The Bonnie Doon Men's Shed meets  Saturday mornings from 10:00 to 11:00, weather permitting. We've been blessed with sun our first four meetings; because of COVID-19 we meet outdoors between the rink shack and the hall, 93240 93 Street.

The Shed is a place where men can come together to serve each other and our community. The conversation is wide ranging, reflecting the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our members. We may just ‘hang out’, talk each others ears off or get on with jobs we see that help our community.

In the past week, with realtor Sarah Leib’s help and three community gardeners we built a community garden at 92 Avenye and 96 Street. Come have a look.

The agenda is generally open, but we've invited an Edmonton leader Men’s Shed movement to join us for coffee and conversation at the June 6 meeting. We'll likely talk about building community. Bonnie Doon men are welcome.

Ritchie and Cloverdale (and maybe Hazeldean?!) have challenged Bonnie Doon to a bike mileage contest. Which neighbourhood will bike more in June? Two ways to track your "mileage"

• If you are a Strava user, use digital magic and join the club
  
• Otherwise, keep track of your distance each day; at the end of the week add it up and email to Alison, bike@bonniedoon.ca
  

Here is a photo of Wilfred McAllister following the provincial soccer champions in 1913-1914 (Memories of Bonnie Doon book, page 58).  Only four years later, Wilfred contracted the Spanish Flu and survived.  Below you will see is a photo of Wilfred after he recovered.

The following article is from this Edmonton Journal article.  ​

The first recorded case of Spanish flu in North America was an American soldier at a Kansas military base in March 1918. The virus arrived in Canada the following September. The Edmonton Journal’s first headline about the epidemic came Sept. 24, 1918: “Spanish Influenza Taking Many Lives in the East. Epidemic Still Spreading.”

On Oct. 4, Alberta Health Minister A.G. MacKay warned that 30-40 per cent of the population would likely catch the virus (MacKay himself later died of complications from the illness.)

Spanish flu tended to kill the young and fit. The real killer was often pneumonia, which typically set in a few days after the virus.

“There are all kinds of stories about people who were strong, healthy people and then they were dead,” said Lowe.
The first confirmed Alberta cases were in Drumheller. By mid-October, Edmonton was on edge. 

City theatres purchased a full-page ad in the Journal, declaring they were “leaving no stone unturned to make our Theatres thoroughly safe and sanitary places for public attendance.”

They were forced to close anyway on Oct. 18, when the Edmonton Board of Health banned public gatherings and ordered schools and churches to shut their doors. Gauze masks became mandatory — the Journal even printed instructions for how to make one out of cheesecloth.

Reports began to roll in of local flu cases. On Oct. 19, the Journal reported 41 cases under quarantine, including a group of soldiers who had travelled on a troop train. Four days later, there were 1,035 cases in Alberta, 70 of them in Edmonton. 

News of Edmonton’s first deaths came Oct. 24. Schools and hospitals were crowded with the sick — some 2,000 by that point. The University of Alberta converted Pembina Hall into a hospital.

Businesses struggled to stay open. The government forced stores and offices to remain closed until 1 p.m., historian Tom Monto wrote in Old Strathcona Before the Great Depression, to give employees time to help in “stamping out the flu epidemic” in their communities.

Suzanna Wagner, a history masters student at the U of A, studied Edmonton’s response to the flu for a project on its 100th anniversary. What struck her most was the grassroots response to the pandemic.
“There was a tremendous volunteer network set up,” she said.

One innovation was the relief districts. During the crisis, Edmonton’s mayor and local clergy divided the city into more than a dozen districts centred on an (empty) neighbourhood school.

“They used the schools as a headquarters,” Wagner said.  An army of volunteers — many of them young, unmarried women — provided services for the sick, including nursing, child care, laundry, cooking and food delivery. Many of the relief workers themselves fell ill.  “This was dangerous work,” said Wager.  Most wore only a cheesecloth mask — changed every few hours — and a standard nursing smock. There were, like today, debates about the efficacy of mask wearing. Rubber gloves did exist, but it’s unclear if local health providers used them.  Wagner notably found no evidence of hoarding during the 1918 outbreak.

By November 5, 1918, there were 9,206 Spanish flu cases in Alberta. Six days later, Armistice in the First World War was declared, and officials could not contain the jubilation. Photographs of local victory parades show revellers wearing flu masks, but they weren’t enough contain the spread. Three days later, there were 58 new cases in Edmonton.

​Wagner said the flu eventually petered out. On November 30, the government lifted bans on public gatherings. The flu flared up once social isolation measures came to an end, but by May 1919, there were no cases in Edmonton, Wagner says.  The illness returned the following two winters, but she said those were much smaller outbreaks with minimal societal disruption.  In the end, 7,914 Edmontonians were treated for the flu. A total of 615 died.

We don't have an official response from the city about our application for a Pop Up Garden, but yesterday we noticed these planters by the rink:

Let's assume those are for Bonnie Doon. The city will move them onto the parking lot (north side) and fill them with soil. The city will remove the planters in the fall. We have 15 planters but 25 people on our list. We'll offer the planters to those people in the order they contacted us, asking to join our effort to create a community garden.

