In Don's final message as ACC President, he invites you to attend next week's annual meeting and reflects on the changes at the club since he joined the board.
A Final Word from the Hack.
Good Day,
On May 19th at 7pm the Almonte Curling Club will hold its Annual Meeting in the ACC lounge and I’m inviting you to attend. Why is this important? The Annual Meeting is where you get to help guide the direction of the club, receive updated information and reports, question the directors and elect the people who will make up the next board.
When I joined the ACC board we were 16 members. Under the ONCA (Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act) review of our bylaws we reduced our board to 9 members and developed a new system of governance which identified dedicated convener and coordinator roles. The governing board is an extremely important component of our successes or failures. This year we will have six people running for the five positions that will become available. Andrew Penney, Judith Scott and Steve Conlon will leave the board following the Annual Meeting. I can’t begin to thank them enough for their tireless commitment to the Club’s success. They will be hard to replace; however I am positive they will continue to play an important role in the club for years to come. Keith Lascelles (current club and facilities manager) and Barb Button (current Treasurer) will run again for a board position. Debra Power, Karen McLeish, Stephanie Birtwistle and Ian McConkey will round out the six people vying for the five positions. Watch for the email with the Annual Meeting documents including candidate bios.
After the previous board got us through some difficult times ie: Covid 19! it was time for us to grow and we have! We are now over 300 members – up 18% from 2019! We’ve made a lot of progress in other areas too, thanks to the dedication of this board and you, our members. Although not all the decisions the board makes are popular, I can say whole heartedly that they are made with the best interest of the club and its members in mind. I’m happy to share some of our accomplishments over the past three years:
- We celebrated our 170th anniversary with an anniversary logo and pin. We also had a float in the Santa Claus parade for the first time!
- We negotiated our lease agreement with the Municipality with no increases through to 2028.
- We convinced town council to move ahead with our brand new $650,000 ice plant by showing up to council in large numbers to demonstrate all members’ support of the initiative.
- We put new flooring in the lounge and then around the ice surface.
- We added new trophy shelves, benches and a broom holder through the efforts and generosity of club members.
- We further developed our website and now have a complete on-line registration process for leagues and bonspiels.
- We installed new monitors on the ice and in the lounge and a game results entry tablet.
- We created new leagues and we now have curling leagues 6 days a week; morning, afternoon and evening.
- We have grown and developed our junior and Little Rocks programs.
- We introduced instruction seminars for curlers at all levels.
- We updated the club logo and brought in branded clothing.
- We established an ethics committee and developed a code of conduct.
- We established a health and safety committee and developed a concussion protocol and other safety policies.
- We created a volunteer points system, redeveloped our bonspiels.
- We improved communications with our members with our weekly newsletter.
- We continue to support our community through our many substantial donations to local non-profits.
The club is not viable without the countless volunteer hours that you, our members contribute continuously. For that I thank you!
On that note I would like to thank the many people I have worked with as president of the Almonte Curling Club for the past three years. I will step down as president and stay on the board for a further year as Past President. I look forward to working with a new board and welcome the infusion of new energy, new ideas and new leadership.
Don
