40 Years of Memories

Despite the bad weather (Halifax had another snow storm) 50 Associate and 30 Active members attended the celebration at Ashburn Golf Club for a buffet dinner to celebrate CPC Halifax’s 40th Anniversary.  The Emcee for the night, Tony Mancini, started the evening off with a half-hour power point presentation showing pictures of members over the 40 years.  The room was full of laughter as members noted how they have changed over the years.

Following Tony’s pictorial, Associate Don Heffler then read off the names of those members who have passed away and offered grace.  President Steve Murphy welcomed everyone and gave a brief description of what the Halifax Club is doing with its fund raising projects.  Bruce Mansour read congratulatory messages from National Board Members, Club Presidents, and Past National Presidents.  Calgary Bow River members, in addition to their kind words, sent two very special bottles of port, which, “we believe President Steve has laid down to age for our 50th anniversary celebration.”

Associate Don Keleher then gave an interesting talk about the Progress Centre for Early Intervention.  Don has been hired by the Centre to facilitate a fund raising project to raise $1,000,000 over the next five years.  Don announced that the honorary chair of this committee is Associate Laddie Farquhar.  Other committee members Associates Paul Hoganson and Don Stoddard will also join the committee.

Finally, Associates Al Britten, Joel Jacobson, and Bill Cooley traced the history of the Halifax Club up to 1995, while Tony Mancini covered the years from 1995 to present.  The members who attended the evening really enjoyed meeting old friends and telling some “war” stories.  During the evening it was noted that the club wouldn’t have survived 40 years if certain keen individuals hadn’t stepped up to perform yeoman service in times of great need; these included: Al Britton, Ken Mounce, Bill Kitchen, Gavin Rainnie, Laddie Farquhar, and the Sport Celebrity Dinner creators Joel Jacobson and Jack Yablon.

This wonderful evening of celebration demonstrated that The Canadian Progress Club Halifax is positioned for another great 40 years in Halifax!  Those in attendance had so much fun in fact they suggested we have an annual or bi-annual dinner to keep the memories alive!

Memories courtesy of Paul Hoganson, Bill Cooley & Bruce Mansour; photos by Tony Mancini and Bruce Mansour.