From kwhyte2 at gmail.com Sun Jan 16 12:40:41 2011 From: kwhyte2 at gmail.com (Kester Whyte) Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 12:40:41 -0700 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings January 2011 Message-ID: Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 237 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. ------------------------------ * 2011 SAR ALBERTA: CALL FOR CANDIDATES * OFFICERS ELECTION The Following SAR Alberta Officers are up for Elections this year: President Vice President Secretary If you are interested in running for one of these positions the nominations forms and information on each position may be found on the SAR Alberta website or maybe obtain by contacting the SAR Alberta Secretary at * mwtracks at netzero.net* Nominations forms due in by April 20, 2011 ------------------------------ * 2011 SAR ALBERTA: ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING NOTICE * The SAR Alberta Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday April 30, 2011 in Edmonton. Location and other details will be out within a couple of months. ------------------------------ * SARDAA ANNUAL REVIEW NEWSLETTER * SARDAA 2010 Annual Review Newsletter The Search & Rescue Dog Association of Alberta newsletter of the 2010 year is now posted on the SARDAA website *www.sardaa.ca* Michelle Limoges *udcdoberman at shaw.ca* SARDAA Secretary & Dog Handler ------------------------------ * TRACKING PRACTICE * WANTED. Trackers interested in some tracking practice. Our group, SAR 1st Response, is looking for a location to hold a tracking practice session. We would like an area or camp in the northern section of the province for the spring and a southern area or camp for the fall session. If your group is interested in attending these sessions, maybe you know of an area or camp where we can hold it. All we need from your group are suggestions on areas or camps to hold these sessions and possibly a contact number. We would also like to know if there are any groups interested in these practice sessions. We would like to hold them closest to the groups that are interested. This keeps our costs low and attendance higher. It also adds the added advantage of giving us different terrain to practice in. Please contact me, Michelle Hebert mhebert at airsurfer.ca UTS Signcutter level ------------------------------ * TRAINING GRANTS FOR 2011 * The selection process for training grants for 2011 is now complete and the recommendations have been forwarded to the Minister??s office for approval. Once again, there were far more requests than could be filled. This year??s priorities are: regionalization of the grants; a Search Manager five-day course; a Search Manager two-day re-certification; several skill specific courses; and, as many SAR Basics courses as possible. Groups will be notified by the Minister some time in March. Norman Mathew *normanmathew at xplornet.com* Training Coordinator Search and Rescue Alberta ------------------------------ * THE WEBSITE NEEDS YOUR HELP! * It has been a huge challenge with regard to our website and membership contact information. Much of the issue has been around SAR Alberta not having your most up-to-date contact information (not the whole issue so we?re clear) so we?ve gone through the site again. Now it?s your turn. Please go to the SAR Alberta website and review your team?s information. Why? Not only is it important for administrative purposes but operationally more and more of our partners and fellow SAR groups are looking to the website to get callout numbers and procedures. . If there are changes then please send those changes to *secretary at saralberta.ca* Daryl D. Black President Incident Leadership Canada Inc. (780) 569-4269 *www.incidentleadership.ca* "Bringing Order to Chaos Through the Art of Leadership and the Science of Human Factors" ------------------------------ * SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS * Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.caPLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. PLEASE DO NOT send me any .docx files; thanks. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happeningsenter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -- My fantasy "Rast" to be released by MuseItUp Publishing in March 2011. "Arrival", "Deadly Enterprise", "The Wildcat's Victory", and "The Wildcat's Burden" are available here -- http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/eAuthor.php?Name=Christopher%20Hoare See my website at http://www.freewebs.com/chriskander/ and blog http://thewildcatsvictory.wordpress.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20110116/7484bbad/attachment.html From kwhyte2 at gmail.com Wed Feb 16 14:30:47 2011 From: kwhyte2 at gmail.com (Kester Whyte) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:30:47 -0700 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings February 2011 Message-ID: Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 237 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. ------------------------------ * SAR ALBERTA WEBSITE CHANGES * When dealing with changes to the SAR Alberta website we are now only going to make changes once per month. It has been difficult at times with changes coming and going constantly. If you have changes that need to be made for the web site only, please have changes into the SAR Alberta Secretary *secretary at saralberta.ca* by the First of every Month. Changes to your membership information only not for the website may be sent in at any time. Thank you Mary-Ann Warren Secretary SAR Alberta *secretary at saralberta.ca* *www.saralberta.ca* ------------------------------ * SEARCH MANAGER TRAINING * MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW A Search Manager Course (5 Day) will be offered from September 19 to 23, 2011, inclusive. As this is a five-day course, this announcement is being made early to allow participants to book time off from work, if necessary. The host group and location will be provided pending announcement of the 2011 grants by the Minister. This course will qualify or re-certify you to manage a search. It is open to all current search managers and those interested in becoming search managers. Participant criterion is: _ must be a current paid-up member of a SAR Alberta group _ must be current in your group?s search status requirements (current first aid, CPR, etc., SAR Basics) _ must have participated in at least three searches or mock searches (or a combination of both) in the past two years _ must be willing and able to commit for the full five days _ must be willing to cover some personal expenses Note that we will not be able to reimburse all travel expenses, and so candidates should be prepared to cover some of these costs themselves, or to have partial sponsorship from their home groups. For further information, please contact the SAR Alberta Provincial Training Coordinator, Norman Mathew at: *normanmathew at xplornet.com* ------------------------------ *SAR ALBERTA INSURANCE REIMBURSEMENT* With the uncertainty being faced by many of the SAR Alberta member organizations with the new insurance coverage, and with some organizations uncertain on dropping their current insurance providers, SAR Alberta has in good faith and fairness decided for ?ONE? year to provided a reimbursement fund to these groups. If you are one of these SAR Alberta member organizations that has kept its current insurance provider please fill out the reimbursement applications and send it into SAR Alberta by February 28, 2011. This reimbursement fund will be only available for this first year to those that currently pay for their own insurance, and are SAR Alberta Regular members in good standing. Applications went out to those organizations that SAR Alberta knew fell under these requirements. Contact the SAR Alberta Secretary * secretary at saralberta.ca* for a application form if you have not received one. Thank you. Sincerely Don Drebert President *president at saralberta.ca* ------------------------------ * 2011 SAR ALBERTA: CALL FOR CANDIDATES * OFFICERS ELECTION The Following SAR Alberta Officers are up for Elections this year: President Vice President Secretary If you are interested in running for one of these positions the nominations forms and information on each position may be found on the SAR Alberta website or maybe obtain by contacting the SAR Alberta Secretary at * mwtracks at netzero.net* Nominations forms due in by April 20, 2011 ------------------------------ * 2011 SAR ALBERTA: ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING NOTICE * The SAR Alberta Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday April 30, 2011 in Edmonton. Location and other details will be out within a couple of months. ------------------------------ * SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS * Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.caPLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. PLEASE DO NOT send me any .docx files; thanks. