Hello Neighbours!

Mark your calendars for Neighbour Day, on Saturday, October 4, 2025!

Good Neighbour Day is a chance to come together, connect, and celebrate the incredible people and places that make our neighbourhoods so special.

It’s all about building strong relationships, creating welcoming spaces, and showing that Medicine Hat is a city with a big heart!

Whether you’re planning something big or small, there are so many fun ways to get involved and make your neighbourhood shine.

Some ideas include:

• Neighbourhood Clean Ups – come together to clean up and beautify your neighbourhood spaces. Streets, parks, alleys, and green areas.
• Neighbourhood Walk – A neighbourhood walk is a great way to get outside, meet neighbours, and enjoy the community together! It’s a simple, healthy, and fun activity that brings people closer while exploring the places we call home. You can share your meeting point with your neighbours, pick a route, and enjoy your neighbourhood while you get your steps in.
• Neighbourhood BBQs or Picnics – hosting a neighbourhood BBQ or picnic is a fun way to bring the community together! Neighbours can enjoy delicious food, games, and great company in a relaxed outdoor setting. It’s the perfect chance to meet new people, catch up with friends, and celebrate the spirit of community. Bring your appetite and join the fun!
• Neighbourhood Window Walks - Be creative and decorate your windows with fun, themed displays for others to enjoy while walking through the neighbourhood. It’s a simple, family-friendly activity that spreads joy, sparks creativity, and makes our streets feel welcoming and festive.
• Neighbourhood Door Decorating Contest – Choose your theme, invite everyone to decorate their doors using that theme, and then stroll the neighbourhood to admire everyone’s designs. Vote on your favorite and host a get together to announce the winner. It’s a friendly competition that spreads joy, colour, and connection right on your doorstep.
• Show Random Acts of Neighbouring - Celebrate your neighbours or do something kind to show you care. Share your ideas using #GoodNeighbourDayMH
• Neighbourhood Art Gallery - Families can use their imaginations to create their own works of art, chalk drawings or yard sculptures in their yards, sidewalks and driveways for the neighbourhood to enjoy.
• Driveway Concerts – Turn your driveway into a stage and bring the sound of music to your street. Driveway concerts are a fun, family-friendly way to showcase local talent, connect with neighbours, and enjoy live music – right from your lawn chair. Not tickets, no travel – just good vibes and great tunes, right at home.
• Neighbourhood Yard Sale – Clear out the clutter, meet your neighbours, and find hidden gems at a community-wide garage sale. It’s a fun, sustainable way to give items a second life while turning your street into a lively, local marketplace.
• Start a Little Free Library – Calling all book lovers. Why not start a little free library, where neighbours can take a book, leave a book, and share the stories you love. Building and decorating your library could be a wonderfully creative neighbourhood activity. Once built, register your little free library at littlefreelibrary.org
• Street History Night – Individuals who have lived in the neighbourhood longest could host a walk and set up tables with old pictures and info about the neighbourhood (consider checking with our Esplanade Arts and Heritage Collections & Archives for more info)
• Plan a Neighbourhood Christmas Tree – This winter choose a tree in your neighbourhood, and encourage neighbours to bring items to decorate the tree so everyone can enjoy.
• Neighbourhood Book Club – Bring your community together through the love of reading! A neighbourhood book club is a fun, relaxed way to connect with others, spark great conversations, and discover new stories. Whether you’re a seasoned bookworm or just looking for a reason to read more, starting a book club is the perfect way to turn pages and build friendships.
• Host Mini Connections – Mini connections are simple, low-key gatherings that bring neighbours together -whether it’s a quick coffee chat, a sidewalk game, drinks on the driveway, or a front yard meet-and-greet. It’s all about creating space for friendly faces, meaningful conversations, and stronger community bonds. Just a few minutes can make lasting connections.
• Celebrate Diversity: Host a Neighbourhood Culture Night – Bring your community together through rich flavours, stories, and traditions of cultures from around the world! Culture Nights are a fun, welcoming way to share food, music, customs, and conversations – while learning more about your neighbours. Everyone’s heritage has a place at the table, so come curious and leave connected.
• Create a Neighbourhood Chalk Mural on your sidewalk – Bring your sidewalk to life and brighten everyone’s day with a collaborative chalk mural. Invite neighbours of all ages to add their creativity, share positive messages, or simply have fun with color. Turn your street into a shared canvas of community spirit.
• Host a Neighbourhood Play Time – This one is all about fun, movement, and community. Neighbourhood families, gather up some of your outdoor games, toys, chalk, and bubbles to share and play in a green space or park. Kids play and parents connect, making this activity a low-key, high-energy way to build relationships with your neighbours.
• Photography Scavenger Hunt – This activity is great for people of all ages, but especially teens. Capture unique images of your neighbourhood through a themed photo challenge, designed to test your creativity and build connection to your neighbourhood.

