DRAFT
MINUTES OF THE PARK WARDEN SERVICE ALUMNI SOCIETY OF ALBERTA, HELD IN BANFF, ALBERTA ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 22nd, 2014 AT THE FENLANDS RECREATION CENTRE, BANFF, ALBERTA.
PRESENT: Dale Portman, Chairman,
Marie Nylund, Secretary-Treasurer (Recording Secretary)
Directors: Kathy Calvert, Mac Elder, Don Mickle, Rod Wallace, Scott Ward, Bob Haney, Perry Davis.
ABSENT: Gord Antoniuk, Gord Anderson, Perry Jacobson, Larry Gilmar, Cliff White.
OTHERS PRESENT: Colleen Coggins, Frank Coggins, Colleen Loxam, Dave Reynolds, Colleen Reynolds, Greg Keesey, Jackie Keesey, Michael Carleton, Tom Elliot, Halle Flygare, Larry Harbidge, Sharon Harbidge.
1.0 CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 1:15 pm.
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting. Eleven years have passed since the alumni was first formed.
2.0 ADDITIONS TO and APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Item 7.7 – Letter to the Minister of the Environment was added to the Agenda.
3.0 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.
3.1 Minutes of May 15, 2013 Annual General Meeting
The minutes of the May 15th, 2013 meeting were reviewed by the chairman.
MOTION- DAVIS/MICKLE – to approve the Minutes of the May 15th, 2013 Annual General Meeting.
CARRIED.
4.0 MEMBERSHIP REPORT
Kathy reported on the membership as follows:
Membership has increased since last year. Total members = 120
Voting – 85 members; Honourary – 8 members; Associate – 4 members; Lifetime – 23 member (80 yrs. of age and over). There are 14 new members who have joined this year.
MOTION – WARD/HANEY to accept the Membership Report as presented. CARRIED.
5.0 FINANCIAL REPORT
5.1 Audited Financial Statement – January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013
Marie reported the following:
- Don Hepburn , Treasurer of the Stockmen’s Memorial Foundation, has completed the audit of the 2013 financial records. There were a few minor adjustments.
- The 2013 financial statement shows that the PWSAS opening bank balance for 2013 was $9,460.99.
Revenue for 2013 was $5,319.83.
Disbursements were $7,133.48.
Closing bank balance as at December 31, 2013 was $7,647.34.
Marie advised that this financial statement will accompany the Annual Return form submitted to the Province in November to retain our status as a registered society.
5.2 Revenue & Expenses to April 30th, 2014
2014 financial activity to April 30th shows an opening bank balance of $7,647. 34. Total revenue is $2,630.16; expenses are $1,762.00. The Park Warden Service Alumni Society has received $1245.00 in donations this year. It is expected that about a few more memberships will come in.
MOTION – CALVERT/L. HARBIDGE – to approve the 2013 financial statement and 2014 financial report as presented. CARRIED.
6.0 BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES (OLD BUSINESS)
6.1 Website – evaluation after one year
Perry Davis spoke about the website. The website domain fee is very low at under $20 per year. Overall the website shows lots of promise. It is anticipated that the recent survey sent out to members will provide more insight into what members would like to see on the website.
The website address is www.parkwardenalumni.com. Members must sign up with WordPress to be able to access the website in order to post items, however, anyone can view the website and read postings without being registered with WordPress.
The chairman encouraged members to use the website.
6.2 Oral History Project – Financial costs including grants
Marie provided the list of 39 people who have been interviewed over 5 phases.
A total of $24,716.69 has been spent on the Oral History Project. $12,827.50 has been funded through Provincial grants and the remaining $11,89019 has been funded through memberships and donations to the Park Warden Service Alumni Society.
Phase 5 interviews for the most part are conducted over the phone and this has proved less costly than one-on-one interviews as there is no travel involved.
ACTION: that the Chairman send a letter to Christine commending her for her dedication and expertise in conducting the Oral History project.
6.3 Publishing of Oral Histories
Dale reported that this is not as easy as we first thought. Editing the histories would be time consuming and costly.
Discussion ensued on possible funding of the project and the possibility of hiring someone to do the project for us without losing the continuity and spirit of the histories. It was suggested that perhaps a University Student would be interested; or Hugh Dempsey of the Glenbow Foundation may be able to recommend someone who could take on this project if we had the funds.
ACTION: Dale to look into funding sources and develop a proposal for publishing the oral histories.
MOTION – MICKLE/DAVIS – to approve the Old Business. CARRIED.
Greg Keesey suggested an idea of conducting round table interviews of a group of 4-5 wardens on one or two topics. This might be useful in getting interactions from each participant to add more content and another dimension to the interview.
7.0 NEW BUSINESS
7.1 Survey/Questionnaire
Perry Davis has developed a survey and it has been sent out with the Spring Newsletter. Completed surveys are coming in, results will be compiled and the survey results will be sent out in the fall.
7.2 Coffee Table Book project
The chairman spoke about Perry Jacobson’s idea of developing a coffee table book of photos and short descriptions.
Dale suggested a Warden Service calendar with photos of park wardens at work as a project/fund raising idea. Marie suggested that this might be a nice souvenir item for the Ya Ha Tinda Reunion.
Everyone liked the idea of producing two calendars: 1. Warden Service specifically; and,
2. Warden Service activities at the Ya Ha Tinda over the period 1917 to 2017.
ACTION: Dale to explore the concept of developing a calendar.
7.3 Where are they now?
The Chairman reported that Perry Jacobson has came up with the idea of trying to find out where retired park warden are now and what they are doing. This could be included in Newsletters and on the Website.
