KNOX-MET NEWS
July, 2008
Knox-Met
To Become Second Home For 36 Pre-Schoolers
By
Susan Bramm
For the past six months
members of the Property and Finance Committee have been busy with an exciting
new project at Knox-Metropolitan United Church: the relocation of a 36-child
preschool daycare operation to our building.
Although hosting such a
weekday operation had been discussed in the past, it wasn’t until Church
members responded positively to the suggestion at the February 10, 2008 Annual
General Meeting that the Property and Finance Committee began to really “run
with the idea.” Due to their hard work and perseverance, the needed renovations
are almost complete and within a few weeks the downstairs Church School area
and west lawn will be filled with the sounds and activity of young children.
So how did this happen in
such a short time?
The Committee first
researched what would be required for a daycare to operate in our building;
contacting Alberta Children and Family Services responsible for licensing child
care, the City of Edmonton regarding land use zoning, Capital Health about
health and safety needs and finally the City’s fire inspection branch. After
discussion and site visits, they determined that all requirements could be met.
Then the Committee reviewed current daycare facility rental rates. After
presenting their findings at the February Board meeting, Committee chair Graeme
Feltham received permission to proceed to attract a daycare operation to our
location.
On April 2, 2008, the
Committee sent a letter a list of 60 existing daycare operations in Edmonton’s
south side and immediate downtown area describing the opportunity and asking
for sealed bid proposals by June 2, 2008. Over the next two months, the
Committee received inquiries from eight interested parties; some visiting the
site several times, with five eventually submitting proposals. These were
reviewed by a committee, comprised of six members from various committees and
the congregation, who determined the best fit with Knox-Met.
Anne’s Kinder Kastle
At the same time the
members of the Property and Finance Committee were looking into the feasibility
of hosting a daycare a Knox-Met, across the river in the Oliver neighbourhood,
Anne Schager, owner and operator of Anne’s Kinder Kastle preschool daycare,
faced a difficult challenge. After 30 years of operating at the present
location, the building had been sold and she was looking for a new space.
Exceeding basic licensing requirements and accredited by the Alberta Child Care
Accreditation Program, where could she continue to provide quality childcare
for children from 19 months to kindergarten age?
So it wasn’t surprising
that Anne was one of the first operators to contact the Property and Finance
Committee in response to the letter they had sent out. What impressed Anne most
about our building is that it provides a more spacious environment, all on one
floor—with the use of our kitchen for food preparation and the gym during
inclement weather as added benefits.
She has agreed to all the
requirements of the original letter and a five-year, $36,000/year lease has
been signed. The rooms being used by Anne’s Kinder Kastle are found at the west
end of the downstairs area away from the Church office. The space includes the
nursery, assembly area, two other classrooms of the Church School, the library
room (library has been moved to the Narthex area on the main floor back
entrance to the sanctuary) and the washroom.
The lease includes use of
three newly-created parking spots along the back alley, shared use of the
kitchen for noon-hour meal preparation and use of the gym only during inclement
weather, if no other activities are taking place there. The children will very
frequently use a fenced playground area along the west side of the building,
facing 109th Street from where it will be obvious that Knox-Met is a place that
accommodates—and welcomes—children.
Two needed renovations are
well underway, at Anne’s expense and approved by the Property and Finance
Committee: (1) the fenced and properly surfaced playground area with entry from
the building via an existing stairway, and (2) expansion of the two-toilet
washroom to accommodate five children’s toilets.
Anne
expects to open the new doors of Anne’s Kinder Kastle before August 1. It will
operate 7 am to 6 pm Monday to Friday, with parents parking in front of Church
for a short time and entering through the double doors to left of main entrance
(currently a one-way fire exit).
“When the renovations and
move are complete, it’s going to be beautiful,” says Anne. “People have heard
about it and I already have people calling me, wanting to bring their children
here,” she says. (Those interested should contact Anne’s Kinder Kastle at
780-488-3336.)
“During my lifetime I have
been involved with several United Churches, each with its own challenges and
problems,” says Don Brodie, one of the church committee members behind the
project. “Knox-Met has a beautiful property with potential to generate revenue.
But we had a large deficit last year and expect another one this year, so this
[the new daycare] is only a partial solution. As a congregation we need to look
at a number of other proactive solutions.”
