Glenwood Community Centre

Wow, a busy day of canvassing that was broken up by a great visit to Glenwood Community Centre.  One of St. Vital's smaller centres, it's amazing just how busy it is.  Most of us think of community centres as places for hockey, soccer and baseball.  They are really a lot more than that.

Peter Elwick was kind enough to show me around the facility and share some of the programs.  There were no less than three other groups there while I was visiting in addition to the fact that Glenwood is the home of the South Winnipeg Scouts and Beaver movement including the unofficial Winnipeg Scouts museum.  The collection of Scouts memorabilia is impressive.

While I was there the gym was occupied by a seniors mobility group that was in mid exercise when I peaked in and got an invite to start stretching.

I discovered that the Louis Riel School Division has been using the facility for special needs students learning skills for living.  Students from Nelson Mac, Glenlawn and Dakota all participate in programs and activities that see them bake (great homemade turtles), help with chores, and even help with the gym equipment.  This is exactly the kind of inter sectoral support and networking that children of all ages in our community need

Finally I sat in as the Spanish Play Group was just sitting down for Lunch.  We chatted about this program in which families gather to share Spanish culture and language in a drop in format with lots of play activities for kids.  The program is open to non-Spanish speakers and is a great way to introduce your child to the language and culture.  Thank you to Eugenia and Sergio for a wonderful introduction to your group and thanks for the tremendous homemade tomatillo salsa that I sampled.

Our big community centres are very valuable members of the community but organizations like Glenwood are also incredibly important to their communities and need every bit as much attention from their city councillor as well.  They have so much to offer the community and really put the activity into living.

A nod to Colleen Champagne, what a tremendous job she does on behalf of Glenwood finding and retaining programs like the ones I saw today.

For those of you who want to know a bit more about one of St. Vital's many special places check out the attached link.

http://www.glenwoodcc.ca/