DeWinton children will have a new place to play in the hamlet thanks to provincial grant funding.
The DeWinton Community Association was one of three Okotoks and area organizations that received more than $60,000 in provincial Cultural and Tourism grants handed out by Highwood MLA Wayne Anderson earlier this month.
The association received $26,249 for playground upgrades at the DeWinton Community Hall. The Dewdney Players Group Theatre received $23,602 for new audio/visual equipment and the Greater Okotoks Football Association was given $11,210 for new jerseys and equipment. The DeWinton Community association is ready to break ground on the playground improvements in the spring.
“We are upgrading an existing playground,” said Chelsea Macleod with the association. “We are going to be removing two pieces and installing two new pieces that are more up to date with today’s safety standards.”
She said the playground doesn’t have any equipment that is more suitable for children between the ages of two to five years. It will also be more appropriate for students in the pre-school program based in the community hall, Macleod added.
A tall slide and monkey-bar set will be removed and a new structure with three slides and a small climbing wall will be added.
Dewdney President Nicola Preston said they will purchase new microphones, headsets and studio sound cue software, which will improve the audience’s experience.
“This will update the frequencies and make it a lot easier for us to mic up our actors and get them heard,” she said.
Preston said they ran into technical difficulties during a performance in the Royal Duke Hotel bar earlier this year. With all the general background sounds in a bar atmosphere, she said they had to use microphones for their actors, but their system wasn’t up to the task.
“It was interfering and there were all sorts of issues with not being able to hear the actors,” said Preston.
It will also help to streamline the process for their sound crews. Previously, she said they used a CD with sound effects and music that would have to be turned on and off at certain points in the play. Preston said the new software will improve the process and the quality of their performances.
Joe Liepert, greater Okotoks football association equipment manager, said the grant will go towards new jerseys, helmets and shoulder pads the Foothills Eagles football team.
“We bought a few training bags and stuff like that as well,” he said.
The new uniforms may look great, but more importantly the new helmets keep the young players safe.
“We need to make sure that they’re going to be able to be protected,” said Liepert.