We will apply to the city for a permanent garden. This takes about two years (although rumour has it that Strathearn CL was approved in one year!). If you are interested in helping us build a permanent garden, write to Mark at abundant@bonniedoon.ca.

Marie-Danielle has created 2 more I Spy sheets for Bonnie Doon families to enjoy: ​

The city has released details for Pop Up Gardens (PUGs) for the 2020 growing season (don't blink! 😀). BDCL will apply for some of these planters, to be located at Bonnie Doon Park.

You can read the city's announcement and the PUG web page. Long story, short, if our application is successful:

• the city provides planters and soil
• temporary, just for 2020
• for growing food
  
• must follow the PUG COVID-19 guidelines
  

If you want to commit to growing produce in PUGS, please write to Mark, abundant@bonniedoon.ca. We will submit our PUG application Monday, May 18.

BDCL needs your your thoughts on what programs, events, activities, etc we should support, either after the pandemic has passed (?!) or once it is safe enough for us to do things as a (small) group.

It would really help if you could fill out a short survey. Please submit a separate response for each member of the family!

You can comment directly to Mark, abundant@bonniedoon.ca

This just in re a streamlined process for community gardens. These details are unofficial but we believe they are largely correct...

The general idea is for the City to provide planters, soil, and support with watering for a limited number of pop up garden locations across the City. They would be looking at City owned land (outside of rinks or tennis courts), hard surfacing and access to water if possible, but not required. There will be an application process launched in the coming week or so, and a target date of June 1 for gardens to be operational. Details on the intake process, criteria, guidelines, etc. will be available shortly.

So, not a traditional community garden; planters on hard surfaces.

A number of Bonnie Dooners met online April 30, 2020. We took notes...

Below are ideas people had re possible sites for a new garden. The ideas may be unworkable, unwise or otherwise bad! They are just ideas at this point. Captions at the bottom of each image give the location.

More comments, questions, etc, from the meeting...

• Campus Saint-Jean started their community garden in 2006; they have around 30 people on their waiting list.
• About a week ago we asked CSJ to tell their waiting list about our work to start a new garden but have not heard back.
• CSJ has an executive committee to manage membership and enforce rules.efcl.org/res/community-gardening-in-a-box.pdf
• Easy access to water is vital.
• Do we need a fence around the garden?
• We want to grow veggies (not much interest in using the garden for flowers).
• Devote some of the garden to food for charities?
• The City has a Community Greening Coordinator (one of us volunteered to contact them).
• Because of COVID-19 guidelines, we won't have shared tools, therefore do not need a shed.
• The EFCL has a book full of advice on starting & running a community garden (on this page).
  

When we checked the City's page on community gardens, we found no evidence of a "streamlined process" for gaining the city's approval for a garden. That page still links to the 16-step, one to three year process. Our ward councillor, Ben Henderson, is working to extract details on the new process from City management. It's May, time to plant!

By the way, that page has good information on applicable City and Provincial requirements with respect to COVID-19.

Hello to you in these strange pandemic times.  I am Bill McMillan the new Civics Director for the Community League.  This position was established to provide a means for our community to raise, and respond to, the issues and opportunities that emerge from our relationship to the City as a corporate entity. We live in a very central neighbourhood, so we have many things happening around us.
​
I invite you to inform me of any matters related to transportation, infill, environment, safety and law enforcement, bylaws, or zoning that you view as opportunities or issues. Or you can send your questions…which I will try to find answers for (new to the job).   I will slowly become more informed about the topics that matter to you.  Email to civics@bonniedoon.ca.

Obviously the pandemic and social isolation are the current matters at hand, but as the case numbers drop, the City will return to a new normal.  What should that “normal” be like?  What will have changed?  Budgets will be severely strained so voluntarism may take a much larger role in our civic life.
Some examples of things to think about:

• Transportation:  the completion of the LRT and the creative project that the former roundabout at 85 street has become. Traffic through the neighbourhood.
• Environment:  We still have climate change looming ahead of us.  Is the City prepared?  What should be happening to Mill Creek----do we have to live with that smell?
• Bylaw enforcement: Several communities have raised concerns about noise.
• Planning and zoning:  We have many major projects surrounding us….the mall, the new development in Hollyrood.  There have been changes to the allowable buildings and occupancy in our neighbourhood.
• Homelessness:  We have many homeless people moving through our neighbourhood.  This is part of a much larger problem.  Hope Mission is using the Central Baptist Church as an overflow for sleeping area for homeless people  (which seems important and beneficial to me….). 
• Policing:  I have personally been disappointed from time to time with the support we get from Edmonton Police (but also occasionally very pleased).  Do you feel adequately protected in Bonnie Doon?

Thanks for reading this.  I hope you have a pleasant Spring and Summer, in spite of the pandemic and the changes it has brought.