(Golden, BC) Community Coordination's 'Bringing Seniors Groups Together' was a success with guidance from guest facilitator, Nancy Gale. Mrs. Gale brought out the issues and opportunities that Golden’s seniors and stakeholder groups are facing. The Community Coordination project has been hosting a series of workshops and meetings, involving local groups and inviting guest speakers to share their experiences around collaboration. As part of the Community Coordination project, led by Golden Community Resources Society (GCRS), over 100 individuals, who are involved with seniors groups, were invited the seniors-focused meeting on November 7 at the Royal Canadian Legion. About 35 people attended the 3 ½ hour morning session. The presentation started with an overview of the project, which is focused on having a Community Team in place by the end of 2013. This Community Team will need to have representation from Golden’s seniors and their respective organizations. To help set the stage for the discussion, many groups and organizations presented on the seniors programs that they currently offer as well as challenges they have experienced. With the stage set, Nancy Gale, a very experienced facilitator from Williams Lake asked, “How can we work together to improve aging-in-place opportunities and the social well-being for those 55+?” After a series of smaller group discussions, each group reported back on what they had discovered. In her closing remarks, Mrs. Gale encouraged regular future meetings to bring seniors groups together and for each participant to schedule a more in-depth conversation on this topic with someone they haven’t met. Feedback from the participants was positive with many eager to set a follow up meeting date. For more information about the Community Coordination project, a summary of the presentation and discussion, please see http://www.goldenloom.ca/seniors.html. And for those who missed the first meeting, but want to be invited to the next meeting, please contact Ryan Watmough at [email protected]. Photo Above: Barb Davies (left) of the Golden Food Bank Society explains the Food Bank's volunteer and support opportunities to the participants "Bringing Seniors Groups Together" meeting at the Royal Canadian Legion.
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Nancy Gale of the Central Interior Community Services Cooperative (CICSC) provided a thorough overview of this very successful umbrella organization in Williams Lake, BC. At The Island Restaurant, 17 local residents came to hear where the CICSC started and what they have accomplished over the last 10 years.
The entire slide presentation can be found under Health & Social Services. On October 24, 2013, Mark Halwa, Chair of the Columbia Valley Greenways Trail Alliance (CVGTA), presented to a room full of local trail enthusiasts. Mark had attended the International Mountain Biking Association's (IMBA) three day World Summit in Santa Fe, NM on October 10-13, 2012 to find out how other trail users around the world are developing, funding and maintaining trails for all kinds of outdoor users. The event was sold out, with 350 delegates present from places as far away as Singapore and Israel.
The successes and failures that were shared have a lot in common with the Columbia Valley – so Mark took notes, pictures and emailed all the speakers to ask for their presentations. The three days of material was condensed into an hour and he presented the highlights in Golden on Thursday October 24th. After the IMBA summary presentation, Mark outlined how the CVGTA has integrated lessons learned from other trail groups. He also made the standing offer to work with Golden's trail groups. Then a discussion about the merits, challenges and actions moving forward took place. These actions were documented and shared with the meeting participants to keep the conversation going. The PowerPoint slides from both the Community Coordination project and the IMBA and CVGTA presentations are posted on the Trails webpage. Mark Halwa, Chair of the Columbia River Greenways Trail Alliance, will be speaking on the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA)'s three day World Summit in Santa Fe, NM on October 10-13, 2012. Mark and his wife, Lori, attended the conference to find out how other trail users around the world are developing, funding and maintaining trails for all kinds of outdoor users. It was sold out, 350 delegates from places as far away as Singapore and Israel attended, as well as 50 IMBA staff and another 50 or more press and industry representatives.
The successes and failures that were shared have a lot in common with the Columbia Valley - so Mark took notes, pictures and emailed all the speakers to ask for their presentations. The three days of material has now been condensed into about an hour and he would like to present the highlights in Golden on Thursday October 24th. There is no charge to attend. If you are interested in trails and building a coalition of outdoor enthusiasts, please come along. The presentation will begin at 7:00 PM sharp, CBT Office Boardroom on 8th Ave North in Golden. (Golden, BC) The Community Coordination project has connected with one of the leaders of communication and collaboration in Golden - the Early Childhood Development Coalition (ECDC).
On Thursday September 26, Ryan Watmough was invited to present to the ECDC's first meeting after their summer break. Mr. Watmough was very interested in hearing what the ECDC members learned over their years forming, storming, norming and performing as a group focused on a particular developmental stage - 0 to 6 year olds. Mr. Watmough is hoping to take these lessons and share with other groups, who are looking to form coalitions. (Golden, BC) On September 24th, many of Golden's leaders heard what it means for a community to have a Social Development Coordinator.
Jill Zacharias, the City of Revelstoke's Social Development Coordinator, spoke with 25 community leaders at a lunch led by Golden Community Resources Society's Community Coordination project. Representatives from many non profit and business organizations heard about the structure and benefits of the position that has existed in Revelstoke for the past 5 years. Later that day, Jill Zacharias and Ryan Watmough, also presented to Golden's Town Council during an open Council Meeting. No? There are likely hundreds of Directors in Golden & Area A and as a Director, it's your responsibility to ensure that your organization's activities follow the Act. It doesn't matter if you're a new member or have years of experience on the Board.
