize could be workshopped please email us at SCHDirectors@shaw.ca. We will begin planning these workshops in the fall with the first one to take place in the winter and carry on into the New Year.

Committee Communication

As I have mentioned in former board Bytes, the board has an official meeting on the second Wednesday of every month. We also meet every Wednesday around 6:30 for an informal check-in. These meetings are a great place for any committee head to sit down with at least one board member to discuss what they would like the board to add to the agenda for the upcoming board meeting. The invitation is open to all Committee heads to join any of these other Wednesday check ins, you can make an appointment via email at SHCDirectors@shaw.ca or simply drop in. But we do advise getting in touch with a board member first to ensure the location and time of these informal meetings. Hopefully this will help open the lines of communication more and make the board more accessible to its committees.

Stampede Gratitude Yahoo!

Despite the perceived breakdown in community fabric there are always a few members who shine brightly with generosity and neighborly spirit. We want to formally thank Jeremy and Renfrew for taking it on themselves to organize our annual Stampede breakfast. It was a grand gesture of faith and love to our intentional community ideals. Way to go!

Till Next Time…

James Jordan, Vice Chair Sunnyhill Board of Directors

Wildlife corner

Submitted by Cindy Schnee

On any given evening around 8-8:30 take a leisurely walk down to Prince’s Island Park (PIP) and you might see 1-6 beavers either in the wetland on the most eastern end or at the other end by the Peace Bridge. Below is a photo taken by the Peace Bridge of four lovely beavers chewing their sticks! Two were swimming around in the wetland.

A photo of 4 beavers in Prince's Island Park taken from across the river

Member message

By Sherry Kozak

Dear Sunnyhill Membership,

I am writing to inform you that I recently submitted my resignation as Privacy Officer to the Board.

I had served as Privacy Officer for nearly 10 years. It was a position that I loved very much. Working between Sunnyhill’s policies and the Government of Alberta’s processes was an exciting challenge. In my time as Privacy Officer I worked closely with many different Boards and committees. I was particularly proud of the collaborative effort between Finance and myself when we conducted Sunnyhill’s first ever Income Survey a few years back. We were able to collect highly sensitive information and anonymously collate it in a manner that provided the co-op with important information that is being used in our lease negotiations with the City of Calgary.

The role of Privacy Officer worked well for me for many years as I could balance my health and disabilities with the rhythm of the position. Unfortunately, the frequency of requests to the Privacy Officer has increased substantially in the past couple of years. While I have done my best to meet these requests, I began to experience repeated negative interactions with a member that made me feel harassed and browbeaten.

I have been a member of Sunnyhill for several decades. I have served on nearly every committee and the Board multiple times. In all of my years, I have never felt so aggressed by another member.  I am sad to leave the role of Privacy Officer, but I must ensure that I am protecting myself from harm.

Sincerely,
Sherry Kozak

Good Food Box Orders Update

By Marion Gauzer

First up, a big thank you to Kiarra Albina for kindly offering her home and her time to receive Good Food Box deliveries on behalf of interested members.  Belle Auld will receive our first order on June 8 and Kiarra will receive deliveries thereafter.  

Our next delivery will take place on June 29 and will be the last one until August 31.  If you would like to place an order for June 29, please fill out and submit an order form no later than noon on June 20.  We encourage you to use the online order form as it allows us to manage orders more efficiently and accurately, but please email me (mgauzer@yahoo.ca) with your order information if that doesn’t work for you.

You can either pay for your order with cash (in an envelope with your name on it) when you pick up your order or send an email transfer to Belle Auld (belleauld@gmail.com) before June 29.