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happeningsenter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -- My fantasy "Rast" to be released by MuseItUp Publishing in March 2011. "Arrival", "Deadly Enterprise", "The Wildcat's Victory", and "The Wildcat's Burden" are available here -- http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/eAuthor.php?Name=Christopher%20Hoare See my website at http://www.christophrthoare.ca/and blogs http://thewildcatsvictory.wordpress.com and http://www.trailowner.blogspot.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20110216/31c003c7/attachment.htm From kwhyte2 at gmail.com Wed Mar 16 16:08:35 2011 From: kwhyte2 at gmail.com (Kester Whyte) Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:08:35 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings March 2011 Message-ID: Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 237 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. *MARK YOUR CALENDARS* Parkland Search and Rescue is pleased to announce a five day Search Manager course, September 19 to 23, 2011. The course will take place at the Parkland Search and Rescue Hall in Stony Plain, Alberta. This is a granted course so there is no cost for instruction. All instructional materials and some meals will be provided. Members will be responsible for their own transportation, accommodation, and some meal costs, although some assistance may be available. A deposit of $100 to hold you place in the course will be required with your registration application. The deposit will be refunded as long as you attend the course or notify us by August 1, 2011 if you need to cancel. Do not pay the deposit until you placement in the course is verified by the Parkland SAR Training Coordinator. For further information and to register, contact Ed Hornby, Training Coordinator, Parkland Search and Rescue at: edhornby at telus.net *MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT * The deadline for the insurance reimbursement applications is over and we have received three applications. We will be going over them on a case by case basis and contacting the successful teams shortly. The cheques will go out ASAP after the selection process is complete. The training grant letters have been sent out by AEMA and a list will be posted on the web site soon to aid teams in planning this summer?s events. Regionalisation is very important so network with neighbouring teams to maximize the training opportunities. I will be meeting with the provincial government in the near future to discuss the ongoing sustainability of the insurance funding and hope to have firm commitment to present to the membership at the AGM on April 30th. At the time of writing I am returning from a SARVAC board meeting in Toronto. The theme of sustainability is an issue at the federal level as SARVAC?s NIF ends this march. I will be sending letters to all the federal cabinet ministers whose ridings are in Alberta urging them to ask the minister of defence, the honourable Peter MacKay, to support SARVAC financially as they do for CASARA and the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary. This sustainability is very important as SARVAC is the voice at the federal level for 300 teams and some 12,000 volunteers across the country. Just a reminder, please send a rep from all teams to the AGM on April 30th as your vote and ideas are what drive the success of our provincial association. President SAR Alberta Don Drebert ddrebert at telus.net *SAR ALBERTA WEBSITE CHANGES* When dealing with changes to the SAR Alberta website we are now only going to make changes once per month. It has been difficult at times with changes coming and going constantly. If you have changes that need to be made for the web site only, please have changes into the SAR Alberta Secretary secretary at saralberta.ca by the First of every Month. Changes to your membership information only not for the website may be sent in at any time to the SAR Alberta Secretary. Thank you Mary-Ann Warren Secretary SAR Alberta secretary at saralberta.ca www.saralberta.ca *SAR ALBERTA AGM* The 2011 SAR Alberta Annual General Meeting will be held Saturday April 30, 2011. Registration starting at 08:30 The meeting room location is at the Radisson Hotel in the Jubilee Room (lower level with wheelchair access), Edmonton South-4440 Gateway Blvd. There will be an official notice going out in the mail shortly with more information on this meeting. Luncheon cost: $20.00 *Please RSVP for attendance to the Luncheon to Rodney Dietrich accountinggod at shaw.ca Deadline Monday April 18, 2011. The following items for your review will be posted on the SAR Alberta web site www.saralberta.ca 2010 SAR Alberta AGM Draft minutes (on web site) 2010 Financial Statement Draft Standards for adopting- (most on web site) *SAR DOG NEWSLETTER* Our March newsletter is now available on our web site - www.sardaa.ca Michelle Limoges udcdoberman at shaw.ca SARDAA Secretary & Dog Handler *FOOTHILLS SAR NEWSLETTER* The newsletter was sent to me by the secretary, Linda Rowson, lindarowson at shaw.ca I won?t attempt to reproduce any of her Adobe layouts ? this newsletter was tasked with providing bare-bones information to all Alberta groups, some of whose members still have dial-up and other communication limitations. For a snippet glimpse at the workings of the group I?m pasting a couple of items from it. PRESIDENT?S RAMBLINGS ?Lyn Michaud Back in the thick of things again! No sooner had I arrived home from a week of awesome wilderness alpine touring when the phone(s) started ringing. A callout to Eden Valley was in progress for the next morning! Just time to repack my 24 hour gear, print some maps and head out at 06:30 for the local RCMP detachment and the Command Postshelter. The search had been underway for a 22 year old woman for several days using RCMP assets including dog teams and helicopter observations without success. FSAR was called in to do a ground search on Saturday. We certainly covered the terrain in a competent and professional manner under the leadership of the Incident Commander ?Corporal Hamelin, and the Search Management overhead team ably led by Guy Sosnoski, Don Ward, and Sharon Sosnoski. Darrell Harman took the radio operator?s chair and we had both Holly and Bert ferrying the teams to their respective search segments. Thanks to all the FSAR members who heeded the callout (22 in all), and also to the overhead and transport teams. Usually we think of winter as a slow period for us. But this winter has been somewhat different in many ways including callouts. In a previous FSAR newsletter your executive committed to follow up our 2011 planning session with specific actions. With that in mind we have taken steps to assign areas of ?process? responsibility to individuals within the board. Some of these are now in place as follows: President (Lyn Michaud) ?board contact for Search Managers, Liaison with outside agencies, directional oversight for FSAR as a group, Advanced Team Leaders course project (until development is complete). Vice President (Tim Woodland) ?Compound, SAR Equipment, Vehicles, Alternate to President for both Executive Meetings and General meetings. Provides directional continuity and guidance to FSAR. Website when redesigned. Secretary (Linda Rowson) ?Archivist in all FSAR matters, minutes of both general and executive meetings, Newsletter editor. Contact for membership and callout process at the board level. Records retention. FSAR database population and maintenance. Projects (short term) also include Jacket program and Website redesign. Treasurer (Bill Niles) ?Manages the general finances of FSAR, Financial health of FSAR, payables and receivables, audits and financial reports. Director (Ron Rowson) ?SAR Basics, Outdoor skills development programs (future project) and Advanced Team Leaders course (when development is mature). Director (Larry Houghton) ?Membership including recruiting. Director (not yet named) ?Training. Director (not yet named) ?Public Outreach and Funding. Board as a whole: Represents the membership, makes tactical decisions in the best interests of FSAR and provides a vision for FSAR going forward. These changes will give our various committees and responsible project managers much better lines of communication with the board and help the board better understand their respective roles within FSAR. Thanks to the board members who have volunteered to take on these specific roles thus far. Our group continues to be a responsive, dynamic and evolving organization. Your support and participation are essential to continued development of our expertise. Come out and vote at the March 2011 AGM. Airport to be centre of ?big? search, rescue exercise By Paul Cowley -Red Deer Advocate, Published: March 