The Bowest'ner has been around since 1998 and has had over 100 different editions posted online and delivered to Bowness homeowners. (Sam Robbins, CMRU.ca)
Hidden right next to the historic Bow River, surrounded by big, towering trees, sits a small community that holds the same amount of personality as a small town. From the outside, Bowness appears to be a quiet little community in Calgary, but walking around the streets and exploring the winding pathways reveals a story that holds a ton of history, almost like a time capsule, which other communities can’t replicate.
Behind the newsletter
Zoë Decker is the lead editor and writer of The Bowest’ner, the community’s newsletter, which is sent out to homes every two months. She grew up here in Calgary and went to school overseas in Iceland and South Africa before moving to Bowness in 2019, eventually landing a job at the community association, which she calls “kind of a dream job”. Decker describes The Bowest’ner as a local magazine for residents to follow what is happening around the community and at the community association. “There are lots of pictures, lots of stories. Some of them are written by volunteers who live in the neighbourhood. Most of them are written by me,” Decker says.
A look into the pages
Inside The Bowest’ner’s 32 pages, there are multiple different topics ranging from:
- Upcoming event information
- Recipes
- Stories
- Local promotions
- Artist spotlights
The contents vary with each new issue. Decker tries to write and pick stories that match the season the newsletter will be released, whether that be hiking trail information for the summertime, or a warm recipe to have during a snowstorm. The stories come from volunteers throughout the community, and Decker will edit them as needed. “I’ll change things that need to have maybe a bit of a better flow so it tells the story really nicely for people who are reading it”, says Decker.
Decker loves the calm life in Bowness. “It’s definitely like a slower pace of life and I feel like with everything that’s going on you need that”, Decker says. Decker is proud to call Bowness home and loves being able to connect fellow community members through her writing.
Personal reflection
I found this project to be a very fun and unique experience. Before this project, I would have said that I’m pretty familiar with Bowness. I played hockey and went to school there, even visiting Bowness Park from time to time. But after taking an in-depth look at what makes this community special, I found that I really don’t know the full story of the history that this small place holds. I hope that the Bowness Community Association can use these videos to promote The Bowest’ner to even more people. The newsletter is already popular among community members, and I hope that with the content I’ve provided, the newsletter can be made aware to more people within and outside of the community. Overall, this project has taught me that reporting and writing don’t always need to be formal. There were a lot of guidelines that needed to be followed, and I wasn’t sure how I’d get it all done. Once the interview started, I realized that I was just having a conversation with a Bownesian who has a lot of community pride. It was refreshing to take a minute to sit down and pretty much just take a look around. I feel very proud of the media I’ve produced and have learned a lot about a special place in Calgary.
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