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News From CALL Mid‑October 2020
Sketch by Kay Watson-Jarvis, member of the Sketch Club Interest Group
CALL Walking Groups 2020
By Edna Einsiedel (with thanks to Sue Constable, Blair Pierce, and Peter Usher for their input and suggestions)
Henry David Thoreau once observed: “I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than trees”. However, CALL’s active community of walkers has discovered that even an urban walk can transform – and ‘the woods’ can be found and enjoyed even within our city.
CALL has an active community of walkers numbering over 100. Several groups walk every Tuesday to various parts of the city. Each walking group is typically limited to eight participants for CALL’s COVID compliance. If a second leader is available to lead, a larger walking group can be split into two groups. Original walk leaders include Blair Pierce, Peter Usher, Dave Arnold, Charlie Moore, and Sue Constable. Since then, new leaders have stepped up to share responsibilities. This increase in leaders has allowed Tuesday afternoon walks to be added starting October 20. No different registration is required for members of the Tuesday Walking Interest Group if a Tuesday afternoon is preferable.
A Sunday walking group which has been running for at least seven years provides a week-end ramble. Igor and Pat Hrycenko have led the Sunday walks for seven years and are now “retiring” from leading this activity. Fortunately, Jennifer MacDonald has now stepped into the lead walking shoes. This will operate as a new relaunched group and interested walkers will now need to register for this activity. The link can be found in the Activities section of Interest Groups.
The walks can vary in length from four to eight kilometres. Anywhere from four to five walks are taking place each week. Sue Constable who serves as Lead Coordinator for “Activities and Brain Games” interest Groups has led walks in the inner city along the Elbow River and in neighbourhoods such as Elbow Park, Parkhill, Roxboro, Rideau, and Ramsey. A walk in Fish Creek Park was ‘personalized’ as it was led by Dennis Burns who could provide a special perspective on the home he grew up in (now known as Bow Valley Ranche restaurant).
Peter Usher and Bobby Braden co-led two full groups of 16 each week through the University of Calgary campus and the adjoining University District. These walks focused on the old and new architecture on the campus, with particular attention to the buildings that have attained LEED status, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. This designation recognizes levels of high performance in a range of measures including sustainable site development, energy, water and environmental efficiencies, and transportation access, among other measures.
In addition to the walk distance, other helpful information is included for walkers. For example, Dave Arnold led a walk through “The Real Silver Springs”, described as “A walk down to the Bow River on a board walk followed by a walk around and about Bowmont Park in NW Calgary”. The walk description mentions “a relaxed pace on board walk, some staircase, paved pathway, single-track cycle and dog paths. Distance is approximately seven or eight km. Elevation gain includes some ups and downs – maybe 100 metres total height lost and gained and some steep sections.”
During these COVID-19 times, extra procedural care is taken on these walks. Walkers are sent an Attendee Protocol reminder before each walk. This includes prompts about avoiding contacting gates, fences or benches, bringing one’s own hand sanitizers and drinks, maintaining social distances, wearing masks when unable to keep the two-metre physical distance, and bringing and using one’s own equipment. Walkers are also required to have written emergency contact information on their person. These reminders, along with a description of the walk, are sent to the walkers for the specified walk for which they have registered.
Despite these challenging pandemic times, these CALL walks offer opportunities to enjoy the outdoors carefully and thoughtfully provide great moments of conversation, respite, exercise, and opportunities to be grateful for the many bounties the city has to offer.
The 2020 CALL AGM will be held on Zoom
Plan to attend and participate in decision making for your organization. The agenda and other AGM-related documents are posted on the website for members to read.
You must register to attend. Zoom links will be sent to registered members prior to the AGM.
The Not So Common Law Interest Group is going online and will now be open to new members. Facilitator Jim Conway presents legal issues and law cases that are based on current events and issues. Each month he will present famous cases in which the decisions have had lasting impact on our society.
The group meets on the last Monday of every month. The next session will be:
Monday, October 26, 1:00 – 3:00 pm.
Civil Rights—Canadian Law on the Subject of Racism and Discrimination.
Registration required – deadline October 23. You must be a CALL member to register.
CALL Members are Avid Walkers
The Interest Group Sunday Urban Walks in the City of Calgary has been relaunched.
Participants will explore the cultural history and geography of our urban community. Walks will take place on the third Sunday of each month.
Registration: This is a new Interest Group – and a new registration is required for all participants. You must register for the Interest Group in order to receive the information about each walk. CALL members only – no guests at this time due to COVID‑19 requirements.
Maximum 8 people will be preregistered for each walk. Registration is on a first come first served basis.
NOTE: Register by Tuesday, October 13 in order to participate in the first walk on Sunday, October 18.
Tuesday Walks in the City of Calgary – now Tuesday afternoons as well.
There has been so much interest in this Interest Group that there are now 2–3 walks on Tuesday mornings each week. And now a Tuesday afternoon walking group is being established.
Written Word—Are You Interested?
Are you a poet? Do you want to share and get feedback on your poetry? Written Word is proposing to start an Interest Group of poets who want to meet to share and discuss their poetry. If this appeals to you, please contact Janet at writtenword@calgarylifelonglearners.ca
New Session: Songwriting Interest Group
There will be 4 weekly sessions starting Thursday, November 12.
Thursday evenings 7 – 9 pm
Nov 12, 19, 26 and Dec 10
Maximum class size is 10. Classes will be held on Zoom, please register online to receive an invitation from the facilitator with Zoom link.
Facilitator: Greg Black
2021 CALL Ukulele Festival
Who: CALL 2021 Ukulele Festival Enthusiasts
What: Based on the CALL ukulele festival survey results and adhering to current pandemic guidelines, it was decided to have a different kind of festival this year.
We will be offering online ukulele presenter workshops, and to support our homegrown talent we will be hiring local artists. Plans are evolving and will be announced when they have been finalized.
Volunteers
As CALL is growing we need more people to help maintain the quality of what we offer. Take some time and get involved in CALL… meet new people, develop new friendships while providing valuable help.
There are still openings for volunteers for board positions and others to keep CALL programs going. Please check the Volunteer listings and/or email volunteer@calgarylifelonglearners.ca to see how you can contribute.
Volunteers are the backbone of CALL. We sincerely thank all of our dedicated volunteers who have contributed and who continue to contribute in making CALL such a wonderfully diverse and interesting organization! We are truly lucky to have such a rich range of life experience in our membership. Your time and talent is immeasurable. Simply put… without YOU—our volunteers—CALL WOULD NOT EXIST!
Your CALL Newsletter
The CALL Newsletter is our way to communicate what is going on in our community. Usually we communicate to members about upcoming events, however, since all CALL gatherings are postponed for an undetermined period of time, we decided to use the newsletters as a way to ‘peek behind the curtain of CALL’, to give some general information about CALL groups and members.
You are invited to send your ideas and suggestions for future issues to newsletter@calgarylifelonglearners.ca. Let us know what your Interest Groups are doing and your strategies for coping with this situation in which the whole world finds itself. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity; not every submission will necessarily be published.
Meanwhile, be well, stay well in every sense of the word.