Nestled in a wooded area adjacent to Highway 22 and along the Bow River, Camp Jubilee is one of Cochrane’s best kept secrets. However, that is going to change this year as the Calgary and Area Girl Guides facility is about to benefit from a lot of exposure.
On Tuesday, the Rotary Club of Cochrane, along with community promoter Dan Kroffat, announced that three major fundraising events this year will be dedicated to helping the Girl Guides complete a new playground project valued at approximately $1 million.
Being done over three phases, the project includes the first-phase low ropes course and teen adventure course, which was completed last summer. Phase two is a natural playground, and finally an amphitheatre. The facilities replace and enhance those destroyed during the 2013 flood that devastated much of Southern Alberta.
Phase one was paid for, in part, through the provincial government’s Community Enhancement Grant program.
The remaining roughly $750,000 will now be chipped away at with the help of the annual Monumental Tournament of Aces Golf Tournament, Kroffat’s third annual Community Builders evening and the Outhouse Races. For the latter, Kroffat, who helps organize the iconic Cochrane event, hinted there are plans for it to be the biggest races to date and there are negotiations to transform it into an international spectacle.
This year’s Community Builder gala will honour Cochrane Toyota owner Alex Baum, who is well-known for his contributions to the community. Last year’s event was dedicated to Calgary Flames legend Bearcat Murray and raised $50,000 for Big Hill Haven Women’s Shelter.
“My belief is we can do this event forever because there are so many community builders here,” Kroffat said, adding he first two iterations of the event were packed and proved there is an appetite in the community to recognize community builders.
Kroffat, who had daughters in guides, said he recognizes the importance of not only guides as a whole but Camp Jubilee as well.
“My motivation here is pretty clear. I am attached to this from a lot of great memories,” he said. “Every dollar that we raise at that event will go toward Girl Guides through the Rotarians to help in their quest to fulfil their dream here.
Tickets are now available for the Community Builders dinner, which is to be held at the Cochrane RancheHouse on the evening of June 2. Kroffat can be reached at 403-850-1001.
Baum, who is also the Rotary Club of Cochrane’s director of community services, said selecting the Girl Guides as this year’s signature recipient of proceeds from the Oct. 5 Monumental Tournament of Aces made sense because of the synergy between the two organizations values.
“We’re touching young lives. In this digital age we live in it’s so hard to get outdoor engagement ... this camp is pretty strategic in the first introduction to camping for young girls,” he said.
Arzmund Teja, the Girl Guide’s Calgary area commissioner, expressed her organization’s gratitude to Rotary and Cochrane for the funding commitment that will help aid a facility that is celebrating its 50th year in Cochrane, established in 1969. The close to 90-acre site was donated by Stan Pallesen.
The amount of community fundraising that will go into the Camp Jubilee project over the next year is fitting considering the use the camp receives from Cochrane and the region as a whole. Last year, Camp Jubilee recorded 24,000 camper days from its members and an additional 8,500 external camper days. The camp is also utilized by area schools for outdoor education programs and summer camp programs. It is also the base for the Cochrane Activette’s Christmas Hamper drive.
“We are thrilled to have the support of the Rotary,” said Arzmund who also committed the Girl Guides to being active partners in the fundraising initiatives.
Mayor Jeff Genung, who also attended the announcement event, concluded the meeting by saying the aid the Girl Guides are receiving is indicative of the type of community Cochrane is.
“This is how we roll. This initiative with the Girl Guides is building our community,” he said.
The Girl Guides Calgary area includes all of Calgary, Chestermere, Cochrane, Bragg Creek, Exshaw, Canmore, Banff and Lake Louise and is comprised of nearly 5,000 members between the ages of five and 17 and more than 11,000 adult volunteers.
