The Pulse: Sept. 2, 2021

As local arts institutions go, the fact that the Edmonton Arts Council (EAC) is one of the younger kids on the block may come as a surprise.

This year marks the EAC's 25th anniversary — the same year the Fringe celebrates 40 years, the Citadel Theatre turns 56, and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra is now over 100. It's celebrating with a city-wide scavenger hunt that encourages citizens to interact with local art every day, be it by seeking out public sculptures, checking out albums by homegrown talent, or sharing thoughts about prolific arts producers online.

"We hope that people come to realize that their city is alive with arts and culture, whether it's neighbourhood concerts and parades, or public art pieces at their closest transit station," the EAC's executive director Sanjay Shahani told Taproot.

"We've had some fantastic thoughts shared with us so far – one person said they've been attending the Fringe for 40 years, and someone else had just moved to Edmonton and was volunteering at their first Fringe."

• Council unanimously approved mandatory bike passing distances on Wednesday. As of Sept. 30, drivers will have to give cyclists at least one metre on roads with a speed limit of 60 km/h or less and 1.5 metres on roads over 60 km/h when passing.
• The federal Conservatives are promising to fund two planned LRT expansion projects if elected in September. Erin O'Toole said the party would move forward with the already-approved 4.5-kilometre Capital Line South extension and prioritize the Metro Line LRT expansion from Blatchford to Castle Downs.
• The CFL has issued a directive to teams banning them from signing offensive lineman Jacob Ruby, who was released from the Elks on Tuesday. According to TSN football insider Dave Naylor, Ruby misrepresented his vaccination status to the team.
• Fort Edmonton Park is offering a series of Indigenous culture workshops this fall. Indigenous Perspectives includes traditional stories and classes traditional plant harvesting and jewellery making. The series was mostly sold out as of Wednesday.
• Edmonton's first standalone hospice celebrated its grand opening on Wednesday. The 12-suite Roozen Family Hospice Centre, located at 98 Avenue and 148 Street, provides end-of-life care for individuals who do not need acute medical care.
• Premier Jason Kenney made his first public appearance in nearly a month during a Facebook Live on Wednesday. Kenney addressed the absence, stating that he took some weeks of summer holiday. Since his last appearance on Aug. 9, active cases and ICU hospitalizations have quadrupled. There are currently 12,290 active cases and 465 people in hospital, with 107 in ICU.
• New COVID-19 cases in Alberta could climb to 6,000 per day by the beginning of October, with more than 1,500 hospitalizations, according to a series of reports from the B.C. COVID-19 Modelling Group.
• Public health experts are calling for the government to implement a targeted approach to improve vaccine uptake in rural areas, where hesitancy, lack of trust, poor internet connections and long travel distances are contributing to low vaccination rates.

On this day in 1904, construction was set to begin on the McKay Avenue School.

Gilbert John Murray-Kynynmound Elliot, the eighth Governor General of Canada, was invited to lay the cornerstone for the school. The building was constructed on the same site as Edmonton's original 1881 schoolhouse. However, unlike the original wood structure, McKay Avenue School was a Richardsonian Romanesque brick building — an impressive structure befitting Edmonton's new status as a city.

The school, as well as the street it sat on, were named after Dr. William M. Mackay, a surgeon at Hudson's Bay Company who later opened a practice in Edmonton. It was called "McKay Avenue" due to a spelling error.

When Alberta became a province in 1905, McKay Avenue School pulled double-duty as a meeting place for legislators. The first two sittings of the Alberta Legislature took place on the school's third floor. There, the leaders of the new province made decisions that would shape its future, including the founding of the University of Alberta and establishing Edmonton as the capital city.

The school expanded in 1912 to accommodate a growing population. Over the next few decades, the building underwent numerous renovations and updates to accommodate new students and changes in education. It was used as a school for almost 80 years, finally seeing its last students in 1983.

While no longer holding classes, the public school board decided to keep the building dedicated to education. It now serves as the archive and museum for Edmonton's public schools as well as a stately visual reminder of the city's early history.

Education looks a lot different in Edmonton today. The city now has hundreds of schools within its boundaries, and when students return to the classroom this month, it will be with restrictions and new protocols to protect against the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is based on a clipping found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist @revRecluse — follow @VintageEdmonton for daily ephemera via Twitter.

• Pageantinta is a mini drag pageant on Sept. 2 hosted and judged by Edmonton drag queen LaDonna Stone. Others on the judging panel include Gemma Nye and current reigning Pageantinta winner Etherea Cree. Audience members and judges will have the opportunity to crown this year's pageant queen.
• Oracle Assembly, in association with Toy Guns Dance Theatre and Small Matters Productions, presents Dodona, a Forest Experience from Sept. 2-4. Guests can ask questions of "The Oracle" in an "intimate, outdoor experience that combines music and myth, tales and trees, and the unearthing scientific sanctuary of the Edmonton ecosystem."
• La Connexional, in partnership with Black Owned Market Edmonton (BOM YEG), will host a patio day party on Sept. 4 in celebration of BOM YEG's cocolime mint bitters launch.
• Strap on your helmets and bibs for Edmonton's 5th Annual Food Bike Tour on Sept. 4. Cyclists are invited to tour around the city sampling food from four local eateries, meet new people, and support local businesses.
• The Reynolds Museum Harvest Festival runs Sept. 4-5. Experience farming machinery at work, visit the petting zoo, and play carnival games in their family fun zone.

Photo: Dodona, a Forest Experience/Ian Walker