Congratulations to Lakeshore Heights Association who won this years Interlake Municipal Recreation Association (IMRA) Recreation Builders Award. Typically an Awards Dinner would be held but due to COVID-19, things had to be done on a slightly smaller scale. Mayor Debbie Fiebelkorn presented the award to Edith & Herb Summerfield who accepted on behalf of the Lakeshore Heights Association at the November 16 Council Meeting.
Lakeshore Heights is situated on the east shores of Lake Winnipeg and is about 3 kms south of Grand Marais. There are approximately 290 residential lots, with both permanent and seasonal residents, which just continues to grow. The Association recognizes the importance of recreation for their residents within their community and has put in the hard work, with the help of other volunteers, to provide just that to the area. A number of recreational spaces along the lake include play structures, beach volleyball court, basketball court, horseshoe pits and picnic shelter with picnic tables.
“In the past, the municipality has assisted with grant funding for some projects but more recently the Association has done fundraising and used their own funds for projects. The Association is always looking for ways to improve the area for residents and their guests and are presently working with our Recreation Director to make the feature more accessible and update some dated equipment” said Mayor Fiebelkorn.
When accepting the award, Edith Summerfield helped provide insight into what makes Lakeshore Heights such a vibrant community. “Lakeshore Heights boasts multiple beautiful green space areas with the residents being the gatekeepers of the green spaces. They realize the importance of improving and enhancing these much valued community spaces and appreciate the value of having these areas for neighbours, friends and kids to gather and make new friendships”, said Edith.
The Association also strives to provide communication to their residents so they can stay connected. They took on the task of obtaining email addresses and phone numbers of each resident so that they can send out important information via email, in addition to their website, Facebook, bulletin boards throughout the community and brochures available for new owners.
“Our biggest and best asset is volunteers”, said Edith. The volunteers help event hosts run an abundance of events that they really pride themselves on, including a community garage sale, family picnic, volleyball tournament, pancake breakfast, horseshoe tournament, golf tournament and dinner and trivia night to name a few, with new events being added every year.
We couldn’t be more proud that the community of Lakeshore Heights, within the RM of St. Clements, were awarded and recognized for their hard work and dedication to providing such an enriched place for people to call home as they truly recognize the value of community.