04, 2011 6:54 AM Red Deer Regional Airport will be a staging area for as many as four giant CC-130 Hercules aircraft during a major military search and rescue exercise planned for May. About 150 military and civilian search and rescue personnel are expected to take part, including Para-rescue jumpers and aircraft from the Florida based 39th Rescue Squadron. ?So when we come, we come big,? said Capt. Jeff Noel, public affairs officer for Winnipeg-based 17 Wing, which is conducting the exercise along with 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron. The annual exercise is described by the military as a simulated major search and rescue deployment and training exercise (SAREX)and takes place at a different location in Alberta each year. Last year, it was in Grande Prairie, and the exercise returns to Red Deer for the first time since 2006. ?We try to move it around,? said Noel, who was in Red Deer on Thursday to do advance work for the May 6-10 exercise. ?We try to keep it varied so our crews maintain their skills because we don?t know where we?ll operate when we?re called out on a mission.? The exercise will be divided into two phases. The first part will involve a scenario to test the skills of the search master, staff and flying crews. Most of the flying will take place in the mountains of the West Country. Canadian Forces Search and Rescue technicians and U.S. para-rescue jumpers will do parachute drops, likely in the Rocky Mountain House area, in the second phase. The rescue training will allow them to practice jumping into confined areas, assessing and stabilizing casualties and evacuating them so they can be treated in hospital. The U.S. 39th Rescue Squadron is sister squadron to the 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron and the two have trained together. In Canada, the U.S. contingent gets a taste of mountain rescues and in Florida, the Canadians practice marine rescues. ?They are actually the search and rescue squadron that is assigned to Cape Canaveral,? Noel said of the U.S. contingent, who are expected to bring their own Hercules. ?They are on search and rescue standby for when the space shuttle goes and launches.? 435 Squadron has a Hercules permanently equipped to respond to emergencies and ready to respond in as little as 30 minutes and, at most, two hours. It covers an area from Quebec City to the B.C. border and as far north as the North Pole. Last July, the squadron sent two Hercules as part of a massive search effort for a U.S. pilot who went missing in the Northwest Territories. The pilot?s body was found in the wreckage of his single-engine plane about five days later about 130 km from Norman Wells. The Canadian Forces is involved in about 8,000 search and rescue missions a year. About 1,100 involve using planes or boats. Civil Air Search and Rescue Associations from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta will also be involved and are expected to send a dozen or more planes to participate. The volunteers fly their own small planes and are trained in flying search grids. About 2,600 pilots and 375 planes are part of the association in Canada. Local police, fire departments and search and rescue volunteers are also involved in the exercise so that they know how the military search and rescue units operate and what they require if a major operation is needed. pcowley at reddeeradvocate.com *SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS* Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. PLEASE DO NOT send me any .docx files; thanks. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happenings enter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -- My fantasy "Rast" to be released by MuseItUp Publishing in March 2011. "Arrival", "Deadly Enterprise", "The Wildcat's Victory", and "The Wildcat's Burden" are available here -- http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/eAuthor.php?Name=Christopher%20Hoare See my website at http://www.christophrthoare.ca/and blogs http://thewildcatsvictory.wordpress.com and http://www.trailowner.blogspot.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20110316/8d6513f4/attachment.htm From kwhyte2 at gmail.com Fri Apr 15 19:04:57 2011 From: kwhyte2 at gmail.com (Kester Whyte) Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:04:57 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings April 2011 Message-ID: *Hi All:* SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 237 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. ------------------------------ * SAR ALBERTA WEBSITE CHANGES * When dealing with changes to the SAR Alberta website we are now only going to make changes once per month. It has been difficult at times with changes coming and going constantly. If you have changes that need to be made for the web site only, please have changes into the SAR Alberta Secretary secretary at saralberta.ca by the First of every Month. Changes to your membership information only not for the website may be sent in at any time to the SAR Alberta Secretary. Thank you Mary-Ann Warren Secretary SAR Alberta secretary at saralberta.ca www.saralberta.ca ------------------------------ * SAR ALBERTA AGM * The 2011 SAR Alberta Annual General Meeting will be held Saturday April 30, 2011 starting at 09:00. Registration starting at 08:30 The meeting room location is at the Radisson Hotel in the Jubilee Room (lower level with wheelchair accessibility), Edmonton South-4440 Gateway Blvd. There will be an official notice going out in the mail shortly with more information on this meeting. Luncheon cost: $20.00 *Please RSVP for attendance to the Luncheon to Rodney Dietrich accountinggod at shaw.ca Deadline Monday April 18, 2011. The following items for your review will be posted on the SAR Alberta web site www.saralberta.ca 2010 SAR Alberta AGM Draft minutes (on web site) 2010 Financial Statement Draft Standards for adopting- (most on web site) ------------------------------ * SAR ALBERTA SEARCH AND RESCUE ASSOCIATION OF ALBERTA * Annual General Meeting April 30, 2011 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 8:30-9:00 ? AGM REGISTRATION 9:00 - ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 13:00 - LUNCHEON 13:45 - JEN KLEWCHUK Jardine Lloyd Thompson Canada, Inc. 14:30 - TOM SAND Alberta Emergency Management Agency 15:45 ? PAT BROPHY Workers Compensation Board ------------------------------ * SEARCH & RESCUE DOG ASSOCIATION OF ALBERTA * Basic SAR Dog Boot Camp Search Dog Seminar May 21-23 Gull Lake, Alberta For more information Contact: Mary-Ann Warren mwtracks at netzero.net or Michelle Limoges udcdoberman at shaw.ca ------------------------------ * SPRING 2011 SAR ALBERTA PROVINCIAL EXERCISE * Location: Cochrane and Area Hosted by Cochrane Search and Rescue Date May 14-15 2011 Contact Ian Oxton for more details. IOxton at calgarypolice.ca ------------------------------ * STATS REMINDER * Rodney asked me to include a stats reminder in this issue. I looked for the last posting he gave me for it and it was in September last year. Assuming that whoever hasn?t sent their stats yet will know this is for them, I?m posting the entire note ? out of date dates included. It is that time again for the collection of 2010 statistics (Jan 1 to Dec 31) - please see template or website I would like to have the information back to me by Jan 7 Your info/numbers shows the valuable service our volunteers provide our communities throughout the province. Should you have any questions, please let me know Thanx Rodney Dietrich SAR Alberta - Treasurer accountinggod at shaw.ca ------------------------------ *MARK YOUR CALENDARS* Parkland Search and Rescue is pleased to announce a five day Search Manager course, September 19 to 23, 2011. The course will take place at the Parkland Search and Rescue Hall in Stony Plain, Alberta. This is a granted course so there is no cost for instruction. All instructional materials and some meals will be provided. Members will be responsible for their own transportation, accommodation, and some meal costs, although some assistance may be available. A deposit of $100 to hold you place in the course will be required with your registration application. The deposit will be refunded as long as you attend the course or notify us by August 1, 2011 if you need to cancel. Do not pay the deposit until you placement in the course is verified by the Parkland SAR Training Coordinator. For further information and to register, contact Ed Hornby, Training Coordinator, Parkland Search and Rescue at: edhornby at telus.net ------------------------------ *SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS * Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.caPLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. PLEASE DO NOT send me any .docx files; thanks. