The following article appeared on the blog Urban Scrawl, penned by the Calgary Herald's Paula Arab. It's not everyday that compliments like this are handed out!

Ideas and dreams on the menu!

Terry Rock, president of Calgary Arts Development, could very well be the ambassador the city needs to lead it into the future.He's got contacts in the arts' world, business, academia and at city hall. And this farm boy from Saskatchewan most importantly has got the vision.

Rock gave the most eloquent, impassioned speech at lunch the other day, talking about what he wants Calgary to be. He doesn't envision so much a great city to live in, but one that does great things for the benefit of all humanity. You know, find a cure for cancer, ensure everyone has clean water to drink, end world poverty, all because of the work that can and should be done here in Calgary. The sky is the limit. Calgary has the money, the talent, the knowledge and the youth. It's the place Dorothy muses about, where dreams really do come true.

But the real Don Quioxte was host H. David Matthews, also known as "Dreamer Dave." He's been inviting small groups of Calgarians to lunch since November to get together and talk about how to make Calgary a great city, not just a commercial centre where people come to make money. The lunch I attended included myself, Rock, food critic John Gilchrist, Dr. Arthur Clark, and architect Marc Boutin, both of whom teach at the University of Calgary.

The lunch series is Matthews' latest, and possibly last project to change the world, says the 73-year-old civic activist. Dreamer Dave is a bit of a character, and one who truly inspires. If you ever meet him, ask him about how he got the province to save Fish Creek and turn it into a provincial park back in the '70s, when such intervention within city limits was "totally unprecedented."

The city didn't have any money to buy the land, so that left the province to step in. It bought what it could, then it began battling with property owners. "The province had to finally expropriate, which was unheard of," says Matthews. "I said: 'You guys are going to have to expropriate.' They said: 'What are you, some kind of communist?' "

Dave got his way. He's no communist, though, and is quick to point out he's quite far to the right. But he's a right winger who still dares to dream. His lunches have provided a forum for brainstorming, and have also connected Calgary movers and shakers who might otherwise have never met.

Where the dream leads, is anyone's guess. Stay tuned.