Your Braeside Beacon (June 2025)

Happy June beautiful neighbour!

​Calgary is living up to its name as the Blue Sky City, already with sunny days and above-average temperatures! With clear skies and recent daily highs in the mid-20s°C, it already feels like summer has arrived early and our community is bursting with new life, from a successful community garden event to exciting updates in our parks and gathering spaces. Here’s what’s new and what’s next in Braeside!

Where Community Takes Root

On May 31, we celebrated our growing community garden with an afternoon of family fun, including face painting, a bouncy castle, tasty local food trucks and some of your favourite local vendors. Kids built birdhouses with Matt, and adults had the chance to relax in our beer garden. A great way to kick off the season of fun!

Want to dig deeper?

• Join the Garden & Parks Committees and help shape the future of our parks & green spaces. Email garden@braesideyyc.ca

• Become a Community Association Member and support year-round programs!

• The next Garden & Parks Committee meeting is on Monday, June 16 between 6:30–8:00 PM at the BCA. Everyone is welcome!

Plans for Neighbour Day? You do now!

We’re throwing a little party in the heart of Braeside — and you’re invited!

This year’s theme is 'Beautiful Day for a Neighbour', inspired by the brilliance of Mr Rogers’ Neighbourhood! We’ve created a passport game that invites you to explore our community and get to know the people in it even better. You can pick-up a copy of the passport at the BCA during regular office hours (Tuesday to Thursday from 11-3pm). Bring your completed passport to our Neighbour Day event for a chance to win a prize!

Join us for a Communi-tea & Coffee Conversation Cafe, enjoy a Braeside Brunch from Arepas Ranch, explore the Calgary Public Library Book Truck and browse the first Mini Titans Summer Market of the season!!

New Ways to Play: Game On!

We’re excited to share two great ways to get outside and stay active in Braeside. Disc golf and tetherball are ready to enjoy at Bradbury Drive Park with another tetherball set-up at Brackenridge Road Park. They’re free, easy to play and perfect for some friendly competition, no matter your age or skill level. Just bring your sense of fun.

Bradbury Drive Seasonal Box Pilot

We’re piloting a new initiative at this park: a community play box with frisbees, balls and light exercise gear for everyone to enjoy. The box will be placed in the park in the coming weeks and we’d love your help stocking it. If you have items to donate, just reply to this email: braesidebeacon@braesideyyc.ca.

Want to enjoy a meal outside or host a small gathering?

Bradbury Park now has a picnic table and firepit, perfect for summer evenings.

It’s first-come, first-served!

• Firepit Safety Reminders:

• Bring your own wood. Please don’t take branches or wood from the park. It harms rees and local wildlife.

• Don’t forget to bring some water to fully extinguish your fire.

• When you're done, remember: Soak, Stir, Soak Again.

• The ashes should be cool to the touch efore you leave.

Learn more about fire pit use and rules: Fire pit safety​

Keeping Our Streets Safe — Together

Traffic safety is a growing concern in Calgary, with 29 traffic-related deaths in 2024 including 13 pedestrians, the highest in over a decade. Closer to home, the crosswalk on Braeside Drive by Brae Centre remains a concern for many. Visibility is an issue, particularly during heavy traffic. We’ve been advised by the Residential Traffic Safety Unit that temporary curbs will be installed to slow traffic and improve sign visibility. While the timeline hasn’t been confirmed, we have Robert Grigg to thank for his commitment and persistence!

Remember to call 311 directly when you have concerns about traffic safety! The more requests that come in, the better chance we have on creating change.​

Zoning Engagement: Share Your Input

Zoning affects all of us and your voice matters. The BCA is here to support residents in learning more and sharing their views. The City of Calgary is updating how they plan, build and move through our city with the City Building Program. This work includes three key initiatives:

• The Calgary Plan – a long-term plan that combines the Municipal Development Plan and Calgary Transportation Plan to guide how the city grows.

• The Zoning Bylaw – updates the rules for what can be built and where.

• The Street Manual – focuses on how streets are designed to support safe and accessible travel.

Community feedback is encouraged to help shape the next phase of these updates. Learn more and get involved at engage.calgary.ca/CityBuilding.

Retired? Maybe. Boring? Never.

Being a senior in 2025 means staying sharp, staying social and knowing that a good cup of coffee and a great conversation never go out of style. It’s like happy hour but with more stories and fewer hangovers.

Lights, Camera, Trivia!

This month’s BCA Trivia Night on June 5th is going full Hollywood! From red carpet royalty to rock 'n' roll rebels, it’s Celebrity Trivia Night and no star is safe. Think you’ve got the goods?

Take our warm-up quiz here and see how you stack up. Good luck, trivia legends!!

The Great Braeside (and Cedarbrae) Bargain Hunt

56 homes already registered and it's still growing! You’re invited to be part of our 2025 Parade of Garage Sales on June 7, hosted by Amanda O’Reilly.

Start your treasure hunt at the Braeside Community Centre between 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM. Pick up a map, enter to win a gift basket, and grab some free food while you plan your route. Register here. Deadline is Wednesday.

Community Safety Starts with Us

Braeside remains one of Calgary’s safer communities, with a crime rate of just 1.877 incidents per 100 residents between May 2023 and May 2024 — well below the city’s highest rates.

Still, we know that safety is about feeling informed and connected. That’s why we’re hosting a Community Safety Workshop to keep you updated and to share tips on what to watch for.

​We can’t pull off a Stampede party without our neighbours!

You're invited to the BCA Stampede Barbecue! Join us on July 5 from 12:00 to 3:00 pm for an afternoon of fun, food, and festivities:

• Live music by Pork Salad Annie • Line dancing • Bouncy castle and face painting for the kids • Beer garden for the grown-ups • And of course — beef or pork on a bun with your choice of coleslaw or macaroni salad, plus baked beans.

There’s always room at the table and we’d love to have you!

We’re always looking for volunteers — for a cause, an event, or just for the coffee, the chat, or to share your garden know-how. Being part of the Braeside Community Association means being part of something bigger. The more, the merrier. Yes, that includes you!

Curious? Volunteer Interest Form

With love,

Your BCA Board