Sunnyside School Council presents The Spring Flower and Plant Sale + Fundraiser

Submitted by Mahlah Hanson

Sunnyside School Council presents The Spring Flower and Plant Sale + Fundraiser

Including: Hanging Baskets, Strawberry Baskets, Garden Flowers, Herbs & Veggie trays, Organic Soil & Fertilizer

Order Online Before May 19, 2023

https://sunnysidecalgary.growingsmilesfundraising.com/home

Funds go to support activities at Sunnyside School

More about the Good Food Box program at Sunnyhill

Submitted by Belle Auld

We are in the process of setting up a Good Food Box program/depot at Sunnyhill Coop. We need to know how many people are interested in getting a box of 20 pounds of fruits and veggies once a month? The cost is $25 per 20 pound box.

You don’t have to commit to taking a box each month - you can decide on a month to month basis. But we need to know if there are enough people interested before we set ourselves up as a depot.

Please email either Marion (mgauzer@yahoo.ca) or Belle (belleauld@gmail.com) if you are interested. 

If there is enough interest (we need to order at least 5 boxes), our first delivery will be Thursday June 8.

Update from Planning and Development

By Eric Moschopedis on behalf of the Planning and Development Committee

We wanted to share a quick update with you about the lease negotiations with the City of Calgary.

In our last update in mid-February we shared with you that Real Estate and Development (REDS) had prepared a report that proposed three scenarios that would then be taken to Council. P & D is aware of the reports content at an extremely high level, however the report itself is confidential as is normal in these types of land transactions. Unfortunately, we can’t tell you what we know, but are confident 2 of the 3 scenarios will work for Sunnyhill. Once the report goes to Council, they will then decide which of the proposed land agreements the City would offer to Sunnyhill. REDS anticipated the report would come forward at the April 25th Council meeting.

In our last update we also detailed a process whereby REDS would meet with City Councillors to brief them about the plan and after each meeting REDS would inform us about the meeting so that we could follow up. To date we have not had any further communication from REDS. Lee Prevost from Boundary Design has reached out to Councillor Wong to see if we can get some insight into where the process is at. A meeting is being arranged for as soon as possible.

As a note: this kind of silence from REDS has not been unusual in our experience. Ultimately, we are still anticipating REDS will be bringing the proposed scenarios to Council later this month. As soon as we learn more we will let the membership know.

Volunteer Needed — Good Food Box Deliveries to the Co-Op

By Belle Auld and Marion Gauzer

Belle Auld and Marion Gauzer are organizing once-a-month Good Food Box deliveries to the Co-op beginning on June 8 (tentative).

The Good Food Box provides approximately 20 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables for $25.

Before we can place our first order on behalf of interested members, we need to designate a member unit as a Good Food Box delivery depot. 

We are looking for a member to volunteer some space in their home and one day a month to receive deliveries.

You would need to:

  • be available to receive deliveries one Thursday a month (except July & December)

  • have enough space in your unit to receive and keep orders until members pick them up the same day

Remaining delivery dates for 2023:

  • June 8

  • June 29 (in lieu of a July delivery)

  • August 31

  • September 31

  • September 28

  • October 26

  • November 23

If you’re interested, please email Marion (mgauzer@yahoo.ca) or Belle (belleauld@gmail.com). 

We will have more information for members, including ordering deadlines and payment methods, once everything is up and running.  

Easter Events at Sunnyhill!!!

“The Easter bunny is planning a visit to the commons and we hope you can come for an Easter egg hunt, hot dog roast and spring scavenger hunt. We will meet in the playground at 10am for the Easter egg hunt. Followed by food at the fire pit and a spring scavenger hunt to follow. Please bring your own plates/utensils/cups. We hope to see you there. Happy spring everyone!

Date: Sunday, April 9th

Time: Starting at 10am

Where: Playground & Commons “

MARCH BOARD BYTES

Board Bytes March 2023

Submitted by James Jordan

Vice-president of Sunnyhill Board of Directors.

03/08/2023

Hello friends and neighbours, the board had their third meeting of the year on the usual 2nd Wednesday of the month. James, Joe, David, Don and Robert chaired. Also in attendance was our Property Coordinator Jose.

