There aren’t too many times when a person gets paid more than $17,000 to come and have lunch, but that is what happened, more or less to Shannon Carlson.
Well perhaps, he wasn’t paid to have lunch, however, Carlson, in his position of president of the Barrhead and District Agrena Society was presented with a cheque by the Barrhead Rotary Club for $17,592.96 during their Nov. 26 lunch meeting.
The cheque represented the service club’s final payment to society as part of its $1.5 million fundraising campaign to help with the $12.78 million construction cost of the aquatic centre.
All totalled, the Rotary Club has donated $100,000, which qualified them to name the facility’s multi-purpose room after long-time member Dr. Charles Godberson.
“It’s a wonderful facility that has something for everybody and is a testament to what we can do as a community when we put our minds to something,” Carlson said.
He added that since the swimming pool’s grand opening over a year ago, the society has basically been in hibernation, doing the minimum it needed to do to still be eligible for casino funding through the AGLC (Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis).
However, that is about to change.
“We want to partner with somebody. If they have a worthwhile project that fits our mandate of being something that enhances the health and wellness of the community,” Carlson said. “If we [not-for-profit organizations] can work together, we can share the burden, not only in terms of money but volunteers.”
Town of Barrhead mayor Dave McKenzie agreed, saying open communication and cohesiveness are the keys to successfully completing any large project.
“Knowing what everyone else has on the slate and where everyone can chip in and help out. Any project is doable if everyone just takes chewable bites out of it,” he said.
A good example of that is the recent combined efforts of the Chamber of Commerce, Pembina Hills Public Schools (PHPS), and the municipalities during two recent VIP events to woo prospective new teachers.
The event featured a special barbeque lunch, a mini ‘Make the Connection’ tradeshow, a tour of the town’s recreational facilities and a bus tour of the region.
“Through the efforts of a lot of people we were able to show a group of teachers what this community has to offer . . . and they were so impressed with what the community put before them and how they were treated and that they had never experienced anything like it in their teaching career, it was almost a foot race to see who could move here first,” McKenzie said.
In May, Pembina Hills began offering a one-time $2,500 relocation incentive to all new and existing staff residing outside of the division, hoping to entice them into establishing their primary residence within the division’s geographic boundaries.
As of the most recent count, 29 PHPS employees took advantage of the relocation incentive program. Of that number, 16 have relocated to the Town of Barrhead, including 13 employees at the Alberta Distance Learning Centre (ADLC), two at Barrhead Composite High School and one at Barrhead Elementary School.
“It was probably the first coordinated effort of partners who haven’t worked together and what it did was prove the power in that,” he said.
McKenzie said the town is looking into similar partnerships with the hopes of creating other amenities, such as an off-leash dog park or an improved skateboard park.
