The Pulse: Sept. 5, 2025

The Metro Cinema will begin its 2025 to 2026 guest programmed series in October, and the roster features curation from Biboye Onanuga, the latest musician in residence for Edmonton Public Library, which pairs live jazz with documentaries on the genre's history.

What is guest programming? Metro has a longstanding tradition of inviting people to pitch series of film screenings that focus on genres, cultures, and themes. Heather Noel, Metro's programming manager, previously told Taproot that this helps the cinema better reflect Edmonton's people. Now, in the lead-up to the launch, Noel detailed how the upcoming series will explore Edmonton's connections to rivers and jazz, while also reaching into horror niches and highlighting the cinematic forebears to Lana Del Rey.

"We're always excited when people can propose a series that involves a live performance element," Noel told Taproot about the Onanuga series. "That's another way that we can support the local arts community, which is a huge part of our mandate. (Live performances work especially well) if the guest programmer has connections to that community."

Onanuga's Live on Screen series is planned for November. He is embedded in Edmonton's music scene, performing at both Edmonton's historic Yardbird Suite and in basement dance clubs, among other places. He has organized tributes to hip-hop legends at the Yardbird, and runs the New Standards night at 9910, below The Common.

Noel said Metro locks in series themes before specific titles, so there are few films ready to share just yet. One of her key roles as part of the guest series is to find out what films are available and make the deals to show them, based on the guest's wish list and some gentle input from the Metro team.

Another extremely Edmonton series is River City Reels by Scott Campbell, which will run in July 2026. Campbell described the series as a celebration of Metro's connection to the nearby North Saskatchewan River, and noted each film prominently features a river. Don't expect to see the North Saskatchewan itself on the screen, though, Noel said.

"When we put these movies together, it just really evoked the Edmonton river valley, which is funny, because none of these films have anything to do with Edmonton directly," she said. "Some of the river movies that came up were The African Queen, Deliverance, Apocalypse Now, (and) some more obscure stuff."

One imaginative series with no obvious Edmonton angle is Cinematic Songwriters: Lana Del Rey by arts and culture writer Mackenzie Mayor. She will examine themes of the GRAMMY-nominated performer's songwriting, which draws heavily from American iconography of the past.

"Complex female characters, loss of innocence, and coping with the pitfalls of the American dream are explored through the selection of films reflecting Del Rey's elevated 'sad girl' pop music," Mayor wrote in the synopsis for the series. "Experience the TikTok edits or Tumblr .gifs in their original contexts while learning more about how film and music have ongoing conversations."

The full season of guest programming runs from October 2025 through September 2026, and Metro is showing a highlight reel during a launch event on Sept. 12, when the cinema screens Charlie Chaplin's The Kid alongside live music from Edmonton Oilers organist Vince Anderson. Ahead of the season, Metro will be a host venue for the Edmonton International Film Festival, which starts on Sept. 25. The festival has shared some of its lineup, including the locally made film, Buffet Infinity.

• Ahead of the Oct. 20 municipal election, Edmonton mayoral candidates Michael Walters and Andrew Knack are focusing on youth and traffic safety. Walters proposes expanding youth recreation and after-school programs by waiving school gym rental fees for nonprofits to host daily free or low-cost activities. Knack pledges to establish a traffic safety team outside a west Edmonton school to address speeding and excessively noisy vehicles. A recent Leger poll indicated nearly 60% of Edmontonians are dissatisfied with the city's current direction.
• The federal government announced $4.5 million in funding through the Affordable Housing Fund to help Veterans' House Canada build 40 supportive residences for homeless veterans in Edmonton's Athlone neighbourhood. This project, supported by the federal, provincial, and municipal governments, and Veterans' House Canada's equity, will offer bachelor units with amenities like a fitness room and meditation park. On-site services will provide mental health and addiction support to veterans.
• Alberta bookstores, including Audreys Books and Magpie Books in Edmonton, say they are seeing significant sales spike in the wake of the Alberta government's move to ban books containing what it sees as explicit content. Kelly Dyer with Audreys Books says sales of graphic novels identified by the government have spiked, along with Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, which was listed for removal from Edmonton Public Schools libraries.
• The novel The Lesser Blessed, by Tłı̨chǫ author Richard Van Camp, was among more than 200 titles on an Edmonton Public Schools list for removal after the Alberta government ordered school libraries to ban sexually explicit content. Van Camp expressed honour at his book's inclusion, stating that such bans often encourage people to read the works. His novel, set in a fictional town in the Northwest Territories, explores true lived experiences and graphic content, which Van Camp defends as vital. The province paused the ban on Sept. 2, but announced a new order will be introduced.
• Edmontonians are seeing more bats as bat season unfolds, with populations preparing to migrate for winter and pups leaving their families. Dale Gienow, executive director of WILDNorth, reported 50 calls in two weeks about bats in homes and unusual locations. Experts caution against touching bats due to rabies risk, advising heavy gloves or contacting WILDNorth for assistance.
• The Edmonton Police Service made an arrest in connection with the July 12 arson that severely damaged the playground at St. Pius X Catholic Elementary School in north Edmonton. Police charged Rayden Bigstone, 20, with arson and issued a province-wide warrant for Darius Bigstone, 20, who is also wanted for arson. The fire destroyed slides, a bridge, canopies, and the rubber surface of the playground, which had been replaced in 2024 after a $250,000 fundraising effort. The Sherbrooke Community League and St. Pius X Parent Association have launched a new fundraiser, raising more than $11,000 toward a $50,000 goal for repairs.
• A vehicle transporting an excavator crashed into a Whitemud Drive overpass on Sept. 4. The incident caused significant delays and slowed northbound traffic on Anthony Henday Drive in Edmonton.
• OEG announced Welcome Back Hockey Weekend will return to Edmonton's ICE District from Sept. 20-21. The event features free admission to activities like an open Edmonton Oilers practice at Rogers Place, a locker room sale, and opportunities to meet Oilers and Oil Kings alumni. On Sept. 20, the Edmonton Oil Kings will play their home opener against the Red Deer Rebels. The Oilers will start their 2025-26 preseason schedule on Sept. 21, with a split-squad game against the Calgary Flames.
• Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl is eager to see teammate Connor McDavid sign an extension with the team. Draisaitl, who signed an eight-year extension in September 2024, anticipates McDavid will seek a shorter three-to-four-year deal upon completing his current $100-million contract.

