Our regularly scheduled monthly meetings give members an excellent opportunity to socialize with each other and engage with fantastic guest speakers on current topics. Members can attend in person or via ZOOM. Free parking is available at the back of the restaurant.
Date: Wednesday, March 13th, 2024
Location: Limericks Traditional Pub, 7304 Macleod Trail, Calgary, Alberta
5:00 PM – 7 PM – Dinner and drinks available anytime after 5 PM. To view the Limericks menu – CLICK HERE
Food and Drink Specials:
- Wednesday food and drink specials include a $9.99 pizza and $6.99 beer (20 oz) – see the pictures below
7 PM – 8:30 PM – Member Meeting (agenda to be provided in advance)
8:30 PM to ??? – Socializing after meeting
Guest Speaker: Deb Lee – Retired Nurse, Community Advocate, and 2013 Canada Hall of Fame “Everyday Sports Hero” Award Winner (see picture below)
- Deb is a retired nurse who has lived in Bridgeland-Riverside for 27 years. She watched the hospital come down in 1998 and has seen the gradual rebuilding of the community. As an amateur historian, she has learned about the hospital’s past. She wants to be sure that new residents, children, and visitors to Calgary are made aware of the important legacy of the hospital.
Discussion Topic:
- The General Hospital was an important institution in Calgary for 108 years – from 1890 until its untimely demise in 1998. The first two iterations of ‘the General’ were located on the south side of the Bow River but the huge growth in Calgary’s population in the early 1900s prompted the opening of the General (version #3) in the newly annexed community of Bridgeland in 1910. Hear about how ‘the General’ changed along with the evolution of Calgary and became a leader in many areas. Government cost-cutting in the 1990s prompted the closure and implosion of the hospital in 1998, leaving only a memorial wall to mark its presence. The important story of the Calgary General Hospital is at risk of being forgotten. Bridgeland Riverside Community Association has initiated a plan to develop a commemorative plaza to tell the story of ‘the General’. To learn more about the plan, CLICK HERE.
Pictures of the Calgary General Hospital in 1953 and when it was imploded in 1998
Picture of Deb Lee receiving a 2013 Canada Sports Hall of Fame “Everyday Sports Hero Award” from Calgary’s Mayor Naheed Nenshi and Andrew Stordeur of Molson Coors Canada.
