Hello All and Happy New Year!
I bring this message to you on behalf of Clarence Knight, our president, who appears to be smarter than a lot of us and has sought out the warmer dirt of the southern U.S. for a few months.
Already your new Board has had three meetings and it seems as though we have hardly scratched the surface in terms of business to deal with. The AGM was held on December 6, 2009 at the Moose Factory. Our thanks to Len McCullough and the Sawmill Restaurant Group for the use of their banquet room. There were approximately 20 members in attendance including incoming and outgoing Board members. The minutes of the meeting are posted on the website. I will however touch on a few highlights.
- Membership numbers were slightly down from 2008 (202 in 2009 from 218 in 2008).
- 2010 show dates are posted in the “Shows” section of this site.
- Emergency Response Plan – We are delighted that Sandi Feth has come forward to head up a sub-committee to prepare and implement a first-aid and emergency response plan for the Society. She will be presenting a draft plan to the Board in the next few weeks.
- Zender Fall Classic: Ken Zender, Grant Sterling and their committee should be commended for the great job they did with the 2009 Fall Classic. The 2010 show looks to be even better so watch for news.
- Change Out Two Rider Rule: While there have been some members that would have preferred to see this rule changed to “one rider change-out”, a motion was passed to keep the “two rider rule” in effect for another year.
- Society book keeping and accounting: We are sorry to see Vicky West decide to “hang it up” after many years of looking after the Society’s bookkeeping and accounting. She did a great job and for that we are most appreciative. Vicky will continue to be a regular at our shows, except that now the only numbers she going to worry about are dollars she wins. Thanks again Vicky.
Kim Hull is off to a great start with sponsorship this year. There are some new sponsorship opportunities on the horizon that are exciting.
Sheldon Greanya, along with Glen Olfert, are busy organizing facilities and cattle for the coming year.
Leanne Murray and James Tardif are the Directors responsible for volunteers this year and I have overheard some of their conversations on how they are going to pull this job off.
Dave Bradley as Director responsible for Officials already has some new recruits and is planning a judges clinic in the soon.
Arlene Boyde is Treasurer and overseeing the our finances.
The Canadian Team Cattle Penning Association has approved the formation of a new penning club in northeastern Alberta. We wish this group much success and look forward to an ongoing relationship with them.
Futurity Penners: You can look forward to a great year. You will be able to see more about futurity penners on our website in the near future.
Susan Shephard has been doing a great job of looking after our website and we look forward to, among other things, her home page inspirations.
Last but not least, I would like to give special thanks to the Society Secretary, Teresa Brunner. In hasn’t taken long for me to realize the magnitude of her job and how well she executes it. She has been key to facilitating a smooth transition from the previous Board. Thanks Teresa for all your help.
Looking forward to the coming year and seeing all of you.
Regards,
Howard Pratley
Vice – President