The Town of Okotoks will  be deciding whether or not fluoride should be kept in on our community’s water supply.

Experts both for and against fluoridation have been asked to present their findings at a non-statutory public hearing.

There will be a Q & A session from Council following the presentations.

Residents are encouraged to attend to become informed and provide feedback.

Presentations:
March 26, 2012 at 7pm
Municipal Centre Council Chambers, 5 Elizabeth St.

Residents will have the opportunity to provide feedback after the presentation are complete.  Please visit www.okotoks.ca/fluoride.aspx to find out more.

The Okotoks Community Garden had a good year.

Despite a late start, unseasonable summer rains and the inevitable gopher invasion, most gardeners seem to have had a successful gardening season with some ambitious plot owners achieving ripe tomatoes and other frost sensitive crops.

We began the year with a surplus of potential gardeners but as some dropped away and some others did not renew, we were able to accommodate almost everyone seeking plots.

Ernie Rezanoff and I spent a morning putting in a separate watering facility at the west end and this seems to have reduced the tangles and resultant hose damage that we used to experience around the central water taps.

Most plots have been well looked after although we continue to have difficulty getting some folks to weed their pathways.

A number of the treated timbers around the plots are beginning to rot and sometime next year these will have to be replaced.

And despite considerable effort and Peggy and I installing a wire mesh fence in the midst of a thick fog of mosquitoes around the north and east ends of the garden, the score in the on-going gopher war is gophers five, gardeners zero. I will try harder next year.

The Community Garden for 2011 can be deemed a success.

We had a total of 35 plots. 34 were allocated to individuals, and one was a communal herb garden for all to share.

Plots were allocated to those gardeners who had plots in 2010 first. The remainder of plots were then allocated from a wait list on a first come first served basis. The wait list was exhausted by early June, with a total of 16 persons being able to have new garden plots for the upcoming season. All plots were planted this season.

I have already been contacted by new prospective gardeners wishing to be placed on a wait list for 2012. I have advised them that the wait list will commence January 1, 2012 and anyone wishing a plot can contact myself, Cathy Rutt – FCSS Assistant with the Town of Okotoks. 403-995-2773 or by email crutt@okotoks.ca

Thank you,

Cathy Rutt
FCSS Assistant Town of Okotoks

The Communications Advisor, Courtney Allen, for The Tomorrow Project has been in touch with one of our members at the Healthy Okotoks Coalition about this project.

The Tomorrow Project is a large, long-term study that seeks to understand what causes diseases such as cancer, heart disease and other long-term health conditions.

The project launched as a local study in Alberta in 2000, recruiting 30,000 Albertans using random digit dialing.

However in 2008, the Tomorrow Project in Alberta joined British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada to form The Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project, a national study that has expanded its protocols to include the collection of more information necessary to better understand the causes of cancer and other diseases.

This national initiative aims to track the health of 300,000 people over the next 20-30 years and is largely sponsored by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer.

Will you lend a hand?

Just two hours of your time will help researchers discover more about causes cancer and how to prevent it.

The request for council is to act as ambassadors for this project and help spread the awareness and/or become participants yourself if you fit the criteria as listed on the web page above.

The Tomorrow Project has several mini mobile study centres planned for areas in our region:

Calgary Zone Mobile Locations:

• Aug 8-11               Strathmore
• Aug 15-18            Okotoks
• Aug 22-25            Cochrane
• Aug 29- Sep 1      Airdrie
• Sep 6-8                 Black Diamond
• Sep 13-15             Crossfield
• Sep 19-22             Bragg Creek

I was doing some cleanup on my computer and came across this piece of nostalgia. I thought it belonged on our blogs.

Enjoy!

With nature beginning to turn green, time for us to renew ourselves as well!

Our appetite for rich food decreases, & we can now rid our bodies of winter’s heavy foods & excess fats.

Time to take care of the liver & gall bladder.

This season, our meals need to be the lightest of the year.

Emphasis on vegetables that have strong rising energy, such as spring wild greens, sprouts & leafy greens.

Foods associated with spring are expansive, rising, sweet & pungent. Cooking methods are lighter, shorter, & @ higher temperatures. Quick sautéing, light steaming or minimal simmering is appropriate.

Salt has a strong, sinking energy effect & is best eaten moderately during spring.

Avoid heavy foods such as cheeses & fatty meats.

Bitter food & herbs offer excellent liver-cleansing. These include:

• romaine,
• quinoa,
• rye,
• asparagus,
• citrus peel,
• alfalfa,
• chamomile flowers, and
• milk thistle seeds.

You need only small amounts to be beneficial.

The sweetness in whole grains, legumes, seeds, carrots, beets & honey are helpful in harmonizing liver energy.

Increase sourness by using apple cider vinegar, rhubarb, lemon, lime & grapefruit.

Add pungent herbs to your cooking:

• basil,
• fennel,
• caraway,
• dill,
• rosemary,
• garlic,
• onions.

Creating your “spring within”, by eating in a way that brings you into harmony with the environment around you!

• REVITALIZE MEMBERSHIP

TIMELINE

MEMBERS RESPONSIBLE
Subcommittees

OUTCOME

NOTES  

• Blog organized

2011

Rachel & Kim Pomares

Blog is updated frequently

Will recruit a volunteers to keep info on Blog updated and interesting  

• Offer to assist with Events/Programs and act in an advisory role at the Okotoks Health and Wellness Centre

On-going  

Membership  

Updated information received regarding activities/programs at the Okotoks Heath and Wellness Centre.

