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<P><B><FONT face=Arial>Hi All:</B> </P>
<P>This is a supplemental edition for September.</P>
<P>SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and
Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 226 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.</P>
<P>Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter.
</P>
<P>
<HR>
</P></FONT><B><FONT face=Arial size=5><FONT face=Arial size=5>
<P>VITAL STATS ON OPERATION OCTOPUS</P></B></FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial>
<P>WHEN: October 24<SUP>th</SUP> and 25<SUP>th</SUP> – sign in will start at
0930 with the exercise beginning at 1000. </P>
<P>There will be two operational periods of approximately 7 hours in duration –
please let us know if there is a preference.</P>
<P>Sunday a.m. will have a specific educational/training session with aims of
being done by noon on Sunday to allow for travel.</P>
<P>WHERE: Chambers Creek Group camps site located on the east side of Highway 11
approximately 35 kilometers from Rocky Mountain House (if you hit Nordegg you
went too far). </P>
<P>Camping will be available, first come first serve at the group site but other
areas will be available such as Crimson Lake and Hela Ventures (some cabins may
also be available). The Chambers Creek general campground is closed for the
season. Apparently there will also be some trailer and tenting sites available
at Horburg. Further details will be forwarded on as we have them.</P>
<P>WHO: All Alberta SAR members. Only those members with SAR Basics will be
allowed in the field. Those with quads will require the safety course and
appropriate gear. Any and all support and auxiliary personnel are welcome and
will be used both in the exercise scenario or as logistical help for the
scenario.</P>
<P>WHY: To enhance inter-team relations and communication and to also show off
the skills of the SAR community in the province of Alberta.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Other important notes:</P>
<DIR>
<DIR>
<P>· We will be taking a group break from 1700-1900 hours on Saturday to enjoy a
meal together and mingle with team members as well as media and dignitaries</P>
<P>· A pancake breakfast will be provided on Sunday a.m. for all
participants</P>
<P>· We need a team RSVP by October 5<SUP>th</SUP> at the latest. Any sent after
that will not likely be fed. Please indicate which operational period you are
available for.</P>
<P>· There is potential for some remuneration if receipts are kept. On that same
note please try and carpool etc. to decrease costs of such</P>
<P>· Make sure to emphasize that we will be running this as a real search
therefore people must come prepared for the first 24 hours. One of the main
goals is to see how we can all perform on a large scale so there will be hiccups
etc. That is part of the learning process. Come prepared to give your all,
including constructive feedback on behalf of your team.</P></DIR></DIR>
<P>If you have other thoughts or questions you can contact Edward Van Heeren
</FONT><A href="mailto:president@rockysar.com"><U><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff>president@rockysar.com</U></FONT></FONT></A><FONT face=Arial> </P>
<P>Look forward to seeing you and yours in October!</P>
<P>
<HR>
</P>
<P><STRONG>FROM THE PRESIDENT</STRONG></P>
<P>Following is an update on some of the issues being dealt with over the summer
–</P></FONT><FONT face=Arial>
<P>Ø</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=1><FONT face=Arial size=1>
</FONT></FONT><B><FONT face=Arial>Insurance</P></B>
<P>o</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=1><FONT face=Arial size=1> </FONT></FONT><FONT
face=Arial>Dwight Osbaldeston, Senior Advisor with AEMA has been researching the
various options available for the insurance for SAR. One of the challenges is
that the Alberta Government has a policy in place saying they can’t pay for
insurance for organizations – however, they could grant SAR Alberta the money
and do it that way. Mr. Osbaldeston was emailed and asked for an update – he
said he has completed his research and a briefing note was sent to the Minister.
He said government protocol doesn’t allow for anyone to say what was in the
briefing note other than the Minister. When asked what the government process
was from here there was no reply. </P></FONT><FONT face=Arial>
<P>Ø</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=1><FONT face=Arial size=1>
</FONT></FONT><B><FONT face=Arial>Letters to MLA’s and Ministers</P></B>
<P>o</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=1><FONT face=Arial size=1> </FONT></FONT><FONT
face=Arial>In July SAR Alberta wrote letters to all the MLA’s in the province
explaining search and rescue in the province and SAR Alberta. We have received a
number of replies – mostly from</FONT><FONT face=Arial color=#000080><FONT
face=Arial color=#000080> c</FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial>abinet ministers in
support of search and rescue and expressing their thanks for the work SAR
does.</P></FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Ø<FONT size=1> </FONT></FONT><B><FONT
face=Arial>NIF</P></B></FONT><FONT face="Courier New">
<P>o</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=1> </FONT><FONT face=Arial>SAR
Alberta has put in a New Initiatives Fund proposal to help build the capacity
and sustainability of the organization. It will be a three year project that
will include a recruitment and retention program for teams. It will also see
staff hired to help with both recruitment and retention and with capacity
building of the organization. </P></FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Ø<FONT size=1> </FONT></FONT><B><FONT
face=Arial>Grant and contract</P></B></FONT><FONT face="Courier New">
<P>o</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=1> </FONT><FONT face=Arial>After
much delay we have received the money for the $25,000 grant. We will be hiring
someone on contract to help SAR Alberta develop a framework to make the
organization more financially stable. They will also help start the process of
looking at our governance model. As the person is being hired later than
anticipated there may be an opportunity to use some of the funds to help us with
our website.</P></FONT><FONT face="Courier New">
<P>o</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=1> </FONT><FONT face=Arial>There
are other grants and government incentives available to teams that need to be
advertised. Both the Justice Minister and the Minister of Culture and Spirit
etc. have noted this. Calgary SAR uses one of the programs and has a link to
more information. SAR Alberta will explore these options and get more
information out to the teams.</P></FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Ø<FONT size=1> </FONT></FONT><B><FONT
face=Arial>Provincial Exercise</P></B></FONT><FONT face="Courier New">
<P>o</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=1> </FONT><FONT face=Arial>Rocky
SAR has planned to hold the provincial exercise on October 24, and 25. All teams
are encouraged to attend. I will be asking all regional directors to phone the
teams in their area to confirm that they know about the exercise and to find out
how many people from each team will be going. AEMA, the RCMP, CANADA Task Force,
SARVAC President Harry Blackmore and possibly STARS, are all going to attend the
event so far.</P></FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Ø<FONT size=1> </FONT></FONT><B><FONT
face=Arial>Training Grant</P></B></FONT><FONT face="Courier New">
<P>o</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=1> </FONT><FONT face=Arial>SAR
Alberta is seeking someone to take over the training grant coordinators
position. This will be an interesting year and all grants are up in the air as
the government reviews its budget.</P></FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Ø<FONT size=1> </FONT></FONT><B><FONT
face=Arial>Standards</P></B></FONT><FONT face="Courier New">
<P>o</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=1> </FONT><FONT face=Arial>The
telecoms standard will be used at the provincial exercise and will be sent out
to all the teams this week. A </FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman">"</FONT><FONT
face=Arial>cheat sheet</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman">" </FONT><FONT
face=Arial>will be made available to the those showing up for the exercise.</P>
<P>
<HR>
</P><B>
<P>SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS </P></B>
<P>Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of
each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14<SUP>th</SUP> of
each month. </P>
<P align=center></P>
<P>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. </P>
<P>Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at </FONT><A
href="mailto:president@rockysar.com"><U><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><FONT
face=Arial color=#0000ff>choare@shaw.ca</U></FONT></FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>
PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further
information.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>To subscribe or unsubscribe visit
http://castrov.dyndns.org/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. </P></FONT></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>