7.4 Ya Ha Tinda Centennial Reunion Fall 2017
A discussion ensued regarding a centennial celebration of the Ya Ha Tinda. Bob Haney reported that he and Cliff had an informal discussion with Bill Hunt who was supportive of the idea. Bill Hunt suggested we consult with Rick Smith, Manager of the Ya Ha Tinda. Bob suggested that a written proposal for the event would be helpful in presenting the request to Parks Canada.
ACTION: Bob and Cliff will draft a proposal on what is expected from both Parks Canada and PWSAS. Such proposal will refer to the ecological significance of the Ya Ha Tinda; the aboriginal use of the land prior to 1917; cultural significance of the ranch; and any financial implications. The delegation will meet with Rick Smith in mid June of this year to present the proposal and discuss the matter in more detail.
- 5 Luxton Museum – Warden Service display
Perry Davis reported that Stan Cowley of the Buffalo Nations (Luxton) Museum is exploring the idea of creating a display of the Warden Service in the museum. This would be a diorama type display and would be at no cost to the Park Warden Service Alumni. Mr. Cowley has asked for advice on making this diorama as realistic as possible.
ACTION: Perry Davis will invite Mr. Cowley to attend the next executive meeting.
Rod Wallace suggested the Luxton Museum be offered the use of the photo display panels if they are suitable for display at the Luxton Museum.
7.6 Royal Alberta Museum – Warden Service Display
Perry Davis noted he has not yet had an opportunity to follow up on this.
7.7 Letter to the Minister of the Environment
The Chairman read a draft of a letter from PWSAS to the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Environment. The letter expresses support of the concerns of former senior Parks’ staff, (Nikita Lopoukine, Steven Woodley and Kevin Van Tighem) who have sent a letter of objection to the Minister regarding the Maligne Tours proposal for overnight accommodation at Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park.
Edits to the letter were suggested.
– replace reference to Steven Harper with “The Prime Minister’s Office”
– cc it to the Jasper Yellowhead MP Rob Merrifield, Wild Rose MP Blake Richards, Alan Latourelle, print media ( including The Jasper Fitzhugh, Calgary Herald etc.)
– refine the references to caribou
MOTION: CALVERT/HANEY – that the letter be redrafted with the proposed edits with the final draft circulated to the executive. CARRIED.
ACTION: Dale Portman and Rod Wallace will redraft the letter, circulate the final draft to the executive prior to sending it to the Minister with cc’s to Wild Rose MP Blake Richards, Yellowhead MP Rob Merrifield, as well as print media.
8.0 ELECTION OF OFFICERS
No election is necessary this year as all terms on the board expire in 2015.
9.0 ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Kathy reported on a fund raising endeavor which would see PWSAS partnering with the Ghost Watershed Alliance Society (GWSAS) to run a fund raising casino in 18 months time. GWSAS will be applying for the license to run the casino. This would involve several volunteers and could generate several thousand dollars in revenue.
A discussion arose about restrictions on the profits from this type of fundraiser. Apparently, there are strict regulations as to how the profits can be spent and it would be wise to check the by-laws of GWSAS and the Provincial Casino Night fund raising provisions to ensure that PWSAS is legally able to share the profits and if so, are there restrictions on how we can use the profits.
ACTION: Kathy will clarify this with the GWSAS.
Tom Elliot noted that there is an active group of retired wardens in Haines Junction. The PWSAS Website usage is minimal at this time.
Bob Haney questioned if any of the Yukon retired park wardens have been included on the list of people to be interviewed for the Oral History Project.
Dave Reynolds asked if the Resource/Conservation staff been invited to join the Park Warden Service Alumni. There is a category that these people would fit into, but we have not formally invited them to join as Associate Members.
ACTION: That we invite the Resource Conservation staff to join the Park Warden Service alumni Society as Associate Members.
ACTION: Marie to send a note to Sue Hairsine (Banff), Kelly Deagle (Jasper) and other Resource Conservation offices inviting Resource Conservation staff to visit the Website where they can read the society’s newsletters and join the society by downloading a membership form.
Rod Wallace announced that the Bar U Ranch is seeking volunteers to assist manning their booth at the Calgary Stampede Grounds in July.
Bob Haney announced that Banff Park has volunteers working on trail restoration in and around Banff townsite.
The Chairman announced that anyone who has not yet paid their 2014 membership can do so today.
The chairman reported that we have received thanks from Glen Peers for the donation of $100 to the
Keith. Everts Warden Service Scholarship Fund. (The Canadian Rockies School District awards this $1000. scholarship to a student in the Bow Valley school system who intends to pursue environmental studies. Donations to the scholarship come from the Banff Warden Office Social Committee and individual retired Banff Park employees who have all been directly associated with the Warden Service in one way or another.).
Scott Ward reported on the success of the Wardens Band and that a 2nd CD is now available at a cost of $20. The band is very well received and has several bookings for the summer months.
Colleen Coggins suggested that there could be old photos from Warden families who may want to donate them to PWSAS.
ACTION: Perry Davis will include this in the Fall Newsletter and a separate email will be sent (and letter to those without email) asking them to consider donating old photos to the collection of the Park Warden Service Alumni.
Thank you to “Top Shelf Pizza & Grill for the hamburgers & beverages following the meeting.
10. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION – ELDER/WARD – that the meeting adjourn at 3:10 pm. CARRIED.
Thank you, sorry i couldn’t make the meeting. Hans Reisenleiter.