The Eastern Region--together at last!

Submitted by Doug Baker
  
  

Forty years and two months ago CPC Halifax was the first club chartered in Atlantic Canada.  From that humble beginning 11 clubs arose, four of which have passed into history.

We now sit at 8 clubs:  Halifax, Halifax-Cornwallis, St. John’s, Quidi Vidi, Pictou County, Sherbrooke, Greater Moncton Men and Greater Moncton Women, with Charlottetown to be chartered in the near future.

On May 14, 2005 fifty-five Progressians met in the Harbour Room of the Westin Nova Scotian Hotel at the first Regional Conference ever in Atlantic Canada.  The day was spent in educational seminars, led by Tony Mancini, where program, policies and ideas were exchanged.  Earlier this year, the Regional Board, made up of the club Presidents and Regional Executives, laid out the four priorities that they felt Progressians should focus on to help educate and strengthen their individual clubs.

These priorities were:

• Membership/Retention

• Fundraising

• Community Service

• Communication

At 3:30 pm that afternoon, the first AGM was brought to order by the Regional VP and the agenda was adopted.

At approximately 4:00 pm, by unanimous vote of those present, the regional bylaws were adopted and the Eastern Region officially came into being.

We were privileged to have National President Juanita Soutar at our meeting, and Juanita did the honours of presenting the Regional banner (generously donated by the Western Region) to the Regional Board.  The meeting was then adjourned and a group picture of the Board and new banner were taken.  A picture was also taken of all the Progressians in attendance with all club banners.  We then retired to Ryan Duffy’s to continue our socializing and to celebrate our new region.

(At right:  Sylvia Harnett and Crystal Eagan from Quidi Vidi swap stories over a cuppa with Sharon Ward, Kathy Grose and Debby Scribner from Halifax-Cornwallis.)

Special thanks should go out to the organization committee and the host club, Halifax, for a job well done, Greg Cole, Liam Pollack, Dave Steele, Rod Kerr, Tony Mancini, Rob Taylor and the Regional Board who believed in the region and supported all the steps we had to take to get it up and running.

I would be remiss if I did not mention several Progressians that have worked hard in past years to make this day possible:  Paul Hoganson, CJ MacMullin and Rosalie Courage.

There are those that do not or are not sure why we need a Region.  To them I ask, “Why have we lost four clubs over the past five years?  Why do we have clubs that struggle with fundraising, community service, membership recruitment and membership retention, and why do I hear from the newer clubs: ‘we need the stronger clubs to support our events and help us when we need guidance?’”

The charter clubs are responsible to support, educate, mentor and guide these clubs.  Their obligations do not end the day a new club is chartered.  The purpose of forming a region is to support and fulfill these duties for all clubs in the region.  The region’s board, led by the VP and two Zone Governors, provide information, guidance, education and whatever the Presidents of the clubs feel their clubs require.

With a strong region we will be able to step in and help clubs that are struggling with membership, and in the future, help clubs attend conferences through financial support. 

The greatest thing I saw at this conference was the fellowship of those that attended.  It was inspiring to see new members:  Jon, Mel, Lana, Denise, France, Debbie, Janet and Hilary.  These new members stood up and did presentations and provided new ideas and insight into the topics covered at the convention.  New members are our lifeblood and the future of Progress.

We have an opportunity through the regional structure to educate, mentor and inspire our next committee chairs, directors, secretaries, treasurers, presidents, zone governors and VPs. We need these members to be prepared for the positions they will take on in each of our clubs, zones and region.

There are many areas of Atlantic Canada that should have Progress Clubs chartered and, without a strong regional structure in place supported by all clubs, we risk falling into the same trap that resulted in the loss of four clubs over the last five years.

The region will now grow and provide the leadership going forward through a 3 year strategic plan, club and region succession planning and continued education of our membership at club and regional level.

We are only as strong as the members next to us!