About 200 people attended the fourth and final West Flat Citizens Group community barbecue of the summer on Wednesday August 19th at Crescent Acres, wrapping up a series organizers say was also used to hear what residents want in their neighbourhoods.
Executive director Dawn Robins said people came from across Prince Albert for the free barbecue, which followed earlier events at Alfred Jenkins, Midtown and Lions Park in West Flat.
“It went really well,” Robins said. “We had lots of community.”
Robins said about 200 people is roughly average for the neighbourhood events. The group’s annual West Flat barbecue drew about 700 people this year.
The group has used forms and conversations through the barbecue project to collect feedback from different areas of the city. Robins said residents have asked for more free programming, including sports, arts and recreation for children, youth and seniors.
She said there were no new concerns raised specifically at Wednesday’s event, although safety for children remains a recurring issue.
The group’s next step is to take what it has heard back to community leaders. Robins said she wants to bring city councillors together with community club board members and volunteers to look at what each neighbourhood already has, what it is missing and what could be added.
“I hope that we can sit down, asset map each community, and find out what they have and don’t have,” she said.
Robins said she would also like to help clubs find funding for staff and programming.
Arjun Pillai/Daily Herald
Children gather for hot dogs during the West Flat Citizens Group’s free community barbecue at Crescent Acres on Wednesday. Executive director Dawn Robins said one thing that stood out over the summer series was the number of children who came to the events on their own, knowing they could get food in a safe space.
The West Flat Citizens Group barbecue project was also included in the City’s 2026 Community Grant Program material. The application described the summer events as a way to bring children and families together and help re-establish community clubs as places where young people can regularly access free or low-cost activities.
Prince Albert resident Ryan Massier attended Wednesday’s barbecue with his three daughters. He said events like the barbecue help children meet other kids and give adults a chance to connect as well.
“The kids make a whole lot more new friends,” Massier said. “The camaraderie between adults is there.”
Massier said he would attend similar events throughout the year.
Robins said one thing that stood out over the four barbecues was the number of children who showed up without their parents.
“They know they’re in a safe space and they know that they can be fed,” she said.
Robins said the longer-term goal is to have community clubs take on more activity in their own neighbourhoods, with the West Flat Citizens Group helping where it can with programming and funding.
“I just hope we can pull the community together and have free access to programming and any kind of services in each of the areas of the city,” she said.
arjun.pillai@paherald.sk.ca