Whatever you decide to do – we’d love to hear about it! Tag us in you stories, photos and videos at #GoodNeighbourDayMH or share them on our Shape Your City Page (shapeyourcity.medicinehat.ca) under the "Stories" tab (https://shapeyourcity.medicinehat.ca/neighbourhood-associations?tool=story_telling_tool#tool_tab)

You can also Nominate a Good Neighbour by clicking: https://shapeyourcity.medicinehat.ca/embeds/projects/44598/survey-tools/56224

Finally, don't forget that if you'd like to apply for a small grant to support your neighbourhood connecting idea, you can apply for a City of Medicine Hat Microgrant here, https://www.medicinehat.ca/grants

Interested in celebrating Earth Day and meeting others in your neighbourhood?? Join us at one of our Clean-Up and Connection litter pick up events. See the poster for more details!

Neighbourhood Association Information Night

Thinking about starting or joining a Neighbourhood Association in your area?

Join us on February 25 at the Esplanade in the Studio Theatre at 6:30 p.m. for a brief update on what has been happening with Neighbourhood Associations in our community and a chance to connect with others who are interested in starting or growing neighbourhood associations.

It will provide an opportunity to think about what events you might like to see in your neighbourhood and plan for some next steps, all with the help of some wonderful mentors and experienced individuals who can help support you through the process.

There is no cost to this event. It will be a relaxed evening about connecting and building ideas about how to make our neighbourhoods even stronger and more vibrant than they already are. We hope you’ll consider joining us!

You might be wondering, what's the difference between Neighbourhood Associations and microgrants?

Neighborhood Associations are groups of residents who regularly plan and promote activities to enhance community connections and well-being. Microgrants, on the other hand, can be a great starting point for forming these associations, allowing you to test the waters and see if there's interest in ongoing connection.

This heat map shows where neighbourhood connection took place this year via the microgrant program!

In 2024 neighbourhood microgrants received 53 applications. 32 were approved (21 were declined because they were not neighbourhood-specific projects). The City allocated $12,000 to these events.

These events brought together 1,390 participants and 155 volunteers, who contributed 450 hours of their time.

Neighbourhoods hosted a variety of events including block parties, community beautification gatherings, workshops, BBQs, concerts, and cultural celebrations. These events helped residents meet new neighbours and strengthen community bonds.

Neighbourhood Associations of Medicine Hat and Area (NA) had around 100 people participate in their launch events. Eight walks occurred throughout the city.

The Ross Glen walk stopped by local artist, Robert Weismann’s home. His stained glass was on display along with a restored window from St. Thereasa’s Academy (which was located in Crescent Heights from 1915-1973). Robert and another walk attendee over their interest in historic buildings.

Participants who completed the survey all agreed that walking with neighbours helped them to know more about their community and people in it, meet new people, feel more connected, and would attend a similar walk in the future.

Neighbourhood Associations is planning an educational evening to learn more about how to start one or connect with others interested in community building. If you are living in Ross Glen, Riverside, or Kensington and want to join a Neighbourhood Association, email Shantel at shaott@medicinehat.ca to be connected to things starting in your area.

Community Conversation on Neighbourhood AssociationsCheck out this Community Conversation that one of our members, Michelle, did with Rogers' Ian Parkinson.

This summer neighbourhoods across Medicine Hat have been hosting community events to get to know one another, build connection, and have fun. Here are a few photos from those events.