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happeningsenter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -- My fantasy "Rast" released by MuseItUp Publishing in March 2011. "Arrival", "Deadly Enterprise", "The Wildcat's Victory", and "The Wildcat's Burden" are available here -- http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/eAuthor.php?Name=Christopher%20Hoare See my website at http://www.christophrthoare.ca/and blogs http://thewildcatsvictory.wordpress.com and http://www.trailowner.blogspot.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20110415/494aa093/attachment.html From kwhyte2 at gmail.com Sun May 15 20:08:56 2011 From: kwhyte2 at gmail.com (Kester Whyte) Date: Sun, 15 May 2011 20:08:56 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings May 2011 Message-ID: *Hi All:* SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 237 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. * ------------------------------ FROM THE AGM ** SAR Alberta Website Changes * When dealing with changes to the SAR Alberta website we are now only going to make changes once per month. It has been difficult at times with changes coming and going constantly. If you have changes that need to be made for the web site only, please have changes into the SAR Alberta Secretary secretary at saralberta.ca by the First of every Month. Changes to your membership information only not for the website may be sent in at any time to the SAR Alberta Secretary. Thank you Sheri Easterbrook Secretary SAR Alberta secretary at saralberta.ca www.saralberta.ca * SAR Alberta Executive & Board Members for 2011 * President...............Don Drebert Vice President..........Daryl Black Secretary...............Sheri Easterbrook Treasurer...............Rodney Dietrich Past President..........Monica Ahlstrom Central Director........Ed Van Heeren Central Deputy..........Don Oltrop North East Director.....Steve Medford North East Deputy.......Alan Tomalty North West Director.....Norman Leslie North West Deputy.......Carianne Budalich North Central Director.....Vacant North Central Deputy.......Vacant South Director..........Cory Bohaychuk South Deputy Director...Jan Hurl South Central Director..Bruce Marshall South Central Deputy....Shane Elder Training Coordinator....Norman Mathew * The following standards were adopted at the SAR Alberta Annual General Meeting: * 1) SAR Alberta First Aid Responder 2) SAR Alberta Swift Water Rescue Level 1 The tracker standards below were adopted with amendments to be made by the Standards Committee on title changes. 1) SAR Alberta Beginner Tracker Member 2) SAR Alberta Intermediate Tracker Member 3) SAR Alberta Tracker Member 4) SAR Alberta Tracker Team Leader These standards will be posted on the SAR Alberta website soon under SAR Alberta Operating Standards. ------------------------------ * MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT. * As another year has passed and a lot of volunteer hours have been recorded much has been accomplished in the SAR world. I would like to say a special thank you to Mary-ann Warren for the role that she has played over the last two years as secretary of SAR Alberta. Mary-ann has also agreed to help in the background if needed and this goes to show the selfless spirit of SAR volunteers. The AGM was a success with quorum being achieved and a very good attendance. A big hello and congratulations to Sheri Easterbrook on her new position as SAR Alberta?s secretary. I look forward to working with Sheri, Rodney and Daryl and the board in the coming year to continue with the sustainability plan for SAR Alberta and the teams we represent throughout the province. In the afternoon we had several presentations which included Algoma insurance from our Alberta broker Jardine Lloyd and Thompson who was represented by Jennifer Klewchuk, WCB by Pat Brophy and Tom Sand with AEMA. There were power point presentations delivered and I have electronic versions for those of you who wish to have them. Rodney would appreciate stats on a quarterly basis if possible to alleviate the year end rush and it would be easer for teams to compile on an on going basis to spread the work load throughout the year. June /July is the deadline for Acknowledgment of Compliance forms to be submitted to AEMA for the grant year of 10/11 and the new grant applications for 12/13 should be available in July/August with a submission deadline of September 30 2011. Please note the changes on the web site to the forms for the Civilian SAR team report to the RCMP. The changes are made in red and each team MUST fill out a report when a tasking through the RCMP is initiated as well as expense reimbursement to be submitted by each team to the tasking detachment. For all teams, please call the AARC at 1-866-618-2362 for deployment?s, training, fund raising or general meetings. Please ask for a tracking number and record on your sign in sheets. This will ensure that due diligence was executed and will help in the event of a liability issue down the road. The AARC will ask that you call before and after all events. I am looking forward to advancing Search and Rescue within the province of Alberta and at the national level because we all do what we do for the betterment of others. Yours truly Don Drebert President SAR Alberta ------------------------------ * * *CALGARY MARATHON* The Calgary Marathon is on May 29 and Calgary Search and Rescue is putting together a race team. All SAR volunteers, friends and family are invited to join the team for any of the race day events: 5 km, 10 km, half-marathon or marathon. There is a discounted entry fee for SAR volunteers and supporters. CALSARA will also be helping out with race marshalling and if you would like to help hand water to 10,000 grateful runners then please join us. For further details visit www.calsara.com or contact Jim Wilson pr-director at calsara.com Public Relations Director Calgary Search and Rescue Association pr-director at calsara.com www.calsara.com ------------------------------ * CALLING ALL TRACKERS! CALLING ALL TRACKERS! * Winter is taking a long time leaving us and we are thinking about tracking again. We have a location west of Drayton Valley booked for the 18th of June, thank you, Reese Woolsey. Camping is available and Drayton Valley is only about 10 minutes away. Everyone is welcome, there will be someone to instruct new trackers as well. Please let me know if you are interested and please pass this information along so we can get a good turnout. The more the merrier. Tracking practise West of Drayton Valley June 18, 2011 9:00am Contact Michelle Hebert Secretary SAR 1st Response UTS Signcutter mhebert at airsurfer.ca or 780-445-9022 ------------------------------ * SEARCH & RESCUE DOG ASSOCIATION OF ALBERTA * Basic SAR Dog Boot Camp Search Dog Seminar May 21-23 Gull Lake, Alberta For more information Contact: Mary-Ann Warren mwtracks at netzero.net or Michelle Limoges udcdoberman at shaw.ca ------------------------------ * MARK YOUR CALENDARS * Parkland Search and Rescue is pleased to announce a five day Search Manager course, September 19 to 23, 2011. The course will take place at the Parkland Search and Rescue Hall in Stony Plain, Alberta. This is a granted course so there is no cost for instruction. All instructional materials and some meals will be provided. Members will be responsible for their own transportation, accommodation, and some meal costs, although some assistance may be available. A deposit of $100 to hold you place in the course will be required with your registration application. The deposit will be refunded as long as you attend the course or notify us by August 1, 2011 if you need to cancel. Do not pay the deposit until you placement in the course is verified by the Parkland SAR Training Coordinator. For further information and to register, contact Ed Hornby, Training Coordinator, Parkland Search and Rescue at: edhornby at telus.net ------------------------------ *SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS * Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca<%E2%82%AC%C2%B0>PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. PLEASE DO NOT send me any .docx files; thanks. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happeningsenter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -- My fantasy "Rast" was released by MuseItUp Publishing in March 2011. "Arrival", "Deadly Enterprise", "The Wildcat's Victory", and "The Wildcat's Burden" are available here -- http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/eAuthor.php?Name=Christopher%20Hoare See my website at http://www.christophrthoare.ca/and blogs http://thewildcatsvictory.wordpress.com and http://www.trailowner.blogspot.