A Hadassah group,first formed in 1917,was formally organized in 1921. Younger women were organized as Tel Chai(Junior Hadassah).Another Zionist women's group, Pioneer Women,was formed in 1935.A Mizrachi Women's Organization was active after 1940.

      Teen-aged Zionists joined a very active Young Judaean group and hosted a major western convention in 1931. That year also saw the formation of a teen boys' group, AZA,the first chapter outside the United States.

      Music was an important Jewish activity.Choirs and musical ensembles,typified by the Calgary Jewish Choral Society of the early 1930's,provided a venue for budding local musicians.

      A group of secular Jewish intellectuals,generally called Yiddishists,formed a Jewish Literary Club early in the 1920's and in 1927 incorporated the I.L.Peretz School, which opened a day school in its own building in 1929. The school was to host a wide variety of Jewish cultural events.

      This period also saw the genesis of the Calgary Jewish Community Council,first formed in 1928 to raise funds for an all-purpose community building.

      The short-lived Allan Loan Society and the still- functioning Jewish Polish Family Loan Association provided interest-free loans to members at a time when many banks shunned loans to Jewish immigrants.

      Histadrut,first organized as the Geverkshaften campaign,was incorporated in 1937,but had been active earlier.The Sharon Zionist Club and the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University were formed in the early 1940's. The Calgary Zionist Council,founded in 1940,tried to coordinate the fund-raising and educational efforts of the many Zionist groups.

      World War II saw a huge communal effort to help soldiers,aid European refugees,and strengthen the Jewish presence in Palestine.The Canadian Jewish Congress War Efforts Commitee and the B'nai B'rith Soldiers Aid Commitee provided comforts for local training bases and sent parcels to Alberta military personnel serving elsewhere.

      Zionist groups increased their fund-raising and cultural activities.Every Jewish organization made an extraordinary effort to help in the important work of the "home front."

      Population growth encouraged the development of a full-time Hebrew School program,and a new synagogue, Beth Israel,was formed in 1935 and later became a Conservative congregation.

      The war's end saw Jewish groups active in refugee relief and immigrant aid. The birth of Israel gave Zionism new urgency and local groups responded appropriately.

      We have continued,in the recent decades,to join organizations that reflect our view of Judaism: we still provide charity,build Israel,educate our children,worship among fellow Jews,bury our dead in Jewish graves,unite with fellow Jews around the world,and learn and socialize in a variety ofJewish settings,just as the pioneering Jews did many years ago in this far-off corner of the diaspora.