Westerner Park CEO Shelly Flint. (Westerner Park supplied photo)

By Ian Gustafson

Local feedback

Year in Review: Westerner Park takes a step in community engagement

Dec 28, 2024 | 6:00 AM

CEO Shelly Flint described 2024 as a turnaround year for Westerner Park.

After she was appointed CEO in 2023, Flint said she worked with the team to set an overall vision for Westerner Park and what their role is in the community.

This year, she said, they started to see an overall turnaround after really remembering that they exist for no other purpose than for the community.

“We’re here to be a facility, a venue, a place you can celebrate and make things happen for Red Deer,” she said.

“I saw that this year there was a lot of increased community engagement and participation. I just compare it to last year when I think there were two pancake breakfasts during Westerner Days and this year there were close to 20.”

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Flint said they made sure to focus on what the community needs and wants in everything they did and in all of the celebrations they held.

One of their top highlights from 2024 was when they hosted the United Conservative Party’s Annual General Meeting in November.

At the conclusion of the multi-day event in Red Deer, 6,085 part members voted in favour (91.5 per cent approval rating) of Premier Danielle Smith in her leadership review.

“They raved about our facility in how great it was, how good the meals were, and how friendly the staff were. That was really positive to hear because normally the convention rotates between Edmonton and Calgary. It was really great to get into that cycle,” Flint said.

Another highlight was hosting the 2024 Alberta Municipalities Convention & Trade Show in September.

From Sept. 24-27, more than 1,100 delegates discussed and voted on 27 resolutions brought forth by municipal councils from around the province.

“This event will now be here every three years. We also received fantastic feedback with people talking about it being the best conference they’ve been to,” she added. “It’s just so fulfilling to be able to do that and bring all of that energy to our community.”

Westerner Days, the annual five-day fair and exposition in July, was also a success in the eyes of Flint.

With a passion for fireworks, this year they extended length of the firework shows they held throughout the event.

“The Pony Chuckwagon races were also a favorite but what I would of liked was maybe not quite as hot of weather,” she said referencing the record heatwave.

Looking ahead to 2025, Flint hopes to take community engagement another step further. They’re going to be reaching out to the public with surveys to find out what it is that central Alberta is most interested in participating in.

This includes what events they’re interested in seeing come to Red Deer and what it is they’re looking for from Westerner Park.

“One of the things that was really positive this last year was all of the unexpected support. That was people coming forward saying I can see you really need this and providing it. We hadn’t gone out and asked for it, they saw there was a need and they stepped up,” Flint explained.

“I’m just so thankful for the community’s ongoing support for Westerner. Thank you so much for the year that we’ve had. I’m really looking forward to 2025 and hearing from the community what they’re most interested in.”