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20110515/ceb84128/attachment.html From kwhyte2 at gmail.com Tue Jun 7 06:59:32 2011 From: kwhyte2 at gmail.com (Kester Whyte) Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2011 06:59:32 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] Supplimentary SARA Happenings Issue Message-ID: Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 237 e_mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. * SUPPLEMENTARY ISSUE * Our SAR Secretary asked for this extra issue, so there are two items on it. ------------------------------ * SCOUT JAMBOREE * REMINDER to all SAR members that the Scout Jamboree is fast approaching in July. The dates are the 4th to the 9th and we need to have everyone register. If you want to participate please email or call Sheri Easterbrook via the information below *sheasterbrook at shaw.ca* 403 390 3169 I'm going to want to know your name, dates you plan to be there and any specialty you have. Thanks everyone!! ------------------------------ * SUBMISSIONS TO JUNE SARA HAPPENINGS * Since I am sending this to the list on my usual reminder day I will take the opportunity to remind everyone who has something to submit to the regular June issue of the newsletter (announcements, general group information, business, training programs, etc) to please e-mail it to the editor at * choare at shaw.ca* before June 15th. ------------------------------ *SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS * Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1_1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca<%C3%B6%C3%87>PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. PLEASE DO NOT send me any .docx files; thanks. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/cgi_bin/mailman/listinfo/sara_happeningsenter your e_mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -- My fantasy "Rast" was released by MuseItUp Publishing in March 2011. "Arrival", "Deadly Enterprise", "The Wildcat's Victory", and "The Wildcat's Burden" are available here -- http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/eAuthor.php?Name=Christopher%20Hoare See my website at http://www.christophrthoare.ca/and blogs http://thewildcatsvictory.wordpress.com and http://www.trailowner.blogspot.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20110607/c617258b/attachment.html From kwhyte2 at gmail.com Wed Jun 15 19:24:59 2011 From: kwhyte2 at gmail.com (Kester Whyte) Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:24:59 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings June 2011 Message-ID: Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 237 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. * ------------------------------ SCOUT JAMBOREE * REMINDER to all SAR members that the Scout Jamboree is fast approaching in July. The dates are the 4th to the 9th and we need to have everyone register. If you want to participate please email or call Sheri Easterbrook via the information below *sheasterbrook at shaw.ca* 403 390 3169 I'm going to want to know your name, dates you plan to be there and any specialty you have. Thanks everyone!! ------------------------------ * SUBMISSIONS TO JUNE SARA HAPPENINGS * I sent my usual request for submissions to this issue of the newsletter through the supplementary issue mailed out on the 7th June. I don?t know if many of you received it, because I received no submissions. If your routine failed this month because I didn?t send out the note sent specifically to groups, please e-mail your complaint to the editor at * choare at shaw.ca* If you didn?t receive the supplementary issue of the newsletter, please report that. This newsletter (except for one item. Thanks, Cindy) will be repeats of May?s newsletter for all functions still in the future. ------------------------------ * CALLING ALL TRACKERS! CALLING ALL TRACKERS! * Winter is taking a long time leaving us and we are thinking about tracking again. We have a location west of Drayton Valley booked for the 18th of June, thank you, Reese Woolsey. Camping is available and Drayton Valley is only about 10 minutes away. Everyone is welcome, there will be someone to instruct new trackers as well. Please let me know if you are interested and please pass this information along so we can get a good turnout. The more the merrier. Tracking practise West of Drayton Valley June 18, 2011 9:00am Contact Michelle Hebert Secretary SAR 1st Response UTS Signcutter *mhebert at airsurfer.ca* or 780-445-9022 ------------------------------ * OPERATION DARK SQUEEZE Sept 16 ? 18, 2011 * An interprovincial cave and surface rescue exercise near Crowsnest Pass, Alberta featuring various technical and non-technical rescue scenarios in incredible karst, caving and mountainous terrain. There is a history of past incidents in Gargantua and surrounding caves so it?s not a matter of if, but when the next incident occurs. Register early on-line at https://www.missioncontrol.co.nz/itm/Event_Master_Item_Public.aspx?ID=3397Due to the logistics involved, participation numbers may be limited. A more detailed registration information package will be available mid-June. ACRO appreciates the support of SAR Alberta and AEMA (Alberta Emergency Management Agency) in being able to conduct this exercise as well as the participating organizations from across Alberta and British Columbia. For more information, contact Cindy Heselton, Training Director, * acro_cindy at yahoo.ca* ------------------------------ * MARK YOUR CALENDARS * Parkland Search and Rescue is pleased to announce a five day Search Manager course, September 19 to 23, 2011. The course will take place at the Parkland Search and Rescue Hall in Stony Plain, Alberta. This is a granted course so there is no cost for instruction. All instructional materials and some meals will be provided. Members will be responsible for their own transportation, accommodation, and some meal costs, although some assistance may be available. A deposit of $100 to hold you place in the course will be required with your registration application. The deposit will be refunded as long as you attend the course or notify us by August 1, 2011 if you need to cancel. Do not pay the deposit until you placement in the course is verified by the Parkland SAR Training Coordinator. For further information and to register, contact Ed Hornby, Training Coordinator, Parkland Search and Rescue at: *edhornby at telus.net* ------------------------------ * SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS * Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.caPLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. PLEASE DO NOT send me any .docx files; thanks. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happeningsenter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -- My fantasy "Rast" was released by MuseItUp Publishing in March 2011. "Arrival", "Deadly Enterprise", "The Wildcat's Victory", and "The Wildcat's Burden" are available here -- http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/eAuthor.php?Name=Christopher%20Hoare See my website at http://www.christophrthoare.ca/and blogs http://thewildcatsvictory.wordpress.com and http://www.trailowner.blogspot.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20110615/8b4f6f26/attachment.htm From choare at shaw.ca Sat Jul 9 20:22:23 2011 From: choare at shaw.ca (CHRISTOPHER HOARE) Date: Sat, 09 Jul 2011 20:22:23 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] Newsletter Submissions Message-ID: Hi all: ? My apologies for sending my request for newsletter submissions to the whole mail list, but I had a computer crash last weekend and am limping along without access to my usual mail lists. ? If you have anything for the July newsletter please send it to choare at shaw.ca within the next week. Newsletter may be late if I'm still working on restoring my system. ? Thanks...............Chris. ? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20110709/0223d501/attachment.htm From kwhyte2 at gmail.com Tue Jul 19 20:50:52 2011 From: kwhyte2 at gmail.com (Kester Whyte) Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2011 20:50:52 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings July 2011 Message-ID: Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 237 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. *FROM OUR NEW SECRETARY* Happy Summer everyone! Living in Calgary I was just glad that we finally got summer! We managed to skip spring but who's complaining? I'd like to take the time to introduce myself. I was elected as the Secretary of Search and Rescue Alberta at this year?s AGM. I'm very excited to be involved at the provincial level. I am also on the board of Calgary Search and Rescue as the secretary. And for some reason Bruce Marshal often asks me to take minutes at his regional meetings!! Go figure. I don't claim to be particularly good at this position but I am willing, teachable and can take direction. I'm not saying I do, just that I can! I also volunteer with the Red Cross Disaster Management Team in Calgary and am the current team lead for our Outreach Program. I have a background in Education, however, for many years worked in commercial construction in the manufacturing sector. I am currently working as a Disaster Management Consultant for a company based out of BC and I LOVE my new career. So now that you know a little bit about me I hope you will be more inclined to get in touch when you have some input for the board. I aim to meet many of you over the next two years. I've already learned a lot from you and am eager to learn more. Thank you so much for your support, my desire is to serve the Alberta Search and Rescue community as we move our collective efforts forward. Sincerely Sheri Easterbrook *sheasterbrook at shaw.ca* Secretary SAR Alberta ------------------------------ * OPERATION DARK SQUEEZE Sept 16 ? 