Present: Jessica Busch, WORC; Dave Gray CEDO Burk’s Falls, Armour, Ryerson; Carol Armstrong, McMurrich/Monteith; Courtney Rizzo, CDO Kearney, Magnetawan, McMurrich Monteith, Perry; Rosalind Hall, Ryerson Township; David Stewart, Almaguin Highlands Inc.
Thank you to the Village of South River for hosting this month’s meeting.
Over the course of the summer Dave has spoken with many of AHED’s past members and Municipalities and has also taken the time to update AHED’s Terms of Reference in order to clarify the AHED Committee’s function and to encourage a structured and comfortable atmosphere. Dave Gray went through the Terms of Reference with the group – there was brief discussion on a few items – How best to distribute AHED minutes – perhaps through links on Municipal minutes? Dave. S. questioned whether or not AHED could be a non-profit? This could be explored once the group has re-established with a renewed state of relevance. Please find attached in this month’s AHED minutes, copies of the AHED Terms of Reference from 2012 and the new updated version – these will be discussed at the next AHED meeting.
Carol Armstrong/McMurrich Monteith
The 125th Anniversary was a complete success. The McMurrich families were able to attend from Toronto and were quite impressed while thoroughly enjoying the festivities. There were many historical items on display and the presentation prepared by Dave Stewart was wonderful. Tony Clement attended and spoke at the event as well as participated in the ceremonial cake cutting with Carol. There will be a Halloween event taking place on October 29th – Courtney is organizing a scary walk taking place on the trails behind the Community Centre – volunteers are needed as actors, volunteers must be under the age of 18 and can call Courtney for more information. Carol also reported on a pot luck dinner held for the volunteers from the 125th Anniversary – the pot luck dinner was enjoyed by all who attended.
Courtney Rizzo/KPMM
Courtney briefly discussed the Halloween Trail Walk – kids and adults will be welcome to walk through – this event will start small and hopefully grow over the years. Courtney also touched on the local cycling initiative as well saying that an event is being planned for next September – A Century and a Half Ride to celebrate Canada’s 150th Anniversary. The ride will be 150 km but will have various route lengths built in to accommodate riders of all calibre – an application for funding is pending. Municipalities will have an opportunity to get involved by purchasing signage for their local areas. The proposed route will go from Magnetawan to South River to Burk’s Falls to Kearney to Perry and back to Magnetawan.
Rosalind Hall/Ryerson Township
Rosalind gave a brief report stating that Armour Township has announced that they will be pulling out of shared services with Burk’s Falls and Ryerson by January of 2018. Rosalind did state that Ryerson and Burk’s Falls are not working towards dismantling these services.
Dave Stewart/Almaguin Highlands Inc.
Dave reported that the East Parry Sound Literacy Council has changed their name to Almaguin Adult Learning Centre. Dave spoke to the group regarding marketing in the Almaguin Highlands – he would like to see a marketing initiative in the Almaguin Highlands stressing that our region should be marketing our region. In order to avoid confusion, Dave Gray suggested Dave Stewart create a one page document outlining concerns to address the group. Dave Stewart also reported that he did a Web Marketing Presentation to the NETWORC group in McMurrich Monteith – Dave’s business provides web management services. Lastly, Dave reported that festivities were enjoyed at the 125th Anniversary where Karen was an ambassador for the event. Dave also noted that the Paddle for Fairvern event was well attended this year – Almaguin Highlands Inc. donated 15 cases of water for the event.
Jessica Busch/Women’s Own Resource Centre
The 3rd Annual WIB (Women In Business) Trade Show took place on September 3rd at the South River Machar Community Centre – the event was well attended and continues to grow. Fundraising over the summer included the Annual WORC Garage Sale and Thornloe Cheese. Fall Programming is rolling out this month with Entrepreneurial Skills Training taking place in two locations – Magnetawan and South River. South River will be an evening class, taking place on Wednesday’s from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. and Magnetawan will be running on Monday’s from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Life Skills Training is also launching in South River at the WORC office running on Tuesday’s from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Both of these programs are offered for free and WORC has some funding for mileage and childcare bursaries to alleviate potential barriers. The Almaguin Women’s Resource & Business Network Meetings are back after the summer break as well. September’s Meeting will take place at Kudo’s Restaurant in Powassan with a topic of “Marketing Your Business with Facebook”; October’s Meeting will take place at Briminard Bay Bed & Breakfast with Madrie Secord presenting on “Making Your Money Matter”; November’s Meeting will take place at Chalmer’s United Church in South River with our 4th Annual Mini Christmas Trade Show taking place.
Dave Gray/CDO Burk’s Falls, Armour, Ryerson
The Business Centre of Nipissing Parry Sound will be partnering with BACED to deliver a Marketing/E-Marketing presentation (Presentation is from Kirsto) on October 19th, 2016 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. for Small Business Week. The event is open to all Almaguin businesses. There will also be a networking session sometime after the presentation hosted by the AHCC (pending confirmation). The Almaguin Regional Economic Alliance (AREA – consisting of 4 economic development staff members) is developing an implementation plan for the Villages of Almaguin Regional Marketing Partnership. Once it is complete, formal requests will be issued to municipalities and organizations to invite them to join the partnership in principle. They are hoping for a formal launch in early 2017. The Almaguin in Motion (AIM) cycling group has had a great first riding season, and continues to build capacity throughout the region. Many businesses have registered with the Ontario by Bike network, a series of riding routes from 6 km to 180 km have been GPS mapped and uploaded to a variety of cycling advocacy websites, and a number of bike racks have been build and delivered to businesses courtesy of Dave Wright and the Bear Chair Co. In addition they have been hosting weekly rides, and participation is steadily growing. AIM can be found on Facebook by searching for Almaguin in Motion. The first annual Burk’s Falls, Armour and Ryerson Volunteer Appreciation BBQ was held on September 10th at the Burk’s Falls Fairgrounds in partnership with the ARBF Agricultural Society (who donated the use of their building). The event was well received and well attended for a first year event with delicious cake being served and parachute men for all the kids in attendance.
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