{"id":1819,"date":"2023-07-07T17:10:44","date_gmt":"2023-07-07T17:10:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/"},"modified":"2025-05-26T10:58:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T10:58:43","slug":"decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/","title":{"rendered":"Decorating Cakes and Building Community in Moose Jaw"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lieutenant Almeta Ward heard over and over again that folks were surprised to learn that The Salvation Army had a church in Moose Jaw<\/a>. She was moved to create something that would welcome folks to the church, offer an interesting activity and build community. So, she decided to offer an eight-week cake decorating course. Participation has grown steadily since its first offering. They recently wrapped up their third session, and all involved have enjoyed learning a new skill and making new friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our conversations, people would say, \u2018I didn’t realize that you guys had a church – we just thought it was a thrift store and family services downtown.\u2019 So we thought, what can we do so that people would know they’re coming to the Salvation Army church,” says Almeta.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoy cake decorating. I’m not a professional, but I enjoy it, and it’s something that I thought, \u2018Let’s try it and see what happens.\u2019 It was slow at the beginning, trying to get people signed up. But once it started, it’s been growing,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

The course runs one hour a week for eight weeks, and participants are given all the tools they need to start their cake-decorating journey and to build on their skills from week to week. The kit includes a turntable for decorating a cake, a piping bag, tips and more. The students start with decorating cupcakes and learn different techniques each week, culminating in decorating a whole cake and voting for the best decorating.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they come in, most of them don’t know how to hold a piping bag. And then at the end of eight weeks, it’s amazing what they’ve accomplished,\u201d Almeta says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first week, they showed us how to make the icing, and then we had sheets that you practice on for making flowers and other designs. Then, another week we learned to make flowers; we made roses. And then we had cupcakes, so we decorated the cupcakes with the piping. Then we learned how to write with the icing to say happy birthday or happy Mother’s Day,\u201d explains participant Susan Wendzina, a woman in her 70s who took part with her daughter, granddaughter and daughter-in-law.<\/p>\n

“It was always a dream of mine to be a professional cake decorator,” says 13-year-old participant Abigail Bowles. \u201cI think it really did help. I liked how we got to learn how to pipe flowers. It’s not easy, but Almeta was the best at teaching. She made it so simple,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

For Almeta, journeying alongside these budding cake decorators has been fulfilling in more ways than one. She is grateful for the opportunity to get to know people in her community that she may not have met, work with families and watch them grow their skills together, build confidence and help them believe in themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is all about building relationships,\u201d says Almeta. \u201cThere was one lady, and she said, \u2018I’ll never get it. I’ll never learn how to do this.\u2019 And I said, \u2018Yes, you will, that’s okay. Where are you struggling?\u2019 Being able to journey alongside them and to encourage them. And she got it! When I hear that aha moment, like \u2018I got it!\u2019 It’s like I’m a proud mama,\u201d Almeta explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was something I always wanted to do but never did. Because I’m one of those people – I didn’t think I could ever do that. And my daughter is the same way. And it showed me, yes, you can. I couldn’t see myself doing that. But it really taught me that you could do more than you think you can,\u201d says Susan.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favourite part was when we had a little competition at the end of the course,\u201d says Abigail. \u201cDuring the class, we would decorate a cake, and it was kind of like a challenge who decorated the best cake, and we got to use all the techniques and everything we learned during the cake decorating class,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end, we have this little graduation,\u201d says Almeta. \u201cTheir family gets to come, and we have finger foods. Then everyone votes for a cake – that they don’t know who made – and whoever gets the most votes for their decorated cake wins a $50 gift card from Dairy Queen, and everyone gets to take their cakes home,” she explains.<\/p>\n

Though Almeta and Lester Ward have been assigned to a posting in Bermuda that will begin later in 2023, the course will be offered again in September, thanks to the dedication of Moose Jaw\u2019s community and family services coordinator, Sonya.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had that conversation with Sonya and asked, \u2018Is this something you’re comfortable doing?\u2019 Because it was definitely out of her comfort zone. And she said, \u2018Yeah, I don’t want to drop it because it’s good for the community,\u2019\u201d Almeta says.<\/p>\n

