• The Alberta NDP talked pensions during a town hall on Feb. 1 in High River, where many in attendance weren’t keen on Alberta going it alone. The town hall was part of the party’s province-wide tour discussing the UCP’s proposed in-province pension plan. The High River Library was filled with attendees, both in support and against the UCP’s proposal to leave the Canada Pension Plan.
• Okotoks was a focal point in the first live draft in the history of the Alberta Major Female Lacrosse League. Brooklynn Carson was selected first overall to her hometown Okotoks Ladies Raiders with fellow Okotokian Lexi Ballance hearing her name called six picks later during the Feb. 4 draft at the Canadian Brewhouse in Okotoks.
• The Okotoks Hot Chocolate Festival returned for its fifth anniversary from Feb. 7-17. The festival saw more than 15 businesses create their own unique hot chocolate drinks in a fun competition where customers voted on which place made the best and most original drinks.
• Okotoks students traded textbooks for placards and joined others across the province in a walkout on Feb. 7 to protest recently announced policies that would impact transgender youth. About 50 students took part in the walkout at Foothills Composite High School, gathering to speak out against the policies that Premier Danielle Smith rolled out a week earlier.
• Young activists spent a day and night outdoors braving the cold in the name of charity. Eleven secondary students at Ecole Beausoleil, Okotoks’ Francophone school, along with two supervisors spent 24 hours outside on Feb. 8 and 9. Students in grades 7 to 11 raised money for the Okotoks Food Bank.
• Turner Valley now has its own off-leash dog park. The park, which officially opened on Feb. 11, is located at the end of Turner Drive and is north of the Sheep River, offering a scenic spot for dogs and owners to frolic. The park was approved in 2022 after years of deliberation and research.
• Mental health awareness was in the spotlight when the puck dropped on an annual hockey showcase. The Okotoks Oilers and Foothills School Division’s Minds Matter Team brought over 850 students to the Centennial Arenas on Feb. 13 for the second annual Mental Health Game.
• Finlay Knox won gold at the Doha 2024 World Aquatic Championships on Feb. 15 in the 200m IM, breaking his own Canadian record by touching the wall in a time of 1:56.64. Knox, 23, was in third place for stretches of the race but stormed back in the freestyle leg to secure top spot.
• A decade of classical music was celebrated in Okotoks on Feb. 25 when the Foothills Philharmonic Society hosted its 10th anniversary concert at Okotoks Alliance Church. The organization, which started in 2014 with the vision of bringing beautiful music to the Foothills, has come a long way in the last 10 years.
• A replacement school in Okotoks is starting to take shape on paper. Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools unveiled the initial design of a replacement building for Good Shepherd School during an open house this month. The school will be built in the D’Arcy neighbourhood after funding was included in last year’s provincial budget.
• The Okotoks Curling Club’s Team Bachek had a draw for the 2024 Alberta Winter Games male curling gold medal in an extra end and completed the assignment to defeat the hometown rink 7-6 in Grand Prairie. Skip Kelser Bachek’s rink also included second Dylan Miller of Okotoks.
