Magrath Connects an independent community initiative

Posted on August 6, 2026 by admin

By Heather Cameron
Westwind Weekly News

Magrath Connects is live!

Jeanine Tagg Passey, a Magrath Connects co-founder and community animator in training, says that Magrath Connects is an independent community initiative with a simple but powerful mission — to build a more unified Magrath. 

Passey says that the Magrath Connects website contains information about community events, local businesses, information about parks, trails, fishing, golf, and day-trip opportunities, other and useful information for both residents and new visitors.

The idea for Magrath Connects, Passey says, came about because the Government of Alberta has created an initiative directed at rural communities where they are funding community organizations who want to make a difference in their community. 

“We have been given some initial funding to support the data collection phase that we are currently in,” said Passey. “We need to show data to support new programs that we would like to offer.”

Each town in Alberta, Passey says, can apply to have two or three community animators and their responsibility will be to apply for grants and organize events.

Passey says that Karen Drummond is currently the only community animator, but she and Gloria Aston will be doing community animator training in the fall to provide Drummond with support.

“We would love for our action team to continue to grow so we can access the talents and abilities that different people have to offer,” said Passey.

Magrath Connects, Passey says, was given life by Drummond, who got the group going and did the animator training so that funding could be accessed and so she could also do the research to find out what was needed in Magrath. Drummond, Passey says, was given assistance in this endeavour by Austin. Then, Passey says, she joined in promoting the initiative and also joined in planning the rest of the initiative out.

The first group meeting, Passey states, was about a month ago and it was there that the group started to determine the direction they felt would be appropriate and needful for the residents of Magrath. The group, Passey stated, also utilized the talents of Dari Cook to create the Magrath Connects banner, logo, and pinnies so that the group has something that becomes recognizable. In addition to that, Passey says, the group also created a vision statement and mission statement that guides the efforts made by the group, those efforts including a Facebook page created by Joanna Koegler and moderated by her and Sandy Pierson.

Committees, Passey says, were also created to plan ways to determine the community’s wants and needs, those ways including providing suggestions for events, businesses to add to the site, and other suggestions via the Magrath Connects website: magrathconnects.ca, and there is also an opportunity to fill out a 20-question Magrath Connects Community Discovery Survey at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf3hbu9-cgeH5R1r60vHOL2SBRnGAds881RdWt_BuluCZJeZg/viewform

 “Many survey respondents mentioned that they do not access the current programming or events because they don’t know about them,” said Passey of those who have already filled out the survey. “The website for Magrath Connects is a product of our recognition of the need for a central location for Magrath residence to be able to know what’s going on in town. We’re identifying the great things already happening in our community, and working to fill the gaps where more connection is needed. Our hope is to bring people together in meaningful ways — no matter your age, stage of life, or how long you’ve called Magrath home. Whether you’ve lived here your whole life or are fairly new to town, we want everyone to feel connected in this wonderful little community.”