2005 Western Region Convention Report

Submitted by Wayne Evans
CPC Calgary North

The 2005 Western Region Convention was held on May 13 -15, 2005 in Lethbridge, Alberta hosted by Calgary North.  There were 101 registered for the convention, an increase over recent years and a long time since we had over 100 registered.

A golf tournament, at Paradise Canyon Golf Course, sponsored by Stampede City, got the convention got off to a great start. On the return trip from the golf course Stampede City inducted two new members on the bus.

That evening Calgary Downtown hosted a hospitably night with the theme of the Village People (YMCA).

The Western Region Annual General Meeting was held Saturday morning with Terry Clarke, Vice President Western Region, chairing the meeting.  The Zone Governors reported on activities by their clubs during the past year.  Financial statements were presented by Treasurer Mitch Wujcik showing net income for the year of $4,394 and members’ equity of $25,800.  Next year’s budget was presented and approved.  The major resolution in the budget was the approval to assist a club or clubs with up to $5,000 towards sponsoring two new clubs in the region.

The following positions were elected at the meeting: 

• Vice President Western Region — Tom Kohl

• Alberta South Zone Governor — Darrel Williamson

• Western Region Secretary — Janet Chafe

• Canadian Progress Charitable Foundation Governor — Barb Ennis

Guest speaker, Rick Harding, whose topic was “The Fast Food Approach to Leadership”, closed out the meeting.

The afternoon was taken up by three concurrent sessions:  Ticket Sales Made Fun chaired by Jennifer Hameluk; Awards Preparation chaired by Gary Nakamura; National Web Site / MCS Overview chaired by Tom Kohl.

These seminars were well attended with over 40 at the sales seminar, 16 at the awards seminar and 12 at the MCS seminar.

The awards banquet was held Saturday evening.

Recipients of the awards were:

• Community Service — Calgary Bow River

• Fellowship Award — Calgary Bow River

• Outstanding New Member — Adrian Lindsay, Calgary Bow River

• Bill Durant Memorial Award — Ron Lloyd, Greater Vancouver

• Progressian of the Year — Grant Blakely, Calgary Bow River

• Club of the Year — Calgary North

Mayor Bob Tarlek of Lethbridge spoke to us on the growth and activities going on in the city.

A silent auction was held during the convention to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lethbridge.  Our objective was to show the Progress flag in Lethbridge.  The silent auction raised over $700 and the fines raised over $600.  Then the spirit of the individual clubs also started to contribute.  In total over $5,800 was raised for BBBS Lethbridge.  We far exceeded our own expectation in this venture.

Calgary North, host club, presented each attendee with an etched champagne glass.  The members of Calgary North poured champagne to toast the Club on its 25th anniversary.

As part of Calgary North’s 25th anniversary, the club presented “The Magic of Donovan”.  Donovan amazed the audience with his magic and regaled them with his jokes.  Donovan has performed at Club Med, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria.

The evening concluded with the Hospitality suite hosted by Calgary Wild Rose whose theme was “A Night at Sturgis North”.

(At top right:  Grant Blakely accepting Western Region Progressian of the Year.  At centre right:  Wayne Evans accepting Western Region Club of the Year on behalf of CPC Calgary North.  At bottom right:  Terry Clarke and Wayne Evans presenting Richard Austin, Executive Director of BBBS Lethbridge, with funds raised at the convention.)