Minister Lynda Gow is very excited about this new development. “It’s
marvelous that Don has jumped in and gotten the ball rolling by finding people
and groups who want to use our building—such as the Cadets and now Anne’s
Kinder Kastle. Just as our members bring many gifts and
talents, so our building is a community asset and gift from our forebearers who
built and have maintained it for us to use as best we can.”
“Over the past two
months, while the arrangements were being made and the renovations started, we
have developed a warm relationship with Anne and hope that will extend to her
staff and the families and children who will be coming here during the week.”
In the 2008 Lenten Booklet, Harry Oussoren in
the reflection entitled “Whose house is it?” challenged members of the 3,470
United Church congregations across Canada “to be more hospitable, welcoming and
generous so every house of God is indeed known as a place where God’s gracious
acceptance is experienced…Church buildings are home not because they are ‘ours’
but because God keeps inviting folks like us to be “at home” in them.”
What better way than
for 36 children to call Knox Metropolitan United Church their second home?
Look for an update in
the next issue of Knox-Met News.
Submitted by Peter Kamenetzki
Whether you are the gentleman who greets us at our church door every Sunday morning, or the lady who makes us feel welcome when we reach the top of the stairs—or that member our congregation who, in case we need assistance, helps us to our pew in a most gentle way—you are all very important volunteers of our great Knox-Met United Church!
There are many more of you—and we express our deepest gratitude to you!
If you allow me to say so here—I consider myself one of you and have never regretted—not yet anyway—the day I joined you, our lively and wonderful family of volunteers! Your elders had given me a beginners’ job, which I still have today—inasmuch as I get myself down, one in a while, to that distant place you may call ‘kitchen’—where I prepare coffee and other things for the few of you who trust me and my little concoctions.
Not being perfect, like most men, I have my shortcomings. Whatever I try, for example, I can’t shake a certain fear of people. Which must be the reason, why I feel so very much at home down in your faraway kitchen.
And strangely enough, people don’t seem to have any fear of me! Quite evidently they enjoy my company. As I also begin to enjoy theirs. And I am getting plenty of it down there. Plenty of friendly words warm the space around me….I get offers of help, I get smiles, I get greetings, thank-yous and news of the day. I get handshakes and sometimes great little hugs, which come dangerously close to my heart…
There is a change in the air. I discover that my volunteering is turning me into a different person, that it is giving me new friends and an unexpected strong feeling of contentment and happiness. I find new energy swelling up in me—like getting 20 or 40 years younger (which is not much when subtracted from 85).
And so, I have arrived now at the conclusion that we volunteers, young or old, wise or otherwise, are the really smart people in this world of ours. We know what counts in our lives. What gives us peace of mind. What makes us worthy models for our children and friends. And what makes us, in many ways, richer than all the dimes and dollars we could ever hope for.
You don’t see, why you should work for others for nothing, you say? Have patience I say. Pray. Get yourself involved. Give your heart to volunteering. Give it a try, and you shall see….
KNOX-MET NOTES
Kathleen and John Holmes recently returned from Atlanta, Georgia, where they attended commencement services at Columbia Theological Seminary (Decatur, GA), at which their son, Rev. David A. Holmes, received the Doctor of Ministry degree. He also received the George and Sally Telford Award, presented to the graduating D.Min. student "who shows exceptional ability for congregational leadership, with an emphasis on social justice issues and vision for the Church".
David and his wife Karen (Stephanson) both grew up in Knox-Met, and both were candidates for ministry from this congregation. Both graduated from VST, and both were ordained in the Alberta Conference. Dave has been minister at Robert McClure United Church in Calgary for the past 16 years, and leaves that position June 15, 2008. He will fulfill several writing and speaking commitments before making further career decisions. Karen has served as minister of several churches in Calgary, and is minister at McDougall United Church there.
The Knox-Met News is a newsletter of Knox-Metropolitan United Church. Submissions are welcome.
The next issue is scheduled for the end of September. The deadline for articles is Sept. 14.
Please contact Cheryl Purdey, Communications Committee.
E-mail at cherylpurdey@yahoo.com
Or drop ideas into the Newsletter mailbox outside the gym.