18, 2011 * Calling all SAR volunteers, technical rescue teams, cavers, responding agencies and rescue support organizations... Exercise Dark Squeeze is an exciting multi-agency interprovincial rescue exercise in the beautiful Crowsnest Pass (SW Alberta/SE BC) being held September 16 to 18, 2011! This realistic scenario on the trails, flanks, heights and caves of Mount Ptolemy involves a broad range of rescue, back country, logistical and management skills. Work your specialized skills, such as caving, above or below ground rope rescue, patient management, quading, 4 wheel driving, helicopter operations, radio communications, large scale logistics operations, and incident management. If you're not a hardcore outdoor person/rescuer, there are rescue components suitable for most skill and fitness levels. Many roles in the overhead team, logistical and helicopter operations, both on and off the mountain won't have you walking far. Register early! The deadline is August 15. Numbers may be limited. Full details and the registration form are at *http://bit.ly/jVLgy6* ------------------------------ * WEBSITE * The Web Site! Yes our web site seems to be the subject of much conversation. I want you to know that we are working on improving the content as well as the layout. And....oh .... right validating the information!! As many of you may know, we have many many e_mail addresses assigned directly to SAR Alberta. These are available for all our boards to use. Let's use them! Consider this an official request to standardize. What we would like to see is all SAR organizations who hold memberships with SAR Alberta and maintain contact information on the web site, to use the standardize e_mail addresses that are available to you. I will be contacting all groups who are currently using personal addresses to facilitate this change so we are uniform and more professional when dealing with tasking agencies and the government. Thanks so much for your help with this. Sheri Easterbrook *sheasterbrook at shaw.ca* Secretary SAR Alberta ------------------------------ * BOARD MEETING * ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS!! We will be holding a Board Meeting on the 6th August 2011 in Red Deer at 10:00 The location is TBD, however we do have an agenda brewing... This meeting will focus on technology and how we can use it to communicate better, bring professionalism, and track our activities. Having said that, specifically we will be reviewing D4H and ITM. As well we will be addressing the resurrection of the WIKI and how we expect it should be used. And finally the web site content, contact and communication. If there are any of you who would like to add something to the mix...speak now! I look forward to seeing everyone there and having good discussions. Thanks Sheri Easterbrook *sheasterbrook at shaw.ca* Secretary SAR Alberta ------------------------------ * SCOUT JAMBOREE * On the 4th of July I arrived at Camp Impeesa for the 100th celebration of the LDS Scout organization in Alberta. This event was four years in the making. Organizers had every detail accounted for. There were just over 3000 participants and another couple of hundred volunteers. Included in that group were members of at least 3 SAR groups from the South and South Central Region. Some of us were there organizing events and others were there as strictly standby SAR. We had a couple of dog teams come out. Erin from Lethbridge was there on Monday with me. We spent most of our time walking the long road of attendees, waiting to register, reviewing lost person protocol and some other safety tips. Later in the day, just in time to see the record breaking dodge ball game, Lindsay from Calgary arrived to stay the week. Wednesday we did have an official call out. There was one perceived lost young man. I say perceived because he was found to be exactly where he was supposed to be doing what he should be doing with the right people at the appropriate time. It's all about communication!! This did, however, give Cindy with Pincher Creek an opportunity to deploy her dog, and Dave, who'd come out for the day got some miles on his dirt bike. Brent showed up to support only to be sent out to search tents, and Janet whipped us all into shape when she arrived as the official search manager. I will also add that Neldon, who was there as a volunteer organizing a navigation exercise, and is a long time member of Pincher Creek SAR, came and helped us out. There were a couple of other SAR members there as well that had we needed them, would have joined in the search. I have to say, as somewhat of a newbie, it was encouraging to see people from different groups able to "fall in" and organize in a real life situation. I've been to a couple of mock searches where various groups from the province came, but we expected to be working with different people and were prepared for alternative styles of management. This was real life and, to be honest, I was not expecting to be on a search. I found this to be a worthwhile activity for SAR Alberta to support and I'd like to see us doing this more in the future. I know that many groups will reach out within their region and ask for support, but I'd love to see SAR Alberta more involved in facilitating that. For any of you who take part in PR events during the year, please send the information in to me and let me help rally the troops. This will give the board more insight into the kind of events that we support collectively as well as giving us the opportunity to attend when we are able. A great big THANKS to those of you who came out to support the Scouts. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did and I look forward to doing this kind of thing more in the future. Sheri Easterbrook *sheasterbrook at shaw.ca* Secretary SAR Alberta ------------------------------ *IN MEMORIAM* The editor received this from Lisa Martiniuk and Monica Allstrom after the June newsletter was sent. June 15, 2011 Press Release from the County of Barrhead No. 11 On the Passing of Councillor Nanninga On June 13, 2011 our community was shocked in hearing the tragic news that Councillor Gerald Nanninga died in a traffic accident. In the days that followed, his fellow Council Members had much to say of their friend and colleague. Here are some of their words. "I will miss his humour, his friendship and his wisdom." "Gerald was very knowledgeable when it came to the technical part of agriculture. He did a great job representing agriculture." "He had an abundance of energy ... and had a keen interest in County matters." "He was a great mentor for me, being a new Councillor." "It?s Councillor Nanninga?s knowledge of the issues, among many other things, that will be missed." "I will miss the quality of debate Gerald would bring out in Council." "I will truly miss his great calmness." "Goodbye friend." Gerald Nanninga began his role as a County Councillor in 2001. Since that time he served well on many different committees and boards, both within the County of Barrhead and beyond our borders. A few of these responsibilities were: President of the Pembina Zone and Member of the Resolutions Committee for the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties, Member on the Barrhead Regional Water Committee, Board Member on the Athabasca Watershed Council, Member of the County of Barrhead Agricultural Services Board, Board Member on the Barrhead and District Social Housing Association, Deputy Reeve. Councillor Gerald Nanninga will be missed by both Council and staff, as a colleague, a leader and a friend. Gerald Nanninga will be laid to rest on Monday, June 20th at 1:30 p.m. at the Christian Reformed Church in Neerlandia. In respect of Councillor Nanninga and his family, the County of Barrhead offices will be closed from Noon till the end of the day. