GWRRA Region J

A word from the Regional Director ...

Nov/Dec Newsletter

The past few weeks have been very busy with the Operations Meetings in BC & Alberta and 2012 Planning with the Yukon, Saskatchewan and Alaska DDs. I was very pleased when John & Leslie Wait agreed to accept the position of Assistant Region Directors and also attend the Alberta District Meeting to introduce their team planning approach to them. I hope that the members who attended these meetings felt that they had more control & input into where the future of GWRRA was heading in Region J.

As the year winds down it is time to reflect on what we achieved and make plans for the future, I feel that we have a plan in place for the next year, goals have been set and our Officers have a clearer view of what we are trying to establish. The OCP has been well accepted and plans to hold more seminars are in place. John & Leslies idea of re naming the OCP, "Orientation for Chapter Participation" will help when promoting this program to our membership. The more members understand about the purpose & goals of GWRRA the more they can enjoy their membership.

The past year has had its bad news, the loss of a Chapter is never easy, Chapter AG-G, Barrhead has decided to surrender their Charter and at this time Chapter BC-K is also in process of surrendering theirs. I hope that members who participated with these Chapters will be accepted by another Chapter and will continue to enjoy their membership. Two more Chapters AB-C & AB-L have been given time to revive themselves, Vickie & Terry Johnson in Innisfail along with their Assistants and new CD Bonnie Harland in Lethbridge with two Assistants have agreed to work for the next year to restore these Chapters, they will need the support of all the members in their area if they are to succeed in their endeavors.

As I mentioned in the last newsletter, we need more support at our annual fund raiser, I asked if anyone had any ideas on how we could improve our Region J Rally or should we use another method of raising funds for Districts & Region. So far I have received no input, so we will continue to hold the Region Rally,2012 in Anchorage Alaska & 2013 in Edmonton AB.

Region J also had good news, the Region Rally in Calgary was a success, everyone had FUN. Many Thanks again to the Chapter AB-A Team.

Our Rider Educators had another good year training our members, I would like to thank them for the time and effort they put in to try to keep our members safe. We also have a change in our RE Officers as Stan Woychuk has decided to step aside from his Region RE position due to changes in work loads and we thank him for his dedication to the RE program. AB District RE Larry Harland has stepped forward, Larry has a long record in Rider Ed and we welcome him to the Region team. Taking over from Larry at District is Alex Middleton, Alex also has been involved with RE as Chapter RE in Calgary. All our RE Officers & Trainers deserve recognition for the many hours they spend ,often in the hot sun,on ranges and classrooms, so take a moment to thank them for volunteering.

Another group who also deserve recognition are our Leadership Trainers this group of members are now working with our Officers & members to make sure that everyone is well informed and are available to your Chapter to present a wide ranging group of seminars.

The change to Officer status of our Treasurers, was long overdue and the use of them to format our Chapters will only improve the experience for our members.

The MECs are a group that we will rely on to make sure our new members are welcomed that all members are kept informed of Chapter activities, also check on members who have not renewed. You are our PR Officers.

These changes have all been instigated in Region J over the past two years and should keep our association strong in the future, we do still have problems getting members to become involved, we need you to step into team positions, at every level we need Officers, as previously mentioned we have 2 Chapters who have a limited future without new team members, the Alberta District is without most team members. We have in the single Chapter Districts, amalgamated the Chapter & District teams, is this the way to go for all our districts? I don’t have all the answers and would appreciate input from our members.

As you may be aware, 2012 will be our final year as your Region J Directors, we will be working to ensure the smooth transition to the new Directors. I would like to thank all our Region J members for your friendship & support over the past 15yrs we have been involved in one position or other. We intend to continue in the RE program and enjoy our membership as JAM. We will be heading to the UK Dec 15th to visit with family etc and Assistant RD John Wait will be acting for Region. I will still be available on line. Hope to see many of you next year during the riding season, Happy Holidays to everyone,

Phil & Margaret Craven, Region J Directors

Use the links below to access previous 2011 Region-J Newsletters from our archive.

This site is maintained by VWH Web Services
Contact: William Haggerty