The City of Edmonton has scheduled Bonnie Doon for rebuilding of streets, sidewalks, etc in 2015, 2016 and 2017 (this is called Neighbourhood Renewal). If you live in Bonnie Doon or own property here, there is a lot you will want to know. There are choices you can make about the construction that will affect your future property taxes.

Note that at our 2014 Annual General Meeting on May 21 League volunteers will be available to discuss the details of Neighbourhood Renewal with you.

Here is the timeline we have received from the City:

• Now to July 1, 2014: the Bonnie Doon Community League surveys property owners for their preference of decorative street lighting.
  
• July 2, 2014: the BDCL submits the consensus preference re decorative street lighting to the City.
  
• July 3 to September 1: the City calculates the cost to property owners for the preferred street lighting.
  
• September 2, 2014: the City tells the BDCL the additional cost to residents for the preferred street lighting.
  
• September 3 to November 16: Bonnie Dooners vote for either decorative street lighting or the standard street lighting.
  
• November 17, 2014: the BDCL announces the result of the vote and submits the paper ballots to the City.
  
• 2015: Renewal construction from 82 Ave to 88 Ave.
  
• 2016: Renewal construction from 88 Ave to 92 Ave.
  
• 2017: Renewal construction from 92 Ave to Connors Road.
  

At May's AGM we will know more details about this process. Meanwhile, please write to us with your questions and opinions.

Join us for our next Games Night! Community league members and their guests are invited to a fun informal evening the last Sunday of the month. We'll have games on hand, but if there's something you love to play, bring it along!

Date:  Sunday, April 27
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location:  Bonnie Doon Community League Hall (9240 - 93 st). 

 You’re welcome to bring snacks and non-alcoholic beverages, but please leave the kiddies at home.  RSVP Suzi Radke at [email protected] if you plan to come or for more event details.

Our first Game Night we had a blast playing Elfenland, 7 Wonders, Ricochet Robots, and Werewolf. Some of us were stuck in the 80's, expecting Clue and Monopoly -- but the others eagerly explained the basics and we dove in.

With spring in the air we wanted to send out a reminder that the Mill Creek Clean Up will be happening again this year!

Date: Sunday, May 4, 2014
Time: 10 a.m.
Meeting Point: Peace Mile Rock/Mill Creek Pool Parking Lot

Many of you helped out at last year's clean up and we are hoping to have another great turnout this year too! Please join your neighbours from the Keepers of Mill Creek, Argyll, Avonmore, Hazeldean, King Edward Park, Ritchie, and Strathcona to keep the ravine looking beautiful.

Just show up at the meeting point, and we will provide the rest (gloves, bags,snacks, etc.).   The clean up runs from 10am to 1pm with a BBQ to follow. BBQ will be in North Mill Creek in the green space just south of Connors Rd.

If you have any questions feel free to email Ritchie ([email protected]. You can also check out the clean up poster. It has the details on the other Mill Creek meeting points and bbq.   .

Spread the word, we look forward to another great day cleaning up the ravine.

Dawn Saunders Dahl and Rachelle Bugeaud have created a project that will provide unique opportunities to explore the history and cultural heritage of the greater Bonnie Doon area through the visual arts.

Dawn and Rachelle have developed a program that includes workshops, exhibits, receptions, artist talks and participant exhibits that will feature artwork created during a series of free workshops. Participants will have access to visual art and design education, regardless of background or ability. Participants should be at least 12 years of age. Of course, both Anglophone and Francophone community members are encouraged to attend.

The project will take place from May to December,  2014. An information session will be held at La Cité Francophone:

Date: Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Time: 5-6pm
Location: 8627 Rue Marie-Anne Gaboury (91 Street)

We encourage league members who want to develop skills in the visual arts and take part in unearthing the history of our area to take part.

For more information please contact:
Dawn Saunders Dahl & Rachelle Bugeaud
E: [email protected]
P: 780.463.1144

On April 3, City of Edmonton representatives gave a presentation to the Bonnie Doon community providing details on the Bonnie Doon Neighbourhood Renewal scheduled to begin in 2015. As part of the Neighbourhood Renewal process, property owners will have the option of choosing decorative streetlights. This includes a choice of colour, pole styles, and pole arm types (all the new lights will be high efficiency LED).

Bonnie Doon Community League is looking for residents who would like to help gather input from their neighbours on decorative streetlights. Would you like to be involved? Do you feel strongly about the type of streetlights in our community? For those interested in getting involved in the process, please e-mail [email protected]. BDCL members can get involved at the upcoming AGM, May 22.

The community league must notify the City of Edmonton if there is interest in decorative street lighting, specifying the type of decorative streetlight, by July 2. If a decorative street light is chosen, the community league must submit a petition with the support of at least 51% of property owners by November 17. There is more detail about the schedule here.

