ARPA President's Address

Alberta Recreation and Parks Association Conference

PRESIDENTS BANQUET - Tuesday, 26 October 1999.

Good Evening

Thank you Carol,

It is great to have Carol hosting us tonight. Last year as many of you may remember, Carol who was our outgoing President, couldn’t be with us as she had just had a new baby.

Carol was a truly exceptional leader in our organization. While we weren’t able to thank her in person then, I want you to join me in extending a very special thanks to her now for the dedication and leadership she has contributed to this great organization and our field. (Clap)

It is always inspiring to hear about the great achievements of our community and our people. I want to congratulate the recipients of this evening’s Energize and ARPA awards.

Through our Association and this banquet we are able to celebrate the wonderful work that both the volunteers and the professionals have done. Your work has contributed greatly to a quality of life in our Province and made it the envy of the country. Congratulations.

Wendy, as long as I can remember, you have been here coordinating the awards program. You and your committee are to be congratulated for yet another great recognition event.

About a year ago, I stood at this same banquet, and looked ahead at a year of adventure and promise. And I can honestly tell you I was not disappointed. 1999 was a year of hard work, but it was also a year of great achievement.

Even with a complete turnover of staff, ARPA managed to undertake a detailed organizational review... continue normal operations... and even launch several new initiatives. Financially, we were able to reverse our bottom line, replenishing our members equity and even generate a surplus that will allow us to invest in our new directions and our future.

None of this success would have happened without the outstanding support from many people:

Steve Allen, who started as a practium student, rose to the challenge of becoming our Office Administrator and performed way beyond our expectations.

Our committees and volunteers continued to function and work on our many initiatives that supported ARPA and our membership. We were fortunate to have many veterans that required only limited guidance from the Board, allowing the board to focus on the organizational review. The conference committee is a good example of this. Many of them were members of the committee that ran the conference here two years ago. This weekend, you have witnessed the great results that they achieved, demonstrating the strength of our volunteers. Could I have Penny Lee Leshinko and all here committee members stand and be recognized.

(HAVE ALL CONFERENCE VOLUNTEERS STAND - applause)

One of the strengths of this organization and the field of Recreation is that it nurtures and provides strong leaders. In order to achieve the mandate and the success that our organization had this year we needed a committed, passionate group of leaders. And the board provided that. This board provided that in abundance.

(Introduce the Board)

Carol Petersen, Past President

Leslie Le Moal, Treasurer

Dianne Dunn, Secretary

Greg Scott

Deb Comfort

Claire Brown

Michelle Lock

Alex Hann & Maureen Burke (who are not in attendance tonite)

Paul Doig - AARFP President/Liaison

Randy Goulden - CPRA Liaison (not here)

We are privledged to have

The honourable Stan Wol aush nick, here with us tonight. I want to take this opportunity to thank him and the other representatives here tonight for the excellent support that :

ALBERTA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT and

THE ALBERTA SPORT, RECREATION, PARK, WILDLIFE FOUNDATION

have given us over the year

Not only have you been our largest sponsor, but you have been our greatest partner.

Over the past couple of years we have enjoyed a growing relationship through the realization that we share very common goals and that more than ever, we need to work together

We started this year with a question as to the future of ARPA. We received a strong validation of our value and purpose as an association. The work you do, and our role in helping you do that work is essential. We have a strong and exciting vision for our future... and I can’t wait to get started.