JLC to Participate Again in Calgary Safety Expo

On March 20 and 21 the Junior League of Calgary will again be participating in Calgary Safety Expo, which teaches students in grades 4 - 7 about safety and injury prevention.

We will be hosting a double-wide booth that focuses on the topic of kitchen safety. Our booth has a large, professional display board as well as a running laptop that educates the students about key kitchen safety tips.  Back by popular demand will be the Glo Germ activity, which allows the children to observe their hands under an ultraviolet light both before and after washing to detect the spread of germs and the effectiveness of their handwashing efforts, and our rubber chicken and fish, which help us demonstrate safe food handling.  Students will learn about cooking and knife safety by properly handling a kitchen pan on a burner (not plugged in!) and holding and using knives (plastic), oven mitts and towels.

The Alex Holiday Party and JLC's Teen Tote Project

JLC members and a special someone with some of the
Teen Totes prepared by the Fall Provisionals

The Junior League of Calgary brought helping hands to The Alex Youth Health Centre on December 21 

when we were invited to their annual Holiday Party. Our members gave out 200 of the Teen Totes created 

by the Fall 2011 Provisional Class to the centre’s clients. We were delighted to see the appreciation and smiles on so many young faces.

Danene Lenstra, Team Leader with The Alex, gave us a huge thank you and said, “Our clients love this event and many have come each year because your bags are 

so great”. 

President's Message - "Sustainable Assets"

Alice Gardner-Boreta
JLC President

As you are all hopefully aware by now, a major theme for The Association of Junior Leagues International (AJLI), and the theme of many of our General Meetings this year, has been “JL Women as Community and Civic Leaders”. These women have been and are inspirational public figures in one way or another, motivating other JL members by their active community involvement, whether locally, nationally or internationally.

If you visit the AJLI website (www.ajli.org)and from the Home Page click on News Room and then on Civic Leadership, you will find a list of some of these women, all of whom hold or have held a powerful position outside The Junior League, or have received a Junior League award in the past, or just have something very special about them.  The only thing missing on the current list, from our point of view, is that it doesn’t include any Canadian women!

Bobbie Sparrow

Well, that is about to change, as JLC Past President (1969) and Sustainer Bobbie Sparrow was recently interviewed for a piece in the AJLI publication “connected” and will be added to the list very soon!  The article is entitled “Sustainable Assets: Bobbie Sparrow: A Woman of Many Interests”. It is a superb interview and describes how Bobbie parlayed her experiences in the JLC and in business, philanthropy and volunteer services into a career in politics, ultimately rising to office in the Canadian Parliament’s House of Commons.

You can access the article via the AJLI website Home Page and wait for the article title and Bobbie’s picture to appear on the scroll and click on it, or via the following link: 

http://connected.ajli.org/2012/01/sustainable-assets-bobbie-sparrow-a-woman-of-many-interests/

We are so proud to have all of you Junior League women, Actives and Sustainers, past and present, associated with our outstanding organization!

Treasure Trunk Training Day at Junior League of Calgary

Showing how to create kaleidoscopes during 

KARTS training

On Saturday, January 28, the Junior League of Calgary hosted a Treasure Trunk training workshop for staff and volunteers of Brenda’s House and the Children’s Cottage Society of Calgary and JLC members. The Brenda’s House Program Planning Group (PPG) were the key trainers.  Attendees learned how JLC programs are developed, the history of the Treasure Trunk program and program elements that have worked well and not so well. Each attendee participated in the Treasure Trunk sessions of Babies in the Story (BITS), Kids in the Story (KITS), Kids in Motion & Music (KIMM), Kids in the Kitchen (KITK) and Kids in the Arts (KARTS).  

Participants are put through their
paces in KIMM

When asked what the training day meant to them participants comments were:

l Educational

l Interactive

l Creative

l Practical

l Show of teamwork

l Opportunity to experience activities from a child’s point of view

l Fun, fun, fun!

l Impressive organization of the day

l Feel more prepared to volunteer at the Treasure Trunk program

l Easy to understand the components and implement them into other programs

Learning during the KITK segment of training

l Well developed curriculum with every idea piloted and redesigned to be useful

l The background work done by the JLC will have a lasting effect on current and future programming at Brenda’s House and throughout the Children’s Cottage Society

To view the “Treasure Trunk Training Presentation” PowerPoint go to the Members’ Only section of the JLC website and click on the Community tab.

Demonstrating some of the activities used
in the BITS segment of the Treasure
Trunk program

Thank you to all the members of the Brenda’s House PPG for implementing such a thoughtful, well-organized and fun training opportunity for both our JLC members and our Community Partners.  Thank you also to JLC’s Office Administrator Wendy Baillie for preparing the materials that were given to all the participants.

Learning about the KITS segment