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. ------------------------------ * MARK YOUR CALENDARS * Parkland Search and Rescue is pleased to announce a five day Search Manager course, September 19 to 23, 2011. The course will take place at the Parkland Search and Rescue Hall in Stony Plain, Alberta. This is a granted course so there is no cost for instruction. All instructional materials and some meals will be provided. Members will be responsible for their own transportation, accommodation, and some meal costs, although some assistance may be available. A deposit of $100 to hold you place in the course will be required with your registration application. The deposit will be refunded as long as you attend the course or notify us by August 1, 2011 if you need to cancel. Do not pay the deposit until you placement in the course is verified by the Parkland SAR Training Coordinator. For further information and to register, contact Ed Hornby, Training Coordinator, Parkland Search and Rescue at: *edhornby at telus.net* ------------------------------ * SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS * Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1_1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.caPLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. PLEASE DO NOT send me any .docx files; thanks. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happeningsenter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -- My fantasy "Rast" was released by MuseItUp Publishing in March 2011. "Arrival", "Deadly Enterprise", "The Wildcat's Victory", and "The Wildcat's Burden" are available here -- http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/eAuthor.php?Name=Christopher%20Hoare See my website at http://www.christophrthoare.ca/and blogs http://thewildcatsvictory.wordpress.com and http://www.trailowner.blogspot.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20110719/a96621b0/attachment.htm From kwhyte2 at gmail.com Tue Aug 16 21:24:07 2011 From: kwhyte2 at gmail.com (Kester Whyte) Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:24:07 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings August 2011 Message-ID: Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 237 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. ------------------------------ * OPERATION DARK SQUEEZE Sept 16 ? 18, 2011 * Calling all SAR volunteers, technical rescue teams, cavers, responding agencies and rescue support organizations... Exercise Dark Squeeze is an exciting multi-agency interprovincial rescue exercise in the beautiful Crowsnest Pass (SW Alberta/SE BC) being held September 16 to 18, 2011! This realistic scenario on the trails, flanks, heights and caves of Mount Ptolemy involves a broad range of rescue, back country, logistical and management skills. Work your specialized skills, such as caving, above or below ground rope rescue, patient management, quading, 4 wheel driving, helicopter operations, radio communications, large scale logistics operations, and incident management. If you're not a hardcore outdoor person/rescuer, there are rescue components suitable for most skill and fitness levels. Many roles in the overhead team, logistical and helicopter operations, both on and off the mountain won't have you walking far. Register early! The deadline is August 15. Numbers may be limited. Full details and the registration form are at *http://bit.ly/jVLgy6* ------------------------------ * PARTY! * Come out and help Edmonton Regional SAR celebrate 15 years of search & rescue on Saturday Sept. 24, 2011 at the Norwood Legion. Enjoy the festivities and mingle with some friendly faces from the SAR community. Tickets are $32.50 and must be purchased before Sept. 18th (no tickets sold at the door, sorry). For more info, or to purchase tickets, please contact Shannon at 780-440-1710 or via e-mail at *shannon.dyrland at ersara.com*. We'd love to see you there! Cocktails (cash bar) _ 5:30pm Buffet _ 7:00pm Awards & programme _ 8:00pm Music & mingle _ 9:30pm Norwood Legion, 11150-82 St, Edmonton (plenty of free parking) Stadium LRT Station ------------------------------ * MARK YOUR CALENDARS * Parkland Search and Rescue is pleased to announce a five day Search Manager course, September 19 to 23, 2011. The course will take place at the Parkland Search and Rescue Hall in Stony Plain, Alberta. This is a granted course so there is no cost for instruction. All instructional materials and some meals will be provided. Members will be responsible for their own transportation, accommodation, and some meal costs, although some assistance may be available. A deposit of $100 to hold you place in the course will be required with your registration application. The deposit will be refunded as long as you attend the course or notify us by August 1, 2011 if you need to cancel. Do not pay the deposit until you placement in the course is verified by the Parkland SAR Training Coordinator. For further information and to register, contact Ed Hornby, Training Coordinator, Parkland Search and Rescue at: *edhornby at telus.net* ------------------------------ * PLEASE HELP SARA HAPPENINGS * Many of you receive my emails monthly asking for submissions to the next issue of the newsletter. This is because I rarely originate any items in the newsletter?it exists to disseminate YOUR messages, training announcements and good news. This request for submissions usually goes out around the 7th of the month. This month, I discovered a slew of message failure notices, and only one of you sent any new material. I have had computer troubles that may have caused some problems, but I doubt it has corrupted my link to so many people. Some of the problem may be with the ?time saving? links, so I?ll post one message here: The following message to <*sara-board at castrov.cuug.ab.ca*.> was undeliverable. The reason for the problem: 5.1.2 - Bad destination host 'DNS Malformed Query Error looking up castrov.cuug.ab.ca. (MX).' I recall mention of a re-vamp of the executive mail addresses, so assume this could be the result, but it doesn?t account for them all. I admit I grabbed as many group executives addresses as I could when I started this editing position and likely many have become incorrect over the years. If I have been sending requests for submissions to you and you no longer are the person responsible for communication, please let me know and I will correct my mail list. If you are not on my request for submissions list but are the person responsible for communicating with other groups through the newsletter please send me your email addresses. Thanks. Chris ------------------------------ * SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS * Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.caPLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. PLEASE DO NOT send me any .docx files; thanks. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happeningsenter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -- My fantasy "Rast" was released by MuseItUp Publishing in March 2011. "Arrival", "Deadly Enterprise", "The Wildcat's Victory", and "The Wildcat's Burden" are available here -- http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/eAuthor.php?Name=Christopher%20Hoare See my website at http://www.christophrthoare.ca/and blogs http://thewildcatsvictory.wordpress.com and http://www.trailowner.blogspot.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20110816/b9af139d/attachment.htm From kwhyte2 at gmail.com Fri Sep 16 20:30:20 2011 From: kwhyte2 at gmail.com (Kester Whyte) Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2011 20:30:20 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings September 2011 Message-ID: Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 237 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. * SARDAA NEWSLETTER * The current newsletter is now on the SARDAA site - *http://www.sardaa.ca/Scent%20Dog_Jun_Aug2011_final.pdf* Michelle Limoges *udcdoberman at shaw.ca* SARDAA Secretary & Dog Handler ------------------------------ * FROM HINTON SAR * Search (and rescue) over for 2012 Mayor?s group Sarah Burns ? Thu, Aug 11, 2011 Recipients of the 2012 Mayor?s Golf Tournament, Hinton Search and Rescue (HSAR), are looking forward to their kick at the fundraising can next August after learning the ropes this year. This year?s golf tourney hosted a record number of teams at 32 and brought in more than $33,000 for the Hinton Rotary Club for its All Inclusive Spray & Play Park. With plans underway to build a new home for HSAR, president Marc Symbaluk has high hopes for the fundraising at next year?s event. "I believe we can surpass all expectations in 2012 and make it a memorable event," said Symbaluk. "This is a huge and exciting opportunity for our organization! This nomination has been recognition of the efforts of our members and the support of the Town of Hinton." HSAR is currently operating with a strong base of around 30 members, but it hasn?t always been easy to attract new members because of the inability to secure a permanent location. In the past year they have operated out of a space borrowed from the Town, which did help with volunteer recruitment. "Until late last year, we struggled with being able to greet and welcome new members into our organization. We were meeting in