For many of us the front porch or back deck is where we spend a lot of our disposable time during the summer. There’s beer to be drank, burgers to be flipped, and sunshine to be experienced. Some of us never make it that far into the sunlight, preferring to spend our time indoors in the air conditioning watching TV.
But within a few blocks or a few miles of our decks and porches are a wealth of summer activities for us to enjoy with our friends and families. Gibbons will hold their Pioneer Days this weekend, an opportunity to kick it really old school just a few kilometres down the road. Sturgeon County is hosting a family fun day in Calahoo the same weekend, an event with entertainment, children’s activities, and lots of food. The following weekend is Fête au Village, Legal’s annual community celebration, now in its 50th year. Bon Accord will host its annual Harvest Days August 10-12, another annual event within a few miles of Morinville.
The problem with community events and bedroom communities is that sometimes we spend so much time working in the city where we are exposed to an endless smorgasbord of arts and entertainment options that we forget the reason we chose to live in a small community like Morinville or Legal. For many of us it was that sense of getting to know your neighbour; that sense you could send your kids off to an event or activity without needing to hover around them like a helicopter that attracted us here. The remaining weeks of summer provide us with the opportunity to take part in the types of festivals and activities that drew most of us to small town living in the first place. It is an opportunity to explore your own community and those within close proximity.
Be sure to pop out this weekend to Gibbons or Calahoo and to Legal and Bon Accord in the weekends to come. Porch and deck life is great in the summer, but it is good to broaden our horizons a bit by visiting our neighbours for a spell.
