IMPORTANT information about the Spring Fling Pool Party

Register in advance to avoid line-ups and get the most out of your swim time.

Register for a FREE 3-day trial pass online and upload a photo (for security reasons). If you can’t do this ahead of time, don’t worry! Someone at the Don Wheaton YMCA will help you. To avoid line-ups, we strongly recommend you do this ahead of time.

• Once you have created your profile: Select YMCA Memberships and Passes > Don Wheaton Family YMCA. If you are brining your family, select 3 Visit General Trial. Adults can also choose 3 Visit Plus Trial (the Plus change rooms are for adult use only during weekdays). Family members who live in the same household with you can be registered under your own profile Name. All household members must have a picture attached, including underaged members.
• When you get the “How did you hear about this trial” question, please select: Community League promotion.
• Proceed to check out (you won’t be charged for this trial, it will show $0, however you do need a method of payment on file.)

You can then use your 3-day trial pass during any 3 days in the same week.

Once you register, you will get a card that grants you access to the universal, men’s and women’s locker rooms. Please bring your own towels for the event.

Underground parking is available on the east side of the building (102 Street). Pull a ticket and you will get it validated before the party finishes.

🗓️ April 7
⏰ 1:30-3:30 PM
📍 Don Wheaton YMCA
FREE for DECL members
$5 for non-member guests*

Once again, we will have food, snacks and prizes at the event. Come down and meet your neighbours!

Join us for our annual Spring Clean-Up! 🧹

We’re thrilled to once again be joining the Downtown Revitalization Coalition on April 19 & 20 to clean up around the neighbourhood.

You can register on your own or join the DECL group!

Head to the link in bio if you want to register your own or simply meet us at Alex Decoteau Park if you want to join us:

🗓️ April 20
⏰ 11am – 1pm

Supplies will be provided.

If you want to register your own group, visit yegdowntown.ca

Spring is in the air and we want to celebrate! Join us at the Y for a good old fashioned pool party in a beautiful, modern facility.

🗓️ April 7
⏰ 1:30-3:30 PM
📍 Don Wheaton YMCA
FREE for DECL members
$5 for non-member guests*

Swimming will be on the agenda, but there will also be:
🍕 Pizza, fruit, water & pop
💰 Prizes

Bring your swimsuit and let’s have a party while meeting your downtown neighbours. 🏊‍♀️

*This is a DECL members event, but members can feel free to bring guests with them. Members get in free, $5 for non-members. Another benefit to being a member! If you live downtown, consider becoming a member.

Learn to bead! 🔴

Anishinaabe community member Roxanne Mckenzie will offer a cultural perspective on beading while walking you through the beadwork of your choice: a beaded red dress which honours the memories of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls or a beaded strawberry (O-day’min) representing where we live and the ward of downtown.

Two in-person sessions to choose from. Snacks, drinks and supplies included.

🗓️ February 3 or 17
⏰ 1 – 3 pm
📍 DECL Space, 10042 103 St
$10

This program is supported by the City of Edmonton Neighborhood Micro Grant.

Space is limited. You must register to attend.

Our annual party of the season is back! Celebrate the holidays with fun, friends and neighbours. We will have door prizes, a cash bar, food, music and more!

 December 14
 7–10pm
 10042 103 Street

Consider bringing new warm clothing or socks to donate to the city’s most vulnerable.

Mark your calendars for Games & Pub Night 

Come celebrate Halloween with family-friendly activities at DECL!

We will have a wide selection of games to play, candy and a cash bar.

DECL members get one free beverage of their choice (there will be alcoholic and non-alcoholic options available).

Feel free to come in costume or as you are.

 Friday, October 27
 7 PM
Theme: Halloween

Save the date for FREE corn & concerts 🌽

CornFest is right around the corner. Come celebrate our community in the heart of the neighbourhood.

📍 Alex Decoteau Park
🗓 September 9
⏰ 11am – 3pm

This family-friendly event is timed perfectly to renew your DECL membership. REMINDER: they expire at the end of this month.

CornFest is more than just corn:
🌽 Food trucks
🌽 Games
🌽 Live performance by Pure Octane.
🌽 Balloon art
🌽 Glitter tattoos

Consider bringing a non-perishable item if you are able. We are collecting for the Edmonton Food Bank, so please check out their website for the items most in need.

