June 6, 2017 – A big thank you goes out to all the HCL members who came out to tonight’s league AGM. The league had a number of special guests, including Alberta Government House Leader, Brian Mason, Bellevue CL‘s president, Brian Finley, City of Edmonton’s City Operations Supervisor, Shauna Graham and Facilities Planning and Design, Rachelle Dumont.
Mr. Mason provided the members with a quick welcome on behalf of the government and an update on some of the successes the Alberta Govn’t has had in the last few months, while both Graham and Dumont talked about the masterplan for Eastglen pool. For full details on Eastglen, visit the city’s website.
Also on the guest speaker list was Helen Gillespie, member of the Eastglen Pool Engagement Committee and HCL member. Gillespie was please to talk about the increase in pool use by Highlands and Bellevue residents and a number of successful programs the pool administration has initiated. Along with the new masterplan, engagement committee, expanded programs and facility use, it’s pretty safe to say we won’t have to fight to keep our pool again in the near future.
Director news
HCL Membership director and chair for the Highlands Facility Renewal Committee, Susan Petrina brought everyone up to speed on what the committee has been working on and the next steps. It should be noted that a number of architectural firms put in Requests for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) of which the committee is currently reviewing. The next step will involve sending out invitations for Request for Proposal (RFP) to the short list. All in all, the news Petrina shared with the members was very encouraging. For more news on the Facility Renewal, please visit the committee’s own Hall Renewal News section of this site.
Facilities Director, Jerad Cox – the man of many hats on the board – also presented a proposal to change things up a bit on how the league offers sport programming, including soccer. The proposal includes bringing it all back to the grass roots level and expanding what the league offers to the community. He’s working closely with local schools and other stakeholders, so please stay tuned as your input will be vital to moving a head with the decision to take the sport program into a new, more community-based direction.
Some side notes that came out of tonight’s meeting include a big thank you from Kathy Carr and the Highlands Lawn Bowling Club to everyone who attended the open house this past Saturday. Carr says it was a great success and encouraging to see so many local residents from Highlands and Bellevue on the green. Well done, neighbours.
We were also reminded that the Highlands Historical Society has some big events coming up, including a special presentation by Ron Kellan on The Importance of Naming Places in our History and that Highlands will be featured on CBC’s Adrienne Lamb’s Our Edmonton program June 24, 25 and 26. Watch for more details on these and other great events coming in July.
The new team
While AGMs are always important for bringing the membership up to speed on league financials, goals and accomplishments over the previous year, it’s also about electing new board members.
Highlands’ city liaison, Kelly Cameron, Neighbourhood Resource Coordinator (NRC) conducted the elections, making it a very easy procedure.
Highlands Community League is pleased to introduce its new 2017-2018 Board of Directors
Executive:
President – Cherie Klassen
Vice President/Facilities – Jerad Cox
Secretary – Jody Benders
Treasurer – Andrew Clark
Directors:
Communications – Leanne Stroh
Social & Events – James Schutz
Civic Affairs – Mathieu Lefebvre
Programs – Audrey Hayward
Casino – Nykie Starr
The only position not filled at the AGM was the Membership/Volunteers – if you or someone you know would be perfect for this position, please get in touch with Cherie at president@highlandscommunity.ca
HCL prez, Cherie gave a special acknowledgement to the many contributions made by outgoing VP Dan Rietveld, Communications Barb Martowski, Membership Susan Petrina and past president Susan Ruttan, all of whom served three consecutive terms on the board, reaching their term limit as per the HCL bylaws. She especially commended Susan Petrina for the fantastic job she did as membership director, which resulted in the league having the largest membership for 2016-2017 than in the past number of years.
She also commented that “Highlands was a place of value, of unique people and special environment.” Considering the enthusiasm of those in attendance at the AGM, she is right. Not only were new board members elected, but a number of people signed up as general volunteers and also joined various committees such has the communications team, social & events party crew and the ever important Civic Affairs committee. For full opportunities to support the league, click here and make sure to pick up your membership at Mandolin Books and Coffee Shop or online at the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues.
If you weren’t able to make the AGM, but would like to join a one of these committees, please contact the director in charge.
The Highlands Community League looks forward to meeting you at Highlandia Fest on June 17 and the Annual Highlands KDays Pancake Breakfast July 22. Watch our facebook and twitter pages for more details.
The 2017-2018 Board
Back row L-R: Jody Benders, James Schutz, Mathieu Lefebvre, Andrew Clark
Front row L-R: Nykie Starr, Audrey Hayward, Cherie Klassen, Leanne Stroh
Missing from photo is Jerad Cox
