My Bowness

Introducing: Faces of Bowness. Faces of Bowness is a portrait series project, led by Bowness resident and volunteer, Jacquelyn, that will consist of an array of photographs of Bowness residents standing in the doorway of their homes. (She will be wearing a mask at all times and will be mindful of the current Covid-19 protocols). A brief interview will be conducted followed by a photoshoot. The purpose is to capture the essence of Bowness and those who reside in it. Bowness ...has so much to offer, and the residents here come from all walks of life. By creating Faces of Bowness Jacquelyn hopes to portray a sense of togetherness and community. This project is aimed at anyone who lives here, whether it be those who are highly involved in the community, long-term residents, or new tenants, anyone is game. The project is projected to run for 7 weeks, but hopefully we can turn it into something bigger. The interviews conducted will be saved in order to be the heart of a multi-media project once the series is completed. Why are we shooting in doorways? Consistency! A key aspect in a portrait series is a consistent theme. It is a small detail; something unique that will help frame the photo. It provides a visual sense of community. How to prepare for your photoshoot? Don’t stress about it!! The whole purpose is to capture and portray an authentic representation of the community. No need to dress up, dress how you would for an average day. For more information, or to sign up, you can Jacquelyn at [email protected] or call/text 403 970 7387, or message Jessica at the BCA, [email protected].

Hi Bowness! IT'S CONTEST TIME!!!! Even though we cannot gather together, we can still enjoy the best of what the natural spaces in Bowness have to offer. Starting today, we want to see you share how you are taking advantage of the great outdoors in Bowness. Get involved by sharing with us! Post pics and videos of the ways you and your family are spending time outdoors this winter. Tag @MyBowness on your social media pics and stories and you'll be entered to win gift cards to... local businesses. Two winners will be announced each week throughout February. Enter often and each submission throughout the month will be thrown into our final draw for the grand prize! Our first challenge is SNOW ARCHITECTS. Tag @mybowness in a photo of your beautiful snow creations on or before Saturday, February 6, 2021. We want to see snowmen, snowwomen, bears, forts, and anything else you can think of! And stay tuned for the next week's challenge.

Neighbourhood Speed Limit Review On February 1, Council will be discussing whether to reduce the speed limit of residential and collector roadways. The recommendations are: Give three readings to the proposed City of Calgary Standard Speed Limit Bylaw to change the unposted speed limit from 50 km/h to 40 km/h within city limits.... Direct administration to post 50 km/h speed limit signs on existing Collector roadways unless or until a credible environment for a slower speed limit is provided. Council can choose to either accept administrations’ recommendation to lower the speed limits, put the item on the 2021 municipal election ballot or reject the speed limit reductions. Click to see the proposed changes to road speed limits in your ward and read more about the speed limit review: https://www.calgary.ca//traf/residential-speed-limits.html Interested in sharing your thoughts? Fill out this form to register to speak or submit a written submission to council: https://forms.calgary.ca//public-submission-to-city-clerks

Wondering what the Guidebook for Great Communities is all about? Online Free Event: Saturday, Jan 30, 2021 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM MST Register at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/guidebook-101-tickets-137507884... The latest draft of the proposed Guidebook for Great Communities has been released. https://www.calgary.ca//guidebook-for-great-communities.ht Click Download the Guidebook to view the full document. On the above page, you will find a list of proposed changes, many of which were brought forward by community associations concerned about the impacts on their communities.

Happy New Year Bowness! What are you looking forward to in 2021?

Compost your real Christmas tree Option 1: Put your tree in your green cart Cut your tree into small pieces to fit inside your green cart. Make sure the lid can close.... Put extra branches into paper yard waste bags, roll close and set 0.5 metres (two feet) to the side of your cart. Trees that are not prepared this way will not be collected. Option 2: Bring to a tree drop-off December 26-January 31 Tree drop-offs will be available around the city to compost your Christmas tree. Remove all lights, ornaments, tinsel, string and tree stands. Do not wrap or bag your tree. Find a list of locations at calgary.ca/christmastree.

The Planning and Development Committee will be meeting on Wednesday, February 3, 2021 via Zoom. We will be discussing the proposed Development Permit for a 52 unit residential development located at 5835 Bowness Road. If you have concerns or questions you are welcome to attend this meeting. Please contact Sydney at [email protected] for more information or if you will require the zoom link to attend.

