Town of Sylvan Lake Mayor Megan Hanson says the hardest part in 2021 has been remaining focused on the future instead of reacting during a crisis.

By Alessia Proietti

Year-end review, New Year Preview

Sylvan Lake Mayor Megan Hanson looking forward to new year

Dec 29, 2021 | 4:16 PM

Sylvan Lake Mayor Megan Hanson believes a new year preview is just as important as a year-end review.

“That’s one of our goals for next year, that we’re continually moving forward when things are coming up every day because I think they will probably continue to do so.”

For council, she says it wasn’t just the pandemic itself that was the most challenging part of the year, but rather the difficulty in remaining focused on purpose.

“When you’re going through crisis, like the rest of the world is, it’s really tough to still ensure that you’re forward thinking and that you’re not just reacting to the crisis around you.”

The mayor expressed pride in the various activities put together throughout the year to ensure that a sense of community remained present in the town.

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“I think we really worked to still have as many things as we could for a lot of residents to connect. And that was really a success for us,” said Hanson.

She described packed summer days by the lake and Central Albertans visiting the Sylvan Lake Gulls baseball games. The Flannel and Feast festival in September consisted of locals in their flannels coming together for a petting zoo, axe throwing, pie eating contest, and more. As well, the Winter Village on Lakeshore Drive set up from December to March has been in full-swing with weekly fire pits, skating on the lake, Christmas choirs, snowman contests, and decorative lights.

Mayor Hanson plans on keeping the rhythm going for 2022, especially with regards to the construction of Pogadl Park.

With a plan to open new sections gradually, the park will consist of a golf stadium and a large playground for children of all ages, which she believes will be one of the finest in western Canada. A spray park within is also set to open for the summer.

“That project has been 10 years in the making. We’ve had a group of volunteers in town that got together and have been fundraising and working towards that for a really long time.”

This forward-thinking mentality, she says, is the most important part of her role.

“Our goal is to make long-term impact as elected officials. It’s important that we look past this current term. Our job is to create the bylaws and the policies that make this a great community to live in 10 years from now not just in the next month.”