aces

ACES (Arrowsmith Community Enhancement Society) is a non-profit organization dedicated to uniting, supporting, educating and motivating groups, organizations and businesses within the Arrowsmith Community.  Arrowsmith  encompasses five unique neighbourhoods; Errington, Coombs, Hilliers, Whiskey Creek, and Meadowood and these also make up Area F in the Regional District of Nanaimo, British Columbia Canada

Established in 2003 by group of local citizens, parents, educators, and business people, ACES is the only group that focuses on all five neighborhoods in the Arrowsmith community delivering Recreational, Cultural, and Community Developmental initiatives under contract to do so with the Regional District of Nanaimo. Funded by grants from the RDN and through ACES fund raising activities, ACES members believe that local residents ought to have a say in how allocated government funding should be spent to be most effective in our community.  They also believe that a mechanism ought to be in place to solicit opinions from local residents and inform the RDN of this information . Tax Dollars are allocated to the RDN for community programs, so ACES sees itself as a body that,  in good faith, will include public dialog and attempt to consider all community member needs and opinions so that any recommendations made, or grants applied for will reflect the basic community principle.  Wisdom Of The Crowd has shown that group notions are more accurate (correct) than individuals inside the group.  ACES  employs this kind of logic and attempts to get as much input from the community when making proposals to the RDN.

Recreation

The founding members of ACES (merged with the local business chamber of commerce) established a contact with the RDN to have a say in how government allocated funds should be spent and  to assist in delivering community recreational activities needed or desired in our area.  Recreational programs created or supported by ACES include:

Youth Night

Designed for youth in all five burrows 13 to 18 years of age, the Youth Night  includes both fall and winter sessions where young people can come together Wednesdays evenings at 6:30pm till 8:30 pm at the Agricultural  Building on the Coombs fairgrounds.  This is a drop in format with no preregistration required, and youth can come out and decide what activities they would like to participate in.  Activities can range from floor hockey to board games, or youth can just bring music they want to hear and just hang out with other locals of their age group.  Two facilitators are always on hand to help with the proceeding and keep the area safe.     

Early morning Yoga Classes

Community yoga is a great way to improve health and wellness while calming the inner spirit.  These are guided session with local licensed yoga instructor Sarah Oliver.  This is a wellness practice that does not promote any spiritual beliefs and focuses on user dictated levels of flexibility and depth of practice.  See the Arrowsmith Community Calendar link for more information on enrollment and no prior yoga training is necessary to join.

Indoor High Jump

Aces is proud to introduce its' latest indoor activity open to anyone wishing to enroll.  Indoor high jump is fun and a great source of exercise.  Come out for some friendly competition with other or just with your self.  Check the Arrowsmith Community Calendar for times and place.

Equipment

Through grants and local fundraising, ACES has amassed a great sports, recreational, and safety equipment inventory for its' activities and functions.  These equipments are for the use of the community at large, o if you, your group, or organization has a local sports interest or you require some traffic control equipment, please contact us at mail@arrowsmithcommunity.ca   Community owned recreational equipments include:

Floor hockey, Basketball, Volley Ball, Pickle Ball, Table Tennis, Foosball, Badminton, Board Games, Soccer, Gymnastics and Exercise Mats, Hoola Hoops.

Community safety equipment has been secured for annual Coombs events like the Parade, Car Show, Rodeo, and consists of traffic control vests, delineator posts, and signage available to other community organizations.  All recreational and safety equipments are stored in the Agricultural Building on the Fair grounds to ensure tracking of these inventories and provide lasting assets for community spent tax dollars.

Culture

ACES supports cultural events and activities to enhance our shared standard of living.

Coombs Museum

The Coombs Museum is located in the heart of Coombs, beside the Coombs General Store, on the corner of the Alberni Highway and Ford Road.

The museum was planned by the ACES' Museum Committee in preparation for the celebration of the Coombs/ French Creek Community School's 100th Year Anniversary Celebration.

The committee, with the help of long time Coombs' residents, collected photographs, historical documents and memorabilia, from 1912 to the present, and with the kind donation of free rent from the owner of the Coombs General Store.

The museum's first guests were welcomed July 29, 2011. To date, over 900 people of all ages have visited the museum, with many of the guests being local community people, coming to learn about their family and community history.

The museum and volunteers are managed by a volunteer committee member and staffed solely by community volunteers.

Winter Hours: Open on request

Spring Break Hours: 12:00-4:00pm daily March 10-March 25, 2012

Weekends: 12:00-4:00pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday April 6-June 1, 2012

Daily: 12:00-4:00pm June 1-November 11, 2012.

Music Programs

Striking a Chord which is an an inter-generational marimba program bringing old and young together in an musical learning and performance environment.

The seniors marimba program at the Bradley Center is also a big hit and was expanded to include extra classes to meet demand for the summer 2011 sessions.

Coming soon is Band in a Box, so check out the community calendar if music is your interest 

Instrumemnts

Musical instruments have been purchased by ACES and are now provided for instruction and performances.  Instruments commissioned or purchased by ACES include violins, guitar ,drums, marimbas, and are provided  to classes making programs like the world music camp (est 2010) a possibility, and ensure that music programs will continue to be available.

The Community Picnic

The community picnic is an annual family event supported and staffed by ACES.  This great event includes locally grown fun activities for the whole family including the famous Chicken Chuckin, Hillbilly Horseshoes, and made festive with local live musicians, face painting, a community information booth, and a fantastic food concession.  Families are encouraged to bring a meal item to share in this community potluck or try am ACES burger or hotdog with all profits going to ACES programs.

Do Little square

Do little Square is both a fund raiser for ACES and provides an addition to child activities at the fall fair including the dunk tank and other fun activities 

Community Development

At the heart of the ACES mandate, Coordinating and Networking within the community bringing resources together increasing access for all to community activities and events, and is often a topic of discussion at ACES meetings.

By its' nature, community development is constantly evolving, so if you would like to participate as an ACES member or as one of our volunteers, please visit our membership page or contact mail@arrowsmithcommunity.ca and have a say in where ACES is heading next.

ACES supports Munchkin Land with people power, transportation and tools to help them expand  operations.    Community owned musical instrument have also been provided for some Munchkin Land events. 

Signage

The Welcome to Arrowsmith Coombs Country highway signs have been installed, paid for and maintained by Aces and funded through meat draws and other ACES fundraising activities. 

Future plans include the promotion of this area brand in tourism guides and by interfacing with area periodicals.  

Halloween

The Coombs Candy Walk is a community tradition and is currently organized by ACES. 

Information

All candidates meetings for federal provincial and municipal elections have been hosted by ACES and will continue to be.

ACES invites Area Directors, school board trustees, and RDN superintendents to learn about ACES and how we provide our programs.  These meetings also provide a mechanism so that these bodies can learn policies how  and initiative affect our community and  keeps an open dialog with the bodies that provides funding to ACES and services to our community.

Aces representatives also contact community school principals and parent advisory councils to access community activity coordinators and knowledge that these resources are available to these bodies.

Area Recreational Team

The Arrowsmith recreational team meats with ACES to share information and resources regularly.

• Organize and assist in recreation, athletics, sports, education. arts, and culture activities.
• Promote community education and community school related activities.
• Support the creation of new parkland and open spaces, including a community trail system.
• Enhancing neighbourhood communications.
• Participate in public safety, security and Block Watch initiatives.
• Promoting and improving community health and well being
• ACES and RDN Recreation Services Partnership.