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In 2021, Merit Kitchens is officially half a century old, and the company is helping its customers join in the 50^th anniversary festivities.

Anyone who receives a cabinet quote before Nov. 30 will be entered into a draw for a beautiful gift basket containing gift cards, kitchen gadgets, wine and more, currently valued at over $500 and growing. There's also a draw for a Banff getaway for two in 2022. Contact the Merit Kitchens showroom for more details.

The company's theme for the year is "strength and beauty" and they are determined to let the world know just how much that truly means to them.

To celebrate this important milestone, Merit invited Lynda Reeves, founder of House & Home magazine and one of the world's top interior designers, to select an exclusive colour collection for the anniversary.

Over the last year, nearly everyone across the world has become familiar with gathering online. Whether it's working from home or online school, learning via laptop or smartphone has become commonplace.

The City of Calgary has embraced this trend by posting a series of home improvement webinars on its website. The sessions available online aim to reach the many Calgarians who have been unable to gather this type of information in person during the pandemic.

Anyone who has walked into a hardware store lately is aware of the current price of lumber, a situation that is creating issues for the homebuilding and renovation industries in Calgary and across the country.

When it comes to crowning Calgary's most eclectic park, it would be tough to top the assortment of activities and opportunities offered at Prairie Winds Park.

Calgary is still stuck in the throes of winter, but many homeowners are already planning their landscape projects for 2021 to ensure they have an outdoor space to enjoy this summer.

Even if you wouldn't describe yourself as handy, it's important for homeowners to have the skills and equipment to tackle routine maintenance and repairs. Thankfully, most of those tasks require nothing more than a few basic tools and a little elbow grease.

Along with lowering monthly utility bills, green home features can also cut costs for homeowners by reducing their mortgage insurance premium.

Depending on the home's degree of energy efficiency, up to a quarter of a borrower's premium can be covered by a rebate through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) Green Home program.

At the opening of training camp in June 2012, even though he was already five years into his tenure with the Calgary Stampeders, Rob Cote felt anything but secure.

"So, a very stressful time to be doing anything else but concentrating on football,'' said the Cochrane-born fullback. "Especially to be making a huge financial decision like buying a house.