The staff at the Bowness Community Association would like to wish you all happy holidays, and we can't wait until we can gather in person again. #WeLoveBownessHolidaySeason

Please note: the BCA building and programs remain closed due to COVID restrictions, but you can still contact staff remotely by phone 403-288-8300, or email [email protected]. Our office staff will be unavailable (or with limited availability) for the holidays from December 24 until January 3. Have a safe and happy holiday season.

High school student Priya shares with us why she loves Bowness. We loved hearing from Bownesians what this community means to them. #WeLoveBownessHolidaySeason

Be Heard: Have a Voice in the City's Budget (the following courtesy of Vibrant Communities Calgary - VCC) City Council’s budget deliberations this year will be challenging. Your engagement is critical to ensuring that budget reductions do the least harm to the most vulnerable. Council is faced with difficult decisions because the 2019 provincial budget resulted in less money for the City and the economic downturn in Calgary was made worse by the public health crisis. With thi...s in mind, Vibrant Communities Calgary is applying an Enough for All lens to the budget and is recommending that the City preserve funding to services that improve physical and mental wellbeing, along with social cohesion. We recognize that Calgarians living in poverty rely on a number of services that the City of Calgary provides and we feel it is critical to maintain funding for: Transit services - public transportation enables people to look for work and maintain social supports. Community Hubs - we know from our evaluation report that Calgarians who access Community Hubs report an increased sense of community belonging. Actions that address systemic racism - the City of Calgary’s commitment to addressing systemic racism and meaningful engagement with Indigenous people is necessary, as we know that visible minorities, new Canadians, and urban Indigenous people are disproportionately experiencing poverty. We believe the potential savings from cuts to these programs will be meagre compared to the harm felt by those who rely on them. Everyone deserves to have a voice in budget decisions Complete one of these actions: Register to call into the November 23 committee meeting by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at [email protected] Email your city councillor. Find your councillor here. Share why you believe these services are important through a written submission before 12 p.m. on November 23. Use the online form.

Share your holiday messages with us Bowness! This year's Holiday Dinner will be take-out, but we still want to share what makes Bowness special this holiday season. We're compiling short videos (20 seconds or less) about why you love Bowness. Send your videos to [email protected] to be a part of the conversation!

The Future of 16 Avenue N.W. We want to hear from you. As you are interested in our Bowness Road (Montgomery) Main Street project, we thought you may also be interested in the Future of 16 Avenue N.W. ... The City of Calgary is conducting a project to determine the future transportation vision for 16 Avenue N.W. between Crowchild Trail and Sarcee Trail as well as the Main Street Streetscape Plan for Montgomery between Home Road to 43 Street N.W. Over the past year, the project team has worked with communities to identify and understand what’s important to Calgarians and generate ideas for possible changes to the project area. In Phase 1: Discovery, Calgarians were invited to an open house and participate in an online survey to garner feedback on opportunities, challenges, priorities, and success criteria to consider when developing concept options. Input from Calgarians and technical analysis helped to develop concept options that best met the project’s goals. Until Sunday, November 22, as part of Phase 2: Explore, The City is asking Calgarians to evaluate the concept options against the project’s goals. This evaluation, along with additional technical review, will help to identify a set of recommendations for Calgarians to provide feedback on in Phase 3: Reveal in Spring 2021. To learn more about how you can participate and provide input, please visit calgary.ca/16avenuenw

City of Calgary Engagement Sessions Upcoming Virtual Open House for Flood Mitigation Stay tuned to BCA communications channels for details on upcoming virtual open houses on flood mitigation in the community. Scheduled for early December and potentially again in January, the City will host virtual events for the flood berm project. Information will be presented in three parts depending on the level of information you are interested in: a project overview, technical project st...udies and Triple Bottom Line process. All residents are encouraged to attend regardless of whether they are directly flood impacted or not. There will be opportunity to ask questions virtually. The City will also have available a handbook for information. The BCA will make the handbook available on our website.

Holiday Dinner tickets are now available! Due to COVID-19 and restrictions on gathering, this year’s event will be a take-out meal. Volunteers will prepare the same delicious turkey dinner as they do every year, and pack it to go for Bowness residents to pick up between 5PM and 7:30PM on December 5. Visit our website for your tickets: https://www.mybowness.com//2020/12/4/bowness-holiday-dinner