Martensville World Cafe Summer 2014

The Martensville Community Access Centre hosted its first “World Café” meeting on Monday, August 25^th. A World Café is a gathering of community members to discuss concerns, ideas and actions. The turn-out was small, but enthusiastic. There was a definite interest in holding more meetings of this nature. One idea was to also do more specific, themed World Cafes about one topic at a time. This style of meeting would be open to the public and invitations would be sent out to those community members who have demonstrated an interest in the issue at hand.

Monday’s meeting was more of a general brainstorming session. Guided discussion began with thinking about what makes Martensville great as it is. There was strong praise for our family friendly atmosphere and beautiful green spaces. From there, individual concerns were listed. Each group then picked one topic they felt especially strongly about, and examined possible solutions.  The final group discussion focused on three main issues: boosting community spirit and involvement, bringing health services to Martensville, and altering current vendor opportunities to better serve our community and local artisans.

The citizens who spoke at this event were passionate and ready to take action, but they can’t do it alone. If there are any issues that you feel strongly about, please contact the Martensville Community Access Centre to let us know. From there, we hope to bring like-minded individuals together to form action groups to bring about the improvements we all hope to see. 

Martensville World Cafe on Monday, August 25th

Do you have an idea for something you would like to see happen in Martensville? You are invited to join us from 7-8:30pm on Monday, August 25^th, at the Civic Centre (room #10 and #11) for a World Café style meeting. We will be talking about things that matter to you in our rapidly changing community. It could be about health services or it could be about getting better public transportation, more community gardens or an overpass. Discussion topics are endless! This is an opportunity to meet new people, discuss new ideas and most importantly, to have your voices heard. We hope to see you there!

New program dates for fall

With fall fast approaching, we are getting ready to offer our usual programs again. Our ever popular Baby Babble and Toddler Talk program is scheduled for Wednesday afternoons (1-3pm) beginning October 1^st and ending December 3^rd.  Contact us in September for a calendar of events.  Ah-Ha! Homework Club is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:30pm-8pm beginning September 9^th. We are looking for a new homework club coordinator- please contact us to find out more. Both of these programs will take place in our office, room #2.

We are also set up to offer public computer use and our 1 on 1 computer lessons. You are welcome to drop by anytime to use the public computers. For 1 on 1 computer lessons, please contact us to book an appointment. We are able to help with all sorts of computers, including iPads and smartphones- please bring your own device with you. 

How does our garden grow?

Wow, look at how much the youth garden plot has grown this summer! Thanks to the bad spring weather, the garden took a beating at the beginning. But despite that, the plot has grown to be a lovely, bright spot in the community garden in Kinsmen Park. Thank you to our dedicated volunteers who have made this happen. If you haven't seen the garden yet, make sure to stop by soon! 

Right after planting

Now!

Our office has moved!

We are still in the Martensville Civic Centre, but our office is now down the hall in room #2 (the old planning office). We are (mostly) organized and ready to go! There is a lot of construction going on outside for the new city grounds, but the building is open. Parking is now shared with city hall.  

Canada Day Was a Huge Success!

Did you make it to the Martensville Canada Day event this year? It was so much fun! There were new games and face painting for the kids, a fantastic outdoor movie, fireworks, cake and ice cream, great prizes and more! If you didn't make it out this year, we hope you'll join us next year. Every year we add more and more as our city grows. If you have any suggestions for next year's activities, please give us a shout!

Canada Day is Around the Corner!

Here at the Martensville Community Access Centre, we are busy planning our Canada Day celebration. We are making posters, organizing supplies and all that fun stuff. We have many activities planned that we would like to have running throughout the event, but unfortunately we do not have enough volunteers at this time to make that plan a reality. If you can volunteer some time for this event, please contact us at the centre. Time slots are only 30 minutes long and there are many kinds of activities to choose from.

Whether you are a volunteer or just want to come for the fun, we hope to see you and your family at the Canada Day Celebration at the North Ridge Community Centre on July 1st!