Community League Stories

If there was any question that Edmontonians know how to embrace winter, our birthday festivities at City Hall Plaza put those doubts on ice. On January 23, the EFCL celebrated a monumental milestone- our 105th birthday, with an unforgettable party at City Hall Plaza.Under the winter sky, the City Hall Read more...

Canora’s journey to Net Zero began in 2021, when a dedicated group of volunteers decided to make the heart of their community a little bit greener. With a beloved hall in need of an upgrade, they decided to not just renovate, but create a model of accessibility and energy efficiency, Read more...

Recently, the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues was fortunate to be able to host Lewis Cardinal for our workshop Leagues as Land-Based Organizations. Lewis shared his wisdom and teachings with us — and we were particularly moved by his final thoughts, on the care for others evident in a Read more...

Every Community League rink holds a special place in the neighbourhood's heart, but not every one can boast that it's been cared for by a local legend. For over 35 years, Henry Stainthorp revolutionized ice surfaces as the head ice maker for the Edmonton Oilers at Northlands Coliseum. For nearly Read more...

Hanna Davidson tends to her potato patch in the West Ritchie Community Garden. For four seasons now, there is only one thing that Hanna Davidson has planted in her garden box: potatoes. It’s not because she’s addicted to spuds, although she likes them just fine. It’s not because they’re Read more...

Like most students coming out of high school, Megan Alzetta, pictured above, needed a summer job to tide her over between graduation and starting postsecondary in the fall. Like most student summer job seekers, she started out by considering the restaurants and other casual opportunities in her neighbourhood. Unlike Read more...

Images courtesy of Shannon Clarke, Kyla Roth and Christina Hamer. A park isn’t really a park until people make it one. So, when the Beverly Heights Community League set out to deal with a disused playground tucked behind the No Frills at 118 Avenue between 34 Street and 36 Read more...

Cheryl West-Hicks, left, and Jesse Enns Power see the Banned Book Club as an opportunity to engage the community on a different level, providing an open space to consider diverse ideas. If you read enough, one of the things you learn is that things become tropes for a reason: Read more...

Christine Causing, left, and Nor'Ali McDaniel have organized a series of workshops celebrating Indigenous culture and taking steps towards reconciliation for Holyrood Community League. Often, the hardest part of doing something is simply beginning. This can feel acutely true when the something you’re trying to do is find a Read more...

Images courtesy of Aleksia Afonso. The question isn’t really why 14-year-old Aleksia Afonso decided to take on designing the Dovercourt Community League newsletter; it’s how she found the time. It’s not even just the usual comings and goings of eighth grade that Aleksia is navigating. Sure, there’s homework, and Read more...

Edmonton’s Community League system is relatively unique in Canada — but the beauty of being community-focused is that there’s always something to learn from and something to teach to cities across the country. People everywhere, after all, are trying to bring people together to better their communities. We recently Read more...

It takes many hands to make a community rink, and it took many Dovercourt residents to make the sign that won our inaugural So Nice They Made the Ice contest thanking all the volunteers who made their outdoor fun possible. After our panel of judges — CBC Edmonton AM host Mark Connolly, Read more...

Images courtesy of Delton Community League. The bigger the problem, the harder to know where to begin. Before you try to take your first step, though, it might help to extend your hand. Having recently retired, Delton’s Gail Silvius knew she wasn’t going to be content to just idle. Read more...