PLUS plan to stay a while because the Edmonton Mural Festival is having a party in the same park from 3pm – 8pm, featuring concerts, live mural art, a beer garden and more.

Party in the heart of the city with Edmonton Mural Festival and DECL on September 9!

Come to our anniversary party 🥳

Hey members! It’s DECL’s 20th anniversary and we would love to see you at our place.

🗓️ Thursday, July 20
⏰ 6 – 10 PM
🎤 Short set of speeches at 7 PM
📍 DECL space – 10042 103 Street

🍻 Show your membership at the door because current DECL members will get 1 free drink ticket (beer, wine and non-alcoholic options)

🥪 Sweet & savoury food options from some of our fave downtown restaurants (some gluten & sugar free options)

🗺️ Family-friendly interactive scavenger hunt activity, with local business gift card prizes awarded to winners (drawn & communicated after the event)

👀 We cleaned out our office recently and found some cool stuff. Come see and we might even be giving away a thing or two (we’re talking DECL history!)

Are you a downtown resident but not yet a member? Get your 🆓 membership at Credo Coffee (104 Street location only).

We hope to see you there!

A Message from your Safety Chair 

The nails and screws sticking out of the broken wood boards along the sidewalk bothered me every day. On Jasper Avenue, this stretch of sidewalk was passed hundreds of times a day, including by myself. At first, I didn’t do anything about it. I would think about the company who owns the business (a parking lot) and I would wish for them to do something about it, and then I would continue on with my day. The next day, I would repeat the same routine. Weeks and months went by in that way. And then, one morning, I sent an email to the Manager of the parking lot introducing myself and kindly asking if the broken boards and nails could be removed. I received a thoughtful reply that maintenance had been notified and the nails will be removed, as well as some thoughts about safety on their lot.

Feeling encouraged by this response, my thoughts went to a forgotten sign pole that had been broken off but never retrieved by the City, laying next to the sidewalk near Corona LRT Station. I had submitted a 311 request for the removal of the pole, but the request had been closed without action. So I submitted a new 311 request. 

A week later the pole was gone, and the nails removed. 

Downtown can be a difficult place to live and visit. When we see a broken window or abandoned object we start to feel unsafe. These things by themselves do not pose a threat, but when we see them we’re reminded of the larger systemic issues that they represent – houselessness, poverty, the ongoing drug poisoning crisis – and Downtown starts to feel unsafe and hopeless.

Once I started taking more intentional responsibility for the space I was in, my thoughts about that space changed and I felt myself caring more about where I was. I tend to walk between home and work so I’ve started carrying a trash-picker with me on my walks, picking up pieces of garbage as I go. The garbage I’m picking up is not just for me but for everyone else who uses the space. I start to notice others doing small actions and try to stop and chat, perhaps making a connection with someone in the area. It seems like the more we can know and understand about each other, the more Downtown will feel safe. Many of the challenges will still exist, but it would be balanced by people caring about each other (Wow that reads very corny, but I’d like to hope there’s some truth in that!)

Is there a particular spot in Downtown that makes you feel unsafe or that needs attention? Is there another area that does feel safe – what makes it that way? Please email me at safety@decl.org and let’s keep finding ways to care about the place we live in.

Jesse Orjasaeter is a social worker living and working Downtown. Jesse is the Safety Chair of the Downtown Edmonton Community League (DECL).

Join us for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Downtown Edmonton Community League (DECL). This year we’re pleased to welcome you back in person at our community space (10042 103 Street)!

Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Registration 6:30 p.m.
Meeting 7:00 p.m.

We are pleased to welcome Puneeta McBryan, Executive Director of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association as our special guest speaker. We will also have updates from other partners and organizations Downtown.

This event is open to all Downtown Edmonton residents and DECL members. To find out if you live in the boundaries of Downtown, check here. Memberships will be available at the door, please bring a proof of ID and home address with you.

The purpose of this meeting is to review the business of the league over the past year, including 2022 financial statements. Light refreshments will be served, there will also be a cash bar available.

We will also be electing the position of President and any vacant board of director positions:

• Alex Decoteau Park Community Garden Director
• Various Committee Chairs
• Directors-at-Large

If you’re interested in being a board member and want to find out more, please email us at info@decl.org for more information.

You must be a member currently living Downtown to vote, however membership is FREE. Get your membership online at efcl.org or at our AGM.