The Beginning of Something Positive

As you may have read in my last post, my Grandpa recently passed away at the age of 92. Sitting at his funeral, and listening intently to the eulogy my aunt and uncle had prepared, it really hit home for me how much my Grandpa must have done for his small community of Harris, SK. It was very inspiring to hear the list of committees and boards he sat on and events he was involved in, and I'm sure I only know the tip of the iceberg. He went on to become a MLA of Rosetown-Biggar for four years, and had the opportunity to serve alongside Tommy Douglas. One of the highlights of his career was voting in universal heath care in Saskatchewan. Isn't that amazing?!?!?

Hearing about all he did for Harris gave me the impression that by living in a small community, a person becomes more invested and committed to making the place you live better.

It got me thinking about what I can do in my community. Saskatoon is no small town. Would anyone even notice? Is that the point? Where do I even start? I want to start making small but positive changes for my community but what can I do? I work full time and have a family, will I even have time for this?

I have been thinking about this ever since my grandpa's funeral. Then today an opportunity arose.

Our family recently moved to a new area of Saskatoon. We were very excited to learn that there is a neighbourhood pocket park being constructed right on our block. Around the corner from our house! I imagined taking my two preschool aged boys to the park after supper on summer evenings to tire them out before bedtime and meeting other young moms in my neighbourhood who were doing the same.

And then all of my park dreams were dashed. Today we saw the playground equipment that is being put in. It is a giant blue octopus for climbing and hanging with space saucers for swings. Nothing in the playground is appropriate or useable for pre-school or young elementary kids. No slide, no swings. Have you ever heard of a park without a slide or swings? I haven't. This was the first park of it's kind I had seen anywhere, why did it have to be in my neighbourhood?!?!

This made me angry but it also made me want to do something. I went home and did a little research on the City of Saskatoon website. In the Park Development Guidelines for Neighbourhood Pocket Parks, it specifically states that play structures are intended for preschool aged children. I want my preschool park!!!

Consider this my first step into the ring of community involvement:

I am going to petition the city to change the existing play structure to something more suitable for preschoolers.

Now I need a plan of action. I don't normally do things like this. In fact, I have never done anything like this. Sure I have coached a few community soccer teams in my day, but nothing like this. Do others in my community share the same view? I know there are a lot of very young families in my neighbourhood. I think a good place to start is petitioning my neighbours. I just hope they don't think of me as the annoying, crazy park lady from down the street!

This is the beginning of something positive. Even if I fail it will be a journey. I want to be active in my community and this is a great starting point. If anything it will be a way to meet my neighbours (even though they may not want to talk to me after they realize that I AM the crazy park lady from down the street). Can you make New Year's resolutions in July? Of course you can.

My resolution is to do positive things for my community. This is different from just being a positive, happy person. It is about taking action by doing. I hope to volunteer for my community association. Find out ways that families in my neighbourhood and others in Saskatoon need help and how to fit it all in to my already busy life. I want to do things big and small and recruit others along the way that will inspire me to continue.

In what ways do you get involved in your community? Any tips or ideas for others looking to get involved?

If you would like to sign my online petition to show your support for a more appropriate play structure, please click here.