Thank You Bryan Anderson for Your Public Service and Dedication to Residents in Ward 9 By: Dave Rumbold
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Community Run Sunday, May 28 RiverbendRaggTimes Next Deadline 9:00 am Start Mother Margaret Mary High School Friday, April 21 www.runningroom.com TRAC Community Run Sunday, May 28 Delivery: May 8 Ragg_Times H pg. 24 raggtimes A PUBLICATION OF THE RIVERBEND COMMUNITY LEAGUE MARCH/APRIL 2017 VOL. 34, NO.5 Thank You Bryan Anderson For Your Public Service and Dedication to Residents in Ward 9 By: Dave Rumbold ard 9 Councillor Bryan Anderson is retiring from public service and Recreation initiative on City this October 16, when the next Civic election is held. Bryan Council. Bryan’s mission statement W has represented Ward 9 and our Riverbend and Terwillegar for this work was ‘to improve the neighborhoods since 1998, winning six consecutive elections. Always seen quality and quantity of sport and as a dedicated and results oriented Councillor, Bryan has become the recreation infrastructure, and longest currently serving City Councillor in Edmonton and the fifth longest opportunities for Edmontonians’. in our City’s history. Councillor Anderson has become a mentor to other In Bryan’s Civic career, his Councillors on civic issues and how to achieve results in office. accomplishments include: Edmonton’s six Wards were represented by two Councillors each until He played a key role in the 2013, and Bryan served along with Larry Langley (1998-2004), Mike Nickel investment of over a billion dollars (2004-2007) and Don Iveson (2007-2013) until the single Councillor Ward in Edmonton sport, recreation and system began. library infrastructure, including Civic politics has been Bryan’s second career. A native of Saskatoon, Bryan the Terwillegar Recreation Centre, was educated as a teacher at the University of Saskatchewan, and then hired Riverbend Fire Station, Riverbend on with the Edmonton Public School Board right out of school in 1964. He Library and the Southwest Police Station. In the rest of the City, four new worked at Hardisty Junior High, then Strathcona Composite High, then at state of the art Recreation Centres are completed or underway along with Harry Ainlay High School from 1969-1998. Although he left his mark at his the new Coronation Velodrome. first two school postings, Bryan became best known for his time at Harry Bryan voted to keep EPCOR as a wholly owned City utility, which has Ainlay, serving as Head of Physical Education, Co-ordinator of Athletics allowed the City to retain hundreds of millions of dollars of dividends for and Basketball Co-ordinator. Bryan was a dedicated and winning Basketball re-investment in infrastructure. and Football Coach, and his teams went to the finals too many times to remember, and were champions 17 times! In addition to molding winning Bryan helped create the agreement between three levels of Government teams, Bryan created the Harry Ainlay Tri-Province Basketball tournament to construct the GO Centre at the Saville Community Sports Centre. which has grown into the largest tournament of its kind in Edmonton. Additionally Bryan worked with community partners such as the Edmonton Bryan remembers years filled with teaching and after school hours filled Grads, Ortona Gymnastics, the Edmonton Volleyball Centre and others on with coaching. You can’t go far in south Edmonton without running into a partnership to provide accessible programming for all citizens. someone who had Bryan as their High School Phys-Ed teacher or Coach! He advocated for conversion of major City sports fields to artificial turf, During this first stage of his professional life Bryan was also busy with enabling improved use and longer access. his young family, helping raise four daughters. The Anderson’s have been Councillor Anderson aimed for a 48 hour response time to the tens of residents of Greenfield since 1965, and Bryan recalls mortgage payments of thousands of citizen inquiries, through emails, phone calls and letters. This is $92.88 per month! During both his teaching career and his years in public a distinguishing aspect of Bryan’s public service, and was one of his original service Bryan has been recognized numerous times for his accomplishments goals. Countless residents of Ward 9 can vouch for the truth of this claim! by a diverse variety of organizations. He has received numerous accolades Bryan has always stayed engaged with many community organizations for his teaching, coaching, community work and mentorship. such as Community Leagues and Area Councils, to senior’s groups, amateur As Bryan approached his retirement from a full teaching and coaching sports organizations and everything in between. Bryan can be counted on career in 1998, he started thinking about what to do next in life. He had to show up at community meetings when asked, and offer supportive and always enjoyed being involved in