Phylicia Jeddore’s voice rang with excitement Tuesday morning when she learned the Town of Deer Lake was going to act on showing that it is an inclusive community.
“That’s awesome,” Jeddore said when told the town plans to go ahead with the installation of an inclusion cube outside the Hodder Memorial Recreation Complex.
Mayor Dean Ball said the painted cube will go beyond the reach of a rainbow crosswalk and be inclusive of everyone in the community — from those that identify as LGBTQ to those with autism.
Jeddore approached the town council not long ago about painting a rainbow crosswalk in recognition of the support for the LGBTQ community.
So, when the council decided it wanted to take some time to look at the issue, Jeddore was a little disappointed. She and people who supported her idea had seen the negativity coming out of places such as Springdale that had turned down similar initiatives.
“We knew that this town is a great place," she said. "We’re good people in here and we just didn’t want to look like we didn’t accept anybody because we didn’t approve that.”
As the town considered its options, it included Jeddore in the discussion.
When the cube, the concept of Deputy Mayor Mike Goosney, was presented to her Jeddore thought it was genius.
Though she did have a bit of doubt that it was a way to get away from the crosswalk, the more they talked about it, the more she was in agreement it was the best thing.
“I know that we can’t please everybody, but I really hope this cube is a step ahead of everything else," Jeddore said. "Trying to do our best to make everybody happy and to say that we accept all."
She said the cube is something that will be visible all year.
“It’s going to stand out. It’s going to attract people. It’s going to get conversations started and it’s going to educate a lot of people and I think that’s great.”
Ball said the inclusive cube is the first of its kind that the town knows of.
Crosswalks, he said, are a here today, gone tomorrow thing when it comes to paint that doesn’t look good when it fades. It’s labour intensive and costly to keep them neat and tidy.
“We feel this is a more permanent structure,” he said of the four-foot square aluminum multi-coloured cube that will be mounted on a 2-3 foot pole.
The town will be making the squares on the cube available to groups in the community for their logos.
The cost of the logos will be $70 and Ball said this is just to recoup the cost of the cube as it is not a budgeted item. The logos will be good for three years and can be replaced after that if needed. And logos can be added at any time.
Ball feels the cube is an idea that could spread as it solves the issue of maintaining crosswalks. He expects it will be installed before school opens next month.
