Every year the Family Day long weekend gives us a well-needed break from our busy lives to take a moment to appreciate what really matters: The people closest to us – our families.
By the time February rolls around the holidays are behind us, we all return to our old routines. The parents are back at work and the children are back at school. That doesn’t give us a lot of time to connect with our families as much as we’d like outside of evenings and weekends. And with so many distractions at our fingertips, sometimes it can be hard to see what’s right in front of us.
That’s why Family Day is so important. It gives us a long weekend so we can set some time aside to spend with our families. It’s an opportunity of which we should all take advantage. After all, years from now, it will be moments like those that we look back on with fondness. For Mayor Siemens, Family Day is a time to get together with his wife Kelly and daughters Ashley and Alexandra to do a little hiking, which will surely leave fond memories of one racing ahead and the other bringing up the caboose.
This weekend, we encourage all Abbotsford residents to take the time to connect with family and enjoy each other’s company. The great thing about our community is there are plenty of things we can do with our family right here. Our parks and historic down are at our disposal, as are our city facilities.
On Feb. 19 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. free family activities are being offered at the Abbotsford and Matsqui Recreation Centres. At the ARC families can attend playtime, fitness, skating or sports like pickleball, badminton, soccer, volleyball and basketball. Both the ARC and MRC will be offering public swims. For more information about the activities being offered and for the Family Day schedule, click here.
Whatever our residents choose to do with their extra day off, we hope they do it with their families.
It is always gratifying to see our community come together for celebrations like these. It’s a perfect opportunity for families to meet to not only strengthen old connections, but to make new connections as well.
Connectivity is important to us on City Council. It even influences the choices we make in council chambers. That’s because having an inclusive and connected community is the primary pillar of our 2022 to 2026 Strategic Plan, the framework to which all of our decision making is measured against.
One of our goals for our four-year term is to value recreation and support facilities, amenities activities that connect us. We aim to fulfill that goal through actions like advancing park amenities, completing and implementing and Arena Strategy and developing an Aquatics and Infrastructure Strategy.
We want Abbotsford to be a place where people put down roots and raise a family. Where people can get affordable homes and good jobs and build a future for themselves. As Council we do what can to support the greater Abbotsford family. Because when families thrive, we all thrive.
Happy Family Day.
Abbotsford City Council