For additional information, please check out Bonnie Doon Great Neighbourhoods program and decorative street lighting. The City's website has a lot of other helpful information on Neighbourhood Renewal, including new sidewalks planned and proposed bike routes. If you have suggestions for extending Bonnie Doon's network of sidewalks or bike routes, please contact the City at [email protected].

Our AGM is a unique opportunity for members to guide the league’s plans. All current members of the Bonnie Doon Community League are welcome to attend.

Date: Thursday, May 22, 2014
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Bonnie Doon Hall, 9240 93 Street

There is quite a bit going on. At the AGM you will be able to learn about and influence

• Bonnie Doon's choice of decorative street lighting and other aspects of Neighbourhood Renewal
  
• Routes for bicycle lanes in Bonnie Doon
  
• Our Abundant Communities Initiative, building a stronger community, one pair of neighbours at a time
• Evolving plans for controlling parking during the Folk Festival.

 We hope to see you at the Hall, May 22. If you have questions please mail Mark.

Garlic Mustard is a species native to Europe and Asia, originally introduced to North America as a medicinal and culinary herb (First record in USA: 1868 in Long Island, New York). Garlic Mustard is very invasive to our environment and can be destructive to native biodiversity and habitat. It can lead to reduced native vegetation including woodland orchids such as yellow lady slippers. It causes negative long term effects in soil and reduces available plants for wildlife such as deer, birds and insects. Therefore, it is listed as a prohibited noxious weed in the Alberta Weed Control Act.

Mill Creek ravine is one of few known location in Edmonton where this non-native species occurs. The infested area is about 1.5 ha in partly steep terrain, on the slopes of Mill Creek ravine. To prevent further distribution and negative impact on other areas the infestation in Mill Creek must kept under control and should be eventually eradicated.

The Edmonton Naturalization Group and the City of Edmonton organize Garlic Mustard pulls in Mill Creek.  They are looking for volunteers to come and help remove this weed. Please come and help to pull Garlic Mustard on:

• Saturday, May 24 , 2014, 9:30–11:30am
• Saturday, June 7 , 2014, 9:30–11:30am

  They are meeting at the corner of 91 Street and 77 Avenue.

The Schizophrenia Society of Alberta (SSA) is getting ready to offer a housing program in Bonnie Doon.
It will operate Iris Court out of the low-rise apartment building at 8533 90 Street. SSA is looking for volunteers who would like to help with the setup of Iris Court. SSA will host a garage sale to remove some furniture and other items that were left after the building was purchased. These items are no longer needed and we want to host a garage sale at Iris Court in mid June to raise some money and engage the community.

A Garage Sale Captain will be responsible for coordinating the collection and pricing of sale items by the other volunteers, schedule volunteers for the day of the garage sale and coordinate all clean up after sale is completed. It is expected to be a commitment of about 1-2 weeks with hours and work times chosen by the

Garage sale volunteers will be asked to help collect, organize and price items prior to the garage sale, volunteer during the garage sale and help with clean up.

SSA expects to have all the furniture and other items purchased by early June. Once all the items have been delivered they will need volunteers to help assemble the furniture including beds, end tables, wardrobe cabinets, BBQ, TV and hook-up the computers etc. They also need volunteers to help put on bedding and put away towels etc.

To volunteer please contact
Louise Hovelson
780-803-4661
lhovelson@schizophrenia

No items will be accepted for this garage sale.

Once renovations are completed SSA expects Iris Court is estimated to be in full operation by early summer 2014.  Iris Court is a vital project led by (SSA) in partnership with Alberta Health Services, Addiction and Mental Health, Government of Canada, Government of Alberta,   Seniors Services and Continuing Care Division-Alberta Health and Homeward Trust.

For more information, please visit: http://www.schizophrenia.ab.ca/index.php/news.html

Gardening season is around the corner. Bonnie Doon is planning a Plant Swap. What better way to find a new home for the peonies you have divided or fill in that empty spot in the flower bed by the fence!

Date: Saturday, May 17, 2014
Time: 10 a.m. – Noon
Location: Outside the rink shack at Bonnie Doon Hall, 9240 93 Street

Volunteers are needed. Please contact [email protected] if you can help out or if you would like more information.

Looking for a way to reduce stress? Curious about the health benefits of T'ai Chi Chih? Find out more about this ancient Chinese tradition. T'ai Chi Chih will be offered in Bonnie Doon four Mondays in June.

Dates: June 2, 9. 16, 23
Time: 10:30 – 11:30 a.m
Location: The park at Rutherford School, 8620 91 Street

For more information, please visit http://www.taichichih.org  or contact [email protected].