I picked up a publication in Medicine Hat this week, and I am going to enter as much as I can here for reference.

Entering the Hat Christmas 2009

Known as the “oasis of the prairie” for its parks and greenery, the City of Medicine Hat is the major urban centre in southeast Alberta and is the southeast entrance to Alberta’s industrial corridor.  Medicine Hat is also the sunniest city in all of Canada!

Population: 61 thousand

Area: 112 square km

Altitude: 721m (2365 feet) above sea level

Sunshine: 2512 hours per year

Geography

The South Saskatchewan River runs through the heart of Medicine Hat.  Ross Creek and Seven Persons Creek also wind through the city creating scenic coulees and steep terrain.  The city os divided into four quadrants and fourteen diverse neighbourhoods.  The east-west boundary is Division Avenue while the north-south boundary is the South Saskatchewan River.  Streets run east-west; avenues run north-south.

Distances from Other Cities

Cypress Hills 66km/41mi

Lethbridge 168km/105mi

Calgary 409km/256mi

Edmonton 608km/380mi

Swift Current, SK 217km/136mi

Regina, SK 478km/299mi

USA Border (Wildhorse) 146km/91mi

Havre, MT 218km/136mi

Climate

Sunset on Highway 3

As Canada’s sunniest City, Medicine Hat has the longest growing season in Alberta (188+ days).  Summer temperatures average 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit).  Spring and autumn are generally sunny and mild.  Low humidity makes both summer and winter easier to take.  In winter, a Chinook wind can raise the temperature by as much as 34 degrees Celsius (93 Fahrenheit) in one day, an experience never to be forgotten!  The Chinook is a warm, dry wind that descends the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in winter.

Mean Daily Temperatures

July 23°C (73ºF)

August 22ºC (72°F)

December -8ºC (19ºF)

January -13ºC (9ºF)

Regional Hospital: an accedited 325 bed acute and continuing care facility.

Medicine Hat College: a progressive institution serving more than 2500 students.

Family Leisure Centre: a state-of-the-art facility with large aquatic centre, wave pool, ice arena and much more.

Esplanade: Medicine Hat’s Museum, Art Gallery, Archives and Performing Arts Centre.

Parks System: boasts more than 100 parks, an extensive environmental reserve, and 92km of trails for walking and cycling.

Regional Shopping Destination: largest shopping centre in southeast Alberta including malls, power centres and unique boutique shops in our downtown.

Public Library: a full-service adult and children’s library with collections totalling more than 180,000.

Airport: Regional Air service to Calgary International Airport.

Made in Medicine Hat

Among the products manufactured in Medicine Hat are tires for automobiles and heavy equipment, clay brick, pottery clays, granulated urea and anhydrous ammonia fertilizers, thermal carbon black, catalyst compounds for petrochemical and gas processing, compressors, playground equipment, flour, cereals and feeds, commercial printing and publishing, industrial and military un-manned vehicles and systems.

Cypress Hills

The Cypress Hills rise up to 600 metres above the surrounding prairie, to a maximum elevation of 1468m (4816 feet), making it the highest point between the Rocky Mountains and Labrador.   The Cypress Hills are Canada’s first interprovincial park, designated in 1989, and include provincial parks in Alberta and Saskatchewan and the Fort Walsh National Historic Site.

Approximately 700 species of plants and animals thrive in the park, including 14 species of orchids.  The park protects the Cypress Hills landscape, which consists of elevated blocks of lush forest, wetlands and fescue grasslands surrounded by dry, mixed prairie.

In 2007 the new Cypress Hills Visitor Centre opened in the Elkwater townsite, offering visitor information and a gift shop.  Key park features include the Elkwater townsite (a cottage community sitting at the same elevation as the Banff townsite), Horseshoe Canyon and Reesor Lake viewpoints (offering 100km views on a clear day), over 50km of hiking and cross-country ski trails, lakes, camping, fishing, and wildlife viewing.  Additional services include a 9 hole grass green golf course, Hidden Valley Ski Area, excellent fly-fishing areas, accommodation options and tourist services.

Cost of Living

Utility Costs

Why is it called “The Gas City”?  Vast reservoirs of high quality natural gas were discovered beneath the city in 1893 and continue to benefit today’s residents by providing revenue for the city and helping to keep the city’s utility rates among the lowest in Canada.

Tax Advantages

It’s a great combination.  Medicine Hat’s residents enjoy some of the lowest property taxes and most favourable income tax rates in all of Canada.  On top of that, you won’t pay any provincial sales taxes on any goods you buy.

Provincial Income Taxes

Our personal income tax system is very competitive with low personal income tax rates.  Alberta has no General Sales Tax and the lowest tax rate on gasoline in the country.

At 10 percent, Alberta has the lowest top marginal income tax rate on personal income in the country.  Keeping the top rates low provides an incentive for people to work harder, be more productive and save more.  Alberta’s tax system is not only competitive but fair.   We have the highest basic and spousal allowances in Canada, at $15,435 for 2007.  This means that Alberta residents can earn more money before having to pay any provincial income tax.  A working family with twochildren can earn up to $38,200 before paying any provincial income tax because the Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit will offset any taxes paid at that income level.

City Property Taxes

Property Taxes and Utility costs combined, Medicine Hat has the third lowest average of any major city in Canada, only surpassed by St. John’s, NL and Surrey, BC.