the back of restaurants and training in ad hoc locations," said Symbaluk. "Having our gear sheltered, assembled and available for servicing, training, and preparation will better enable our readiness when our community is in need." Mayor Glenn Taylor said there were five groups in total that applied for the 2012 fundraiser and a selection committee chose HSAR using a screening process and a matrix that specifically identifies the level of need and the public awareness of the group?s activities, as well as the need to raise awareness about the specific project. "Based on that criteria and the fact that HSAR provides such an valuable service to our community and is lacking ? to some extent ? in public awareness we did choose to support them for next year?s event," he said. HSAR is near and dear to Taylor?s heart, as he was one of the founding members a number of years ago before he was on council. "I?m very much looking forward to working with them now as they reach a new level in their organization," he said. Those interested in HSAR should check out their Facebook page by searching "Hinton Search and Rescue" or visit *http://hsar.hinton.ca* ------------------------------ * PARTY! * Come out and help Edmonton Regional SAR celebrate 15 years of search & rescue on Saturday Sept. 24, 2011 at the Norwood Legion. Enjoy the festivities and mingle with some friendly faces from the SAR community. Tickets are $32.50 and must be purchased before Sept. 18th (no tickets sold at the door, sorry). For more info, or to purchase tickets, please contact Shannon at 780_440_1710 or via e_mail at *shannon.dyrland at ersara.com*. We'd love to see you there! Cocktails (cash bar) _ 5:30pm Buffet _ 7:00pm Awards & programme _ 8:00pm Music & mingle _ 9:30pm Norwood Legion, 11150-82 St, Edmonton (plenty of free parking) Stadium LRT Station ------------------------------ * MARK YOUR CALENDARS * Parkland Search and Rescue is pleased to announce a five day Search Manager course, September 19 to 23, 2011. The course will take place at the Parkland Search and Rescue Hall in Stony Plain, Alberta. This is a granted course so there is no cost for instruction. All instructional materials and some meals will be provided. Members will be responsible for their own transportation, accommodation, and some meal costs, although some assistance may be available. A deposit of $100 to hold you place in the course will be required with your registration application. The deposit will be refunded as long as you attend the course or notify us by August 1, 2011 if you need to cancel. Do not pay the deposit until you placement in the course is verified by the Parkland SAR Training Coordinator. For further information and to register, contact Ed Hornby, Training Coordinator, Parkland Search and Rescue at: *edhornby at telus.net* ------------------------------ * PLEASE HELP SARA HAPPENINGS * Many of you receive my emails monthly asking for submissions to the next issue of the newsletter. This is because I rarely originate any items in the newsletter?it exists to disseminate YOUR messages, training announcements and good news. This request for submissions usually goes out around the 7th of the month. This month, again, I discovered a slew of message failure notices, and only two of you sent any new material. I admit I grabbed as many group executives addresses as I could when I started this editing position and likely many have become incorrect over the years. If I have been sending requests for submissions to you and you no longer are the person responsible for communication, please let me know and I will correct my mail list. If you are not on my request for submissions list but are the person responsible for communicating with other groups through the newsletter please send me your email addresses. Thanks. ------------------------------ * SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS * Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.caPLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. PLEASE DO NOT send me any .docx files; thanks. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happeningsenter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -- My fantasy "Rast" was released by MuseItUp Publishing in March 2011. "Arrival", "Deadly Enterprise", "The Wildcat's Victory", and "The Wildcat's Burden" are available here -- http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/eAuthor.php?Name=Christopher%20Hoare See my website at http://www.christopherhoare.ca/and blogs http://thewildcatsvictory.wordpress.com and http://www.trailowner.blogspot.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20110916/51b6cc47/attachment.htm From choare at shaw.ca Wed Nov 16 18:50:01 2011 From: choare at shaw.ca (Chris Hoare) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:50:01 -0700 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings November 2011 Message-ID: <51C2B87F1BD94AFCAB9D1DDD85008F07@owner3adeccc75> Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 237 e_mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARDAA NEWSLETTER The current newsletter is now on the SARDAA site - http://www.sardaa.ca/Scent%20Dog_Jun_Aug2011_final.pdf The website is updated with our newest photo and a report on our recent Casino event; go have a look. WWW.SARDAA.CA Michelle Limoges udcdoberman at shaw.ca SARDAA Secretary & Dog Handler -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AEMA SYMPOSIUM NOVEMBER 2011 It was great to have the opportunity to attend the symposium this year. The focus was around the Northern Alberta Fires. The first presenter was the mayor of Slave Lake, her Worship Karina Pillay-Kinnee. She shared with us a unique perspective on the advance of the fires, the subsequent evacuation and the ongoing rehabilitation of Slave Lake. It was very interesting to hear the evolution of the situation from the inside. Her Worship was transparent in describing the reality of their situation both from a logistical standpoint and from an emotional perspective. The gravity of the situation progressed so rapidly that there was no time to process, everyone just reverted to their training and relied on instinct. There were many instances of services and equipment spontaneously arriving at the right time. Social media was used to keep evacuees updated and the media were extremely respectful and cooperative. The volunteers that went up to assist on several levels were appreciated for their fresh attitudes and unwavering commitment. The breakout sessions were informative as well. Not all of them were directly related to the Northern Alberta Fires, however they were thought provoking and presented unique challenges of their own. There was one common thread throughout, and that was passion. All parties involved in mitigating disasters/incidents in Alberta are unfailingly committed and passionate about their contributions. It was impressive to see a group of both volunteers and professionals who are equally passionate about their ability to assist and provide relief when asked, and sometimes before they've been asked. There was one point of interest that peaked both Daryl and myself, and that was the absence of SAR groups in the planning stages as well as deployment during actual events. Daryl had the opportunity to address the participants during an afternoon session and I think there were many officials attending who were unaware of the broad range of services SAR groups are capable of providing. It stood out to me how important it is for every SAR group in Alberta to take the time and opportunity to participate and attend meetings and events in their respective communities. Alberta Search and Rescue has been gradually working on bringing their recognition to a higher level. We certainly appreciate the efforts that each and every one of you makes to present yourselves and your SAR groups in a professional manner, fostering a growing awareness of the value we bring to Alberta Emergency Management efforts. There were many power point presentations and I'm working on getting copies to post on our web site. If there is any particular topic you are interested in receiving more information on please contact me and I'll see what I can do. Have a great Christmas if we don't talk to you before then. Be sure to hug your families and let them know that Alberta Search and Rescue appreciates the support they give you to be a part of this great organization! Sheri Easterbrook - sheasterbrook at shaw.ca Secretary Alberta Search and Rescue -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1_1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. PLEASE DO NOT send me any .docx files; thanks. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/cgi_bin/mailman/listinfo/sara_happenings enter your e_mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org:8080/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20111116/76b6d3ab/attachment.htm