For more information on the next offering of the Moose Jaw cake decorating class, call 306-692-5899 or follow their Instagram<\/a> and Facebook<\/a> pages for updates. Thanks to the local Co-Op for subsidizing the cost of the cupcakes and some of the materials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lieutenant Almeta Ward heard over and over again that folks were surprised to learn that The Salvation Army had a church in Moose Jaw. She was moved to create something that would welcome folks to the church, offer an interesting activity and build community. So, she decided to offer an eight-week cake decorating course. Participation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[161,105,162,163],"location":[],"class_list":["post-1819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-cake","tag-community","tag-cupcake","tag-moose-jaw"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDecorating Cakes and Building Community in Moose Jaw - Prairies and Northern Territories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Decorating Cakes and Building Community in Moose Jaw - Prairies and Northern Territories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lieutenant Almeta Ward heard over and over again that folks were surprised to learn that The Salvation Army had a church in Moose Jaw. She was moved to create something that would welcome folks to the church, offer an interesting activity and build community. So, she decided to offer an eight-week cake decorating course. Participation […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Prairies and Northern Territories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-07T17:10:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-26T10:58:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/June-Class.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"SalvationArmy.ca\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"SalvationArmy.ca\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"SalvationArmy.ca\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/#\/schema\/person\/be56ce6a18dd19786ed68c2f0f38b7b1\"},\"headline\":\"Decorating Cakes and Building Community in Moose Jaw\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-07T17:10:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-26T10:58:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/\"},\"wordCount\":878,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/June-Class.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"cake\",\"community\",\"cupcake\",\"Moose Jaw\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Featured\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/\",\"name\":\"Decorating Cakes and Building Community in Moose Jaw - Prairies and Northern Territories\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/June-Class.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-07T17:10:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-26T10:58:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/#\/schema\/person\/be56ce6a18dd19786ed68c2f0f38b7b1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/June-Class.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/June-Class.jpg\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Decorating Cakes and Building Community in Moose Jaw\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/\",\"name\":\"Prairies and Northern Territories\",\"description\":\"Prairies and Northern Territories Division\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/#\/schema\/person\/be56ce6a18dd19786ed68c2f0f38b7b1\",\"name\":\"SalvationArmy.ca\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dad52017e8d05f91dd36f51533fd4d34de13c1e4d6e8c2d198a5e65847134bba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dad52017e8d05f91dd36f51533fd4d34de13c1e4d6e8c2d198a5e65847134bba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"SalvationArmy.ca\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/author\/gutemberg1\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Decorating Cakes and Building Community in Moose Jaw - Prairies and Northern Territories","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Decorating Cakes and Building Community in Moose Jaw - Prairies and Northern Territories","og_description":"Lieutenant Almeta Ward heard over and over again that folks were surprised to learn that The Salvation Army had a church in Moose Jaw. She was moved to create something that would welcome folks to the church, offer an interesting activity and build community. So, she decided to offer an eight-week cake decorating course. Participation […]","og_url":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/","og_site_name":"Prairies and Northern Territories","article_published_time":"2023-07-07T17:10:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-26T10:58:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1440,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/June-Class.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"SalvationArmy.ca","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"SalvationArmy.ca","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/"},"author":{"name":"SalvationArmy.ca","@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/#\/schema\/person\/be56ce6a18dd19786ed68c2f0f38b7b1"},"headline":"Decorating Cakes and Building Community in Moose Jaw","datePublished":"2023-07-07T17:10:44+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-26T10:58:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/"},"wordCount":878,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/June-Class.jpg","keywords":["cake","community","cupcake","Moose Jaw"],"articleSection":["Featured"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/","url":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/","name":"Decorating Cakes and Building Community in Moose Jaw - Prairies and Northern Territories","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/June-Class.jpg","datePublished":"2023-07-07T17:10:44+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-26T10:58:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/#\/schema\/person\/be56ce6a18dd19786ed68c2f0f38b7b1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/June-Class.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/June-Class.jpg","width":1440,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/2023\/07\/decorating-cakes-and-building-community-in-moose-jaw\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Decorating Cakes and Building Community in Moose Jaw"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/#website","url":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/","name":"Prairies and Northern Territories","description":"Prairies and Northern Territories Division","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/#\/schema\/person\/be56ce6a18dd19786ed68c2f0f38b7b1","name":"SalvationArmy.ca","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dad52017e8d05f91dd36f51533fd4d34de13c1e4d6e8c2d198a5e65847134bba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dad52017e8d05f91dd36f51533fd4d34de13c1e4d6e8c2d198a5e65847134bba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"SalvationArmy.ca"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca"],"url":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/author\/gutemberg1\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1819"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/pranorth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=1819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}