We took minutes, we assigned some tasks, cast some votes and I took notes. I might use too much creative writing but I’ll try to boil everything down so it’s easy to digest. But if you have questions about the Board Bytes please fill out this online feedback form -- CLICK THIS LINK or send an email to SHCdirectors@shaw.ca. Maybe Include “Board Bytes” in the subject.

This report is about the meeting on March 8th 2023. But the board has weekly check-in meetings to improve our efficiency. These unofficial meetings are working well for keeping on top of deadlines, response time and task management. Once a month was too slow for the bureaucracy involved. The second Wednesday of every month is the official board meeting with quorum, minutes and agenda. All parties present and discuss updates from the committees that report to them. If you don’t know which board member your committee reports too; send an email to SHCdirectors@shaw.ca.

CIWBR (the Canadian Institute of Workplace Bullying Resources) has been engaged and they are preparing a survey for all our members to get to know our community a bit better. We are working together on some questions to include. Linda and Anneka have met with some members regarding current conflicts and disputes. They have proposed a plan for mediation and potential resolution. The board discussed their proposal and voted in favour of moving forward. It's a game of inches but the movement so far has been encouraging.

Our Policies have been under review for some time now and we have to make some modifications and updates to remain relevant. The First of these was our

Conflict of Interest policy. At the next GM we will be able to vote on it and officially change it. Then there will only be 119 pages to go. A committee will be formed to present these updates to the membership piece by piece for review and discussion and approval.

Speaking of which, the next GM will be a Budget review. It wi May and details are evolving quickly. We hope a third of the meeting will be fun, a third will be discussion and a third will be business.

Planning and Development and Buildings need to meet with the board. We hope to discuss the current state of our development project, scheduled maintenance and Structure of Governance.

The Social Committee is hosting a St. Patrick's Day party on March 18th. Invites will go out by email and posted on facebook. Contact gabrielasemail@shaw.ca to volunteer.

Member involvement is down again and we recognise the dedication of the volunteers who are devoted to this community and believe in its enduring spirit of Neighbourhood. Thank you for your hard work and valuable time, we thrive together because of your selfless devotion.

This is my first time writing the board bytes and I am excited to write more; but it’s like journalism and I want to tell you what you want to know. If there is something you want included in my next article I have made a google form for feedback and constructive criticism – CLICK THIS LINK. Please refrain from grammatical or spelling notes, I get it, everyone who lives here writes books. Congratulations Rachel Rose, "Creating Stillness" is an inspiration.

Conflict of Interest Policy

Board of Directors

 

At the General Meeting in January, we discussed privacy policies.  The discussion at that meeting pertained to a void regarding "conflicts of interest" and the need for a more robust policy for the membership. The attached document is what we have come up with. Our question to you, "will this work?"  Your feedback will determine if this can come to a vote at a future general meeting.

Click here to download a PDF of the proposed policy

St. Patrick’s Day Party

Submitted by Rikia Novotny and Gabriela Laszlo on behalf of the social committee

 

Mark your calendars for March 18th from 4-6pm for the social committee’s St. Patrick’s Day party! Come for a drink, a visit and a bite to eat. All ages welcome! 

We send out event details by email from the office. If you are receiving the newsletter but not the event emails, please check the office has your correct email address. We also post on our Facebook page — please let Gabriela know if you have not been added to the group yet (gabrielasemail@shaw.ca).

Applications are Open for a Federal Rent Payment Assistance

By Helen Wirrell on behalf of the Finance Committee

This is a link to an application for one-time Federal rent payment assistance that was sent to Finance by Bob Bott. At Finance's last meeting, it was thought that we should make members aware of this in case they wanted to try applying. 

Please note that the maximum income is pretty low so we don't think that many would qualify, but hopefully it could help some.

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes/child-and-family-benefits/top-up-canada-housing-benefit.html

 https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes/child-and-family-benefits/top-up-canada-housing-benefit/who-apply.html


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