Bookmark it and put it at the top of your summer reading list. And slap on some sunscreen. BC Society Act [RSBC 1996] CHAPTER 433 A group of local trail users and leaders gathered to hear from Al Skucas, Past President for Trails BC at the RockWater on July 22, 2013. From Cranbrook, BC, Mr. Skucas is a long-time trail user and volunteer and his passion for trails was evident with his presentation on the Trans Canada Trail and trail programs across the Province.
While the Trans Canada Trail (TCT) is due for "connection" in 2017 (Canada's 150 birthday), there is no TCT support for spur lines from the TCT. However, that fact hasn't stopped strategic groups from planning and developing trails that can link up to the TCT after the opening date. The adjacent map shows that the closest TCT connection point is in Kimberley, with no plan for a spur line to run up the Columbia Valley (Source: Trails BC). With many examples of trails alliances across the Province, Mr. Skucas explained that the majority are funded through a balance of core funding through local government support, donations, grants and membership/user fees. Each organization has found a different formula and involves a different sets of stakeholders. Some represent all non-motorized groups, while others have a broader vision. Some are working together, while others have stuck out on their own, supported by volunteer passion or funding along the way. Motorized and non-motorized trail user groups have traditionally kept to themselves. Mr. Skucas suggested that motorized trail users may be subject to licencing in the near future as BC is the only province without it. But with licencing and measurement, may come support from the Province. Some of the most successful projects Mr. Skucas has seen include "rails to trails" projects. Supported by the cities of Kimberley and Cranbrook, with land donated by Canadian Pacific Rail, the $2.8M North Star Rail Trail connects Kimberley to Cranbrook, opened in 2010 and now is the largest daily tourism activity in the region - a region where golf courses were once thought as the salvation. In fact, the trail is the most inquired activity at the Chamber of Commerce. Because of the path's high standard, consistent grade and proximity to the highway, both communities have even seen benefits. And an unlikely trails user groups, local senior citizens, have raided yard sales for second-hand bikes and almost take over the 17km paved path on week days. The Rail Trail has also been attributed to attracting new residents to relocate in the area. Kicking Horse Country can boast world-class trails in the Moonrakers (XC biking), Mount 7 (downhill) and Dawn Mountain (Nordic) areas and Golden's 10km Rotary Trails systems is a great start to developing family-friendly trails and encouraging outdoor recreation for residents and tourists alike. However, Mr. Skucas suggests that in order to get a visitor to pull off the highway and spend an afternoon (which may turn into a night stay), the community should focus on offering at least 15km of scenic trails. The proposed 'Golden to Golf Course Trail' is a great opportunity and the community should determine if it is a priority. Some communities do not stop with the construction of great trails. Across Canada, trails are being planned, designed and built with certain events in mind. With community support of events, Mr. Skucas has seen "mediocre" trails become great rallying points for community development and tourism. The "Epic Trail" concept and designation (originating from International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA)) has brought destination visitors and the economic impact that follows. Rossland and Revelstoke are two nearby communities that are reaping the benefits of their major investments and planning in signature alpine summit trails. But Mr. Skucas cautions trails leaders to look and build to the future rather than the present. Will more extreme, multi-day, destination mountain biking adventures be as highly desired as they are today or will something else be in favour? And compromise may be needed in order to attract the necessary user numbers and resources to properly plan, design, build, maintain and market signature trails. Rather than just biking trails or hiking trails or horseback riding trails, these user groups and others may be best served - and the community in general - through a collaborative effort. If they are not already, funders will be looking for this in the near future. And volunteers are always looking to where their greatest impact and benefit will be. Back towards Golden, the closest trails alliances include the Columbia River Greenways Trails Alliance and the Shuswap Trails Alliance, with the latter receiving core funding from the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD). While the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) does not provide any core financial support for trails organizations, the greater Columbia Valley community may be approaching an opportunity for local governments in the CSRD and RDEK to determine a larger regional plan and funding mechanism. This would likely need to be initiated in order to access some of the Province's $100,000 budget annually awarded for regional trails planning. And with talk of rebuilding the Province's Trails Branch, now may be just a great time for Golden's trails organizations to come together and develop a broader, collaborative mandate. The presentation slides for the evening are available below. Please contact Ryan Watmough at 250-344-8610 or [email protected] if you have any interest in supporting trails activities and volunteers through the Community Team process. The Community Coordination project began engaging the health and social service groups on July 14, 2013 through a Golden Food Bank Society lunch meeting at The Island Restaurant.
While the Barb Davies' presentation on Food Bank's of the Columbia Basin focused on the Golden Food Bank's findings from other Basin communities, they finished with some really tough questions for Golden's health and social service groups: "What would Golden look like if there was no food bank? What would we as a community need to do?" These are great questions for all organizations to ask of themselves (staff and volunteers) to test if their organization is the best vehicle for a particular service and to see if there are other organizations out there who need help themselves. What would Golden look like if there your organization didn't exist? What would we as a community need to do? The presentation from the Golden Food Bank and the Community Coordination project can be found on GoldenLoom.ca. On July 13, 2013, Stewart Spooner, Trails Manager of the Kootenay Columbia Trails Alliance (KCTS), presented to a room full of local resident trail users and volunteers. Mr. Spooner explained how KCTS was created, his role and the successes and challenges they've had along the way.
That evening's presentation is available now and posted on GoldenLoom.ca. |
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August 2015
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