administration and policy development at informed comments, as well as political guidance on the best way for an Harry Ainlay, and he realized that he wanted to continue to be a part of organization to achieve its goals. the decision making process in the community. He saw that being a City Councillor Anderson has become known as an informed, practical and Councillor was a great way to achieve positive results for citizens, and he had pragmatic politician at City Hall. He says that he has always felt that rules a strong conviction that people needed responsive representation. Bryan and policies shouldn’t get in the way of good decisions and achieving results. believed that a focus on constituents should be the first priority for City He believes that people do their best work when it aligns with their passion, Councillors, and he has become well known for being informed on local and this is why he has always focused his energy on sport and recreation. issues and responsive to citizens. Bryan also wanted to make sure that the City prioritized sport and recreation opportunities for citizens, and he knew A great tribute to Bryan’s legacy in our City is a walk through one of that his passion for these issues would help advance these initiatives. This was our state of the art Recreation Centres. The vibrancy and activity you formalized under Mayor Stephen Mandel who asked Bryan to lead the Sport see there always includes a diverse group of citizens...continues on pg. 2 RIVERBEND NEWS EDITOR Thank You Bryan Anderson Sherri Henderson For Your Public Service and Dedication to Residents in Ward 9 [email protected] By: Dave Rumbold ADVERTISING Continued from pg. 2.... Elizabeth Emslie of all ages and is a testament to his foresight, If you see Bryan prior to the fall election, [email protected] dedication and commitment to our shared consider taking a moment to thank him for 780-437-7108 community. In an age when many of us assume dedicating 18 years to the citizens of Ward 9 and politicians have the wrong interests at heart, our community well-being. We all share in the www.riverbendonline.ca Bryan Anderson stands as an example of the best facilities and legacy he has worked tirelessly to kind of community minded elected official. achieve. Thanks Coach! TABLE OF CONTENTS Tributes to Bryan Anderson SECTION PAGE From Your Community Riverbend News 1-8, 12-17, My name is Cameron Smith and I was on the to Bryan’s ability to teach, to coach, to bring a 24 Titan football teams of 74-76. I was a QB and disparate group of people together. He taught us Seniors Connection 10-11 wide receiver. what it really means to be winners. Riverbend Community League 18 Hodgson CL 19 Bryan was a mentor to thousands of us over ~ Gary Watt, Appellate Practice Chair, Hanson Oak Hills CL 19 the years…just wanted to say thank you for Bridgett, San Francisco. Captain, Senior Titans, 1975- Education Matters 20, 22 recognizing his incredible contribution to quality 78. Community League Directory 23 education and community activism! I have worked with Bryan on a number of ~ Cameron Smith issues over the last 15 years and always been Bryan won us over with his easy manner, his impressed by his dedication to the community way of treating us as equals. We knew he was in and his desire to find a solution that works for THANK YOU, RAGG charge, but he never talked down to us. He was everyone. DELIVERY VOLUNTEERS! never one of those coaches who barked at us like ~ James Rajotte Thanks to the following volunteers who a marine drill sergeant. Instead, he let us be part helped deliver our last issue to businesses, I salute Bryan Anderson for his many years of schools, and retirement residences. of the process, nudging us toward enlightenment in a good spirited way based on encouragement, service, as an educator, coach, City Councillor, Lita Bablitz, Jim Bradshaw, Leslie Leeworthy, logic, and example. He gave us the chance to and all-round good citizen. I appreciate his solid Daryl Matter, Sean McConnell, Jihan Marjan, buy in to his program, his basketball philosophy, character, his integrity, and his fearlessness. His Karin Shott, Sabine Sintenis, Shelly and Leanne and his insights about life. For me, that is why position on any given issue is arrived at after Stevens, Mary Wagner, Helma Voth, and Joan careful consideration and thorough research. Wood. it has always been so easy to love Bryan, and to recognize the valuable lessons playing basketball He has never allowed himself, however busy he We’re always looking for volunteers to help for Bryan gave me for a lifetime. becomes, to get out of touch. Although he has us deliver copies of The Ragg-Times to schools, earned a retirement, I suspect he will, following businesses, and retirement homes. If you can ~ Gary Watt, Appellate Practice Chair, Hanson October’s election, be found around his first deliver The Ragg-Times seven times a year, we’d Bridgett, San Francisco.