Calgary – We’re Open!

I am going to spin away from my green focus for tonight. Two weeks ago, I posted about the devastating Southern Alberta Flood. Today was the kickoff to the Calgary Stampede, and I have to say, I have never felt prouder to be a Calgarian than I have in the past couple of weeks. Our city – heck, our province, and our country – has banded together in a way I never imagined possible. This is not exclusive to Calgary, or Alberta, or likely even Canada, but seeing it first hand has been amazing. People helping strangers by amassing donations, delivering meals, rescuing stranded pets, or just showing up on doorsteps of affected homes to help shovel out water-logged belongings. Companies offering their services for free, or giving their staff paid time off to volunteer. Volunteers giving their time, not by the hundreds but by the thousands. Calgary, you make me proud. There is still a lot of work to be done, both here and in other parts of the province (like High River). But in the meantime, I want to share two tidbits of media that have made me smile.

First, remember that I said you can help Calgary (and the rest of Southern Alberta), by coming to visit? Well, Calgary is open! Check out this video from Tourism Calgary that might just bring tears to your eyes if you’re from Cowtown: http://youtu.be/Yoni1_vJPtE (My apologies – please click through, I can’t get the video to embed at the moment!)

And secondly, this is a really fascinating infographic from The City of Calgary about the flood. The first bit is nothing to smile about, but read the Recovery portion at the bottom. Spectacular.

It’s going to take us a long time to recover from this. I hope you’ll consider making Calgary & Southern Alberta a travel destination to support us!