Community input provided for the Early Childhood Development Mapping Project  

Provide continued support and assistance to the events at the Okotoks Health & Wellness Centre

Support the Pediatric Family Wellness Initiative  

• Update and Distribute joint HOC/GO2 Bookmark
• advertise as a “come as you can” group
• conduct productive, focused, action-oriented meetings

2011  

Membership  

Bookmark distributed  

Bookmark template to be reviewed and revised
Bookmarks will be ordered and distributed  

• Increase youth involvement, as appropriate.

Ongoing

Membership

Youth driven project researched  

Efforts to connect directly with high school students via schools required volunteer programs

Updated:  March 22, 2011

Sherri thanked HOC for their participation in the research with special recognition given to Al Hagan and Bonnie Chant-Kinsman who participated on the Steering Committee.

The full report is now available at www.okotoks.ca.

The Framework was guided by four principles that formed the foundation of six community values.

The four principles are:

• Sustainability – decisions today will not negatively impact the quality of life for future generations
• Engagement – connection residents feel for the community
• Integration of all systems within the community
• Diversity – welcoming involvement of all individuals and groups.

Six community values were identified:

• Personal growth – support for education, health and wellness
• Preserving the natural environment
• Sense of community – caring neighbourhoods
• Economic vitality – meaningful work
• Social Inclusion – community engagement Health and well-being
• Social wellness and sustainability was viewed from an individual and community level by looking at seven components:
  • Playing,
  • Working,
  • Learning,
  • Moving,
  • Engaging in Public Processes,
  • Living and
  • Sense of Place.

On-line surveys were designed to gain a community perspective on social wellness.

Framework for Action

The consultant made recommendations that focus on actions that will have multiple impacts across several aspects of social wellness. Following is a summary of the recommendations:

• Develop programming and make funding available to strengthen the sense of community at the neighbourhood level.
• Continue to include neighbourhood parks in the design of new communities.
• Continue the commitment to preserving and providing access to natural spaces
• Make available a wide range of after school programming for students
• Make after school programming financially accessible for all students
• Develop strategies that provide reduced costs for enrolling in multiple recreation, sport and cultural programs
• Increase programming for preschool children
• Develop a strategy to attract one or more niche business sectors to Okotoks
• Consider and further community social wellness when developing and implementing strategies to maintain a vibrant downtown core
• Consider and further community social wellness in the development and implementation of the transit feasibility study
• Monitor community housing needs and develop land use, sub-division and housing plans that will address those needs
• Address the critical gaps in health services
• Develop specific strategies and consider and further opportunities to address issues identified by youth (e.g. working, housing, engagement, transportation, and post-secondary education)
• Develop a framework and strategies to nurture multiculturalism in Okotoks.

The Sheep River Health Trust is pleased to announce that they have met and exceeded all of their fundraising goals for 2010. With this success, they were able to fund a second Kodak CR Reader, valued at $40,000.00 for the Okotoks Diagnostic Imaging Department.

A Kodak CR Reader is the machine used to take a patient’s x-ray. Currently, the Okotoks Health and Wellness Centre Diagnostic Imaging Department sees approximately 1200 patients per month. They have one machine that is used for drop in patients with a requisition and patients sent from Urgent Care. Technical difficulties are to be expected and from time to time, the machine goes down and the department is forced to send patients to another facility for their x-ray.

Through supporting the provision of a second Kodak CR Reader, the Trust is ensuring that our rural patients receive quality healthcare when they need it without having to be sent off-site for a simple procedure.

Since 1994, the Sheep River Health Trust, formerly known as the Oilfields/Okotoks Health Foundation, has raised over $2.5 million for health-related programs, services and equipment urgently needed in our local area. Last year alone, the Trust raised $300,000 to help deliver optimal health care to our communities. If you would like to support rural health care in your community, please call us at (403) 995-5400.

GO2 Business Partners

• Curves – Pearl Mitchell
• Lake View In – Maria Clark
• Mullen Group- Cathy Delay
• Sobeys – Joanne Gilbert
• Natural High Fitness – Shari Gustafson

Also in the picture are Alan Herchek and Debbie-Layne MacLeod, GO2 committee members.

GO2 Business Partners Curves - Pearl Mitchell Lake View In - Maria Clark Mullen Group- Cathy Delay Sobeys - Joanne Gilbert Natural High Fitness - Shari Gustafson Also in the picture are Alan Herchek and Debbie-Layne MacLeod, GO2 committee members.

We are building a site where you can find a buddy to be active with.

The fundamental idea is to help everyone have more fun being active and be more consistent even on that day when no-one is there to pressure you into doing what you know is right.

The online buddy system would work like this:

• Member searches for a buddy:
  • by location
    Different areas of Okotoks where you would meet. You can also select anywhere if you are happy to be active anywhere in the Okotoks area.
  • by activity
    Which type of sport you would like to do together: walking, running, cycling, horse-riding, hiking, all of the above?
• Member sends invites to people that match the search.
• Invitees accept invite or not.
  If invitee accepts the invitation, then an event can be created.
• Members discuss logistics on a private message board.
  To protect your privacy, the system only allows registered members to communicate one with another and does not divulge any e-mail address, mailing address or phone number. Everything is handled securely by the buddy system.
• When you both agree on the logistics of the event, either of you creates an event on the system.
• Then it is up to you to get active!
• When the event date has passed, you can ask your buddies for the event if they would like to initiate a connection on the system that both you and they would be able  to re-use to create events together again.
• Events can be made recurring, which would trigger a notification system to send reminders to both users at set intervals.

I have already received additional ideas for this buddy system:

Mark suggested:

Make events available to more than two buddies. More fun if 10 of you want to walk together on Wednesday evenings? Sure!

What are your ideas for a great way to find and pair up with like-minded individuals to be active together in Okotoks?