On this day in 1931, the Gyro Club of Edmonton was opening a new playground at the University of Alberta Hospital, their fourth such facility in the city.

At the turn of the century, Edmonton didn't have a lot of good places for kids to play. The city's population was rapidly growing, and empty spaces were giving way to new buildings. The city's park infrastructure wasn't enough to serve its numbers, so many kids ended up in more dangerous places — spending their days playing on busy city streets or swimming in the North Saskatchewan River.

That led to concerns about both the children's physical and moral safety. Many social reformers thought that the rapid urbanization Edmonton was experiencing would lead to overcrowding, disease, and poverty. Playgrounds and supervised play were seen as an inoculation against such ills, and more people began calling for more public spaces for kids.

Those concerns inspired the formation of a local chapter of the Gyro Club. The organization (named after the gyroscope, not the food) had started in Cleveland in 1912 as a fraternal social club, before spreading to other cities, including a Toronto chapter that began in 1919. Canadian chapters of the club quickly became known for their philanthropic work around establishing playgrounds and other infrastructure for children.

Edmonton's Gyro Club was established in 1921 with a membership of 32, most of them local businessmen. Originally, membership was limited to men under 35, and no two members were allowed to be from the same business sector.

They quickly began work on the playgrounds. By this time, Edmonton's booming expansion had cooled following the First World War, leading to foreclosed land that the city could donate to the cause, while the club raised money for construction and operation. By 1922, the Gyro Club opened the creatively titled Playground No. 1 in Patricia Park (now Giovanni Caboto Park).

That would be the first of nine playgrounds the club would build in the city, with an additional one in Fort Saskatchewan. And while children's play spaces were a common cause for other such Gyro clubs in Canada, Edmonton's system was unique. Instead of building the playgrounds and handing them over to the municipality, the local club continued to operate and maintain the playgrounds. They also funded play programs and wading pools at the locations.

While some of the money came from the group's membership fees, most of it came from fundraising. In the 1930s, the club began hosting an annual children's carnival downtown, which soon became a primary source of funds.

In 1946, the club ended its stewardship over the playgrounds it had helped construct, handing over operations to the city. The Gyro Club continues as both a social club and a service organization, and has recently established an endowment fund with the Edmonton Community Foundation for the renovation of older playgrounds, as well as the construction of new facilities.

This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist Rev Recluse of Vintage Edmonton.

Here are some events happening this weekend in the Edmonton area.

• Sept. 5: From Crisis to Community: Tackling Homelessness Together starting at 2pm at Brownlee LLP
• Sept. 5: Alberta Avenue Night Market: La Morenita starting at 6pm at La Morenita Cafe
• Sept. 5-7: Purple City Music Festival
• Sept. 5-7: Kaleido Family Arts Festival
• Sept. 6: Millhurst Apple Cider Celebration starting at 11am at Sakaw Gardens Hall
• Sept. 7: Alberta Bike Swap starting at 8am at Alberta Aviation Museum
• Sept. 7: Savour Strathcona County starting at 3pm at Strathcona County Community Centre

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• Sept. 13: Down by the River Festival at Louise McKinney Riverfront Park
• Sept. 13: Rick Mercer's Stand-up for Canada Comedy Tour at Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
• Sept. 13-14: Edmonton Mural Fest Wrap Party, Wet Paint 2025 at Freemasons Hall of Edmonton

Visit the beta version of the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.

Test your crossword prowess and deploy a little of your Edmonton knowledge. Complete the puzzle.

Here's a clue to the circled letters.