Residents in a Turner Valley subdivision have a unique way to stay connected while keeping their distance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Country Meadows resident Shauna Way implemented a neighbourhood window walk that has neighbours creating images to put in their front windows every three days, based on a theme.
It began with shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day.
“I just said, ‘Hey, now that the kids are out of school and we’re all in this together, let’s put a green shamrock in our windows,’” said Way. “It was just so neat to go for a walk and see over 80 shamrocks on the windows. Our little neighbourhood gave it a real go.”
Way, a marriage commissioner who performs weddings and funerals, has been reaching out to her neighbours about the window walk through the subdivision’s Facebook site. She got the idea from her sister, whose neighbourhood in Calgary started the initiative weeks ago.
“We’re just following their list,” said Way. “One day the theme was supportive sayings. They were really beautiful.”
Way’s 11-year-old son Gabriel was inspired to Google supportive sayings after seeing so many on neighbouring windows. Way said he created two for the family home: Albert Einstein’s quotation “You never fail until you stop trying” and a large sun with the words, “Let your light shine.”
Way said the initiative is bringing the Country Meadows community together.
“It’s become a chain reaction,” she said. “It’s been so neat the people who have reached out and said, ‘Thank you for starting this.’”
Upcoming themes for April include jokes for April Fool’s Day and colourful Easter eggs on April 4, Way said.
“Every day we go outside and love seeing things on the windows,” she said. “When we’re all working really hard in our community to practise social distancing, it’s so nice to think that we’re all in this together.”
The initiative has expanded to include birthday greetings to children who can’t invite friends over to celebrate due to social distancing restrictions, Way said.
Mayor Barry Crane, who lives in Country Meadows, said the initiative is a great way to bring neighbours together during such a challenging time.
“A local program like this is just a great community spirit builder and a great way for stay-at-home parents with small kids to get out for fresh air and enjoy some of the neighbourhood while being distracted from the realities of today,” he said.
Crane said his own children have participated in the neighbourhood window walk, creating their own projects and walking around to see what everyone else has created.
Way has taken the initiative a step further this week, implementing a communication system for seniors and residents living alone. She is dropping off red, yellow and green paper for people to put up in their windows. Way said green indicates they’re doing well, yellow means they need something and red represents an emergency.
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