Housing

Moving to Medicine Hat from larger cities can be a pleasant surprise when it comes to buying a home.  The cost of housing here compares with other cities in Alberta as well as other provinces.  Average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment is around $660.

Landfill

The city’s landfill is located 3km off Highway 41A, just past city limits.  Household hazardous waste is accepted free of charge year round.

Local Radio and TV

MY96 – 96.1FM “Today’s best music”

New Country CHAT – 94.5FM (Country & Western)

Alive 99.5FM (Christian Music)

Rock 105.3 “The Hat’s Best Rock”

98.3FM CBC Radio 1 rebroadcasted from Calgary

CHAT TV – channel 6 and 3 – local TV

This Christmas we’re back at my parent’s place in Fort Saskatchewan.  The drive through the mountains was slower than in summer but not bad at all.  It’s been sunny since we got here.

Christmas was very nice.  Seeing all the family, and no short tempers has been great.  We’re heading over to Spruce Grove today (my sister moved there last summer) for some toboganning.  In two days we will take the kids for their first visit to Medicine Hat.  Then, it’s off to the Listers in Lethbridge to continue feeding that great new friendship!  It is a blast to spend time with solid Christians who believe in service to the King, who have 6 kids too and homeschool!

That and we’ll see if they can beat Cheryl at Carcassone.

“Isaiah 57:20 says, ‘The wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.’  The sea does not need to do anything special to produce mire and dirt; that is the result of natural motions.  This is also true of us when we are under the condition of sin.  The natural motions of our lives produce mire and dirt. Sin is part of the internal structure of our lives.  No special effort is needed to produce it.  No wonder we feel trapped.” – Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p. 5

Coincidentally, I have been asked to fast today.  It is always a struggle for me to fast while at home cooking meals for the kids.  If I were out of the house all day, I could distract myself.  But I am not.  And worse, I have to confront my discomfort head-on – “No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1 Cor 9:27)  If only I had the fortitude of Paul!

I have been proofreading a text I plan to use for a course on Church History I have been asked to teach in January.  I am really excited about it – it is a real opportunity to convert all that stuff I have learned over the years into benefit for others.  It is also an opportunity to teach on something I love – history is a subject that never ceases to fascinate me.

In the early chapters of that text I have been confronted by the many stories of the great fathers of the faith – the Tertullians, the Clements, the Polycarps, and the Origens.  These great men of God were me of personal discipline, who loved the Lord and willingly sacrificed the stuff that held them back from Christ.

It was in between reading that and glancing at a book I recently rediscovered on my bookshelf, as I was cooking for my children and struggling with my desire for the food I was preparing – note I didn’t say need – I am not in any place where I need food in my sedentary western lifestyle – that I came face to face with a truth that had been peeking out at me intermittently.  That truth is I lack discipline.  My selfish whims and desires win out much too often.  From Facebook games to World of Warcraft – from DVDs to my Google Reader (I have even managed to self-justify – Facebook is a fantastic tool for building and maintaining relationships, but I haven’t been using it for that ; Google Reader is a brilliant way of collecting good information from around the world and aggregating it for convenience but information for information’s sake is merely wasting time) I have been allowing them to occupy precious time – the gift of my creator to me – that could be filled with preparation for a lifetime’s work that we are all too close to embarking upon.  How can I treat this time I have been gifted with, with such comtempt?

“Origen’s philosophy, then, was more than a matter of ideas, it was a way of forming character.  Here, his example proved to be his most powerful lesson.  He stimulated us, says Gregory, “by the acts he performed more than by the theories he taught. “  He urged his students to examine the springs of their conduct, to note the impulses that led them out of confusion into moral order, and to resist the seeds of evil and cultivate the growth of goodness, which was what Origen meant by reason.” – Bruce L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, P. 84-85.

Somebody told me once that sin cannot be beaten until you hate it.  Until you really really hate it.  I wonder if the hate I am feeling for my sin is enough today?

Who knew?  At the same time as a famous Christian blogger, Anne Jackson endeavoured to rekindle her passion for cycling I too began a journey back to a bicycle.

I don’t have her literary gifts, but my story goes like this: I got a bike when I was young.  Living in a pretty big city called Prince George (I think it had about 50 thousand when I was living there), we lived in a quiet, new subdivision called College Heights.  When I was 6 or 7 I was good enough on my bike to ride it from one end of College Heights to the other – a distance of several kilometers.  I rode it to the corner store to buy treats.  It was awesome and I thrilled to exploring every little street between that store and mine.  I remember being intimidated by the view across the sports fields, between the store and the big High School which seemed like a fortress to me.

Is it just me or does it seem like a different planet where a 7 year old can ride his bike all over every neighbourhood and forested trail within several kilometers of his house?  My wife won’t even let our 9 year old ride around the block on his bike! (more…)

Think about Medicine Hat and joining our team!

The pace of life in a big city is a bear – it eats your time, it eats your money, it eats your energy for the important things in life (like God, and family).  One thing that factored into our call to Medicine Hat (though by no means the most important) was making a decision for our family and our own health.  This writer in San Francisco has begun to question his life in the big city and interviews two other people who already have made the decision to choose the smaller town over the big city.  Read their thoughts and consider if this might not be something God has for you.

Big City Blues: Could a More Affordable Life, Away from the Bay Area, Actually Be Better?