MLA Report Sept 15

Hello Chestermere! We have had a wonderful week seeing all of you out and about participating throughout the week in preparation for and participating at the Country Fair. This was the 27th Chestermere Country Fair and the lovely weather and the spirit of Chestermere brought together the many activities, displays and events over the weekend. The Country Fair is the longest running event in Chestermere. At the heart of the Fair are the volunteers who work day and night to bring together this fabulous event. One of the highlights is the Red Ribbon contest. People enter their baking, canning, vegetables, flowers, handicrafts, pictures, and of course their children show off their skills. Thanks to the Red Ribbon Committee: “Grannie Jen” Peddlesden, Pat Tindall, Bhupinder Billing, Carol Smailes, Andrea Cardwell, Jana Jopko, Marla Forth, Lennox Gomes, Jennifer Zambory, The Fauchers, and Wilma Des Roches. It is no small feat to award over $7000 in prizes given that most prizes range from $1 to $20 and there are over 1,000 entries.
The 6th annual Red Ribbon Pie auction raised over $2300 for Stars Air Ambulance. It was wonderful to see our First Responders out baking pies, and then attending the auction. There was some serious bidding over a couple of the pies with the Whitecappers’ pie going for $325 setting a record for this event. Thank you to Bill Brown and his helpers Emma and Michaela for his amazing auctioneer talent and helping us raise these needed funds.
With a family fun area, a Gymkhana, zucchini races, the bunnies and many businesses with pretty much everything you could imagine both inside and outside from specialty honey, to blown glass there was something for everyone. Congratulations to the Chestermere Agricultural Society for this wonderful event.
It was a fabulous day for the parade, as the muster site began to fill up with real live “my little ponies”, horses and wagons, school bands, and everybody’s favorite, the fire trucks. Our Wildrose team tossed lots of candy and freezies, and we enjoyed seeing all of you on this beautiful day.
Earlier in the week we were privileged to attend an AJHL exhibition game at our very own arena. Alex Halat and Shane Hainstock along with many volunteers from Synergy and others did a great job and we were so happy to participate. Thank you to Akesh Aheer for his beautiful singing of our National Anthem.
I also had the privilege of attending an awareness session for World Suicide Prevention Week. Thanks to the Waiting Room Café, Yvonne Harris and Christie Redl for hosting this. The first step in combatting this scourge is realizing it is OK to talk about it.
We also had the privilege of attending a yearling sale in Olds where the funds raised for the horse donated went to 5 charities. Our yearling was auctioned off for $10,000 split 5 ways. Our portion of “Blink And Gone” went to Autism Speaks, and we were so proud to attend and to be included in this generous act of giving. Thanks to the Alberta Standardbred Horse Association, Century Downs, our horse racing community and especially the anonymous but very generous gentleman who donated the horse.
I attended the World Heavy Oil Congress last week. While there were many interesting discussions of new technology, resource stewardship, and environmental innovations, accompanied by a great deal of praise over our environmental regulations, there were few expressions of interest in investing here in Alberta. Our government has done a fine job of scaring away investment into our province, and the lack of national pipelines to take our resources to tide water gives potential investors grave concerns about being competitive on the world market. The heavy oil industry is one of the gems of our province, and I was honored to attend this high tech event.
As I finish writing this article on September 11, 2016, I must acknowledge that 15 years have passed since the twin towers collapsed and September 11 became a day of sadness and remembrance. I remember exactly where I was sitting, what I was eating, and thinking this cannot be real. I remember that there were no airplanes flying overhead for days, and how vulnerable I felt. The world just did not make sense.
As always, we love to hear from you.