Garbage cans in the community of Millican Ogden are getting a lot brighter, and read worthy.

Kaylynn Miller, general manager of the Millican Ogden Community Centre, said the garbage cans are a part of the This is My Neighbourhood (TIMN) project with the City of Calgary.

The garbage cans are funded by the city and are one of the three art installations awarded to the community.

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Miller said they’re a way to honour the history of the Millican and Ogden communities.

“Each garbage can is a different representation of something that went on in this area, because this area is rich in history,” said Miller.

One garbage can tells the story of Harry Huish, founding member of the Millican Ogden Community Association. The can details his involvements with Steele’s Scouts – a group that worked with the RCMP in the 1800’s to keep peace in Alberta before it became a province. 

Another garbage can shares the story of how Chicken on the Way, an Alberta-born business, saved a community event by delivering 600 pieces of chicken when the original caterers chicken had become contaminated.

Community selection process for trash cans

The City of Calgary, in an email to LiveWire, said residents of the community selected public art for the This is My Neighbourhood project. Nicole Wolf designed the garbage cans. Wolf worked with community residents to tell the story of the area. 

“Nicole worked with a historian and they conducted numerous interviews with residents of the community and a lot of reading of archives and books like the Ogden Whistle to gather stories to turn into art,” stated the City of Calgary.

According to the city, there will be 12 painted garbage cans throughout the Millican-Odgen-Lynnwood communities.

Maps will be emblazoned on their lids showing locations of the different painted garbage cans.

Painted garbage cans are already popping up and residents can expect all 12 to be completed by the end of August.