Canadian Yachting February 2017 - 74

CPS-ECP AGM

and Conference

THE PORT HOLE

October 25-30, 2016

Every fall I look forward to attending the CPS-ECP Conference which this year was held in the beautiful city of
Vancouver. For many of you the West Coast of British Columbia is home, but for those of us from Ontario it is quite
exotic. From the weather to the scenery everything is so
different, flowers in late October are just not the norm and
on a clear day the mountains are quite impressive.
At each Conference I look forward to meeting old friends
and checking into the heart beat of our organization. I find
that the Friday morning session with the Squadron Commanders is always revealing and this year having a double session
both in the morning and afternoon was very beneficial for all.
Then with the various presentations and seminars I also get to
see in which direction we are heading in marketing, membership and the courses. This conference, like many in the past,
shows that we as an organization are continuing to evolve and
continue to be the best source for boating safety.
The Friday night theme dinner is always entertaining and
this year was no exception. Over the years many themes
have been explored from pirates to the RMS Titanic so this
year's focus on explorers was most amusing as the costumes certainly showed that many people would really like
to do a lot more exploring! I myself spent a fair amount
of time this summer exploring the province of British Columbia and by visiting many museums and local historical
points of interest came away with a much better appreciation of the province's history and the unique place it occupies in the North American landscape.
The formal Saturday AGM is also entertaining as though
there are all of the regular reports that are provided there
are also some lighter moments as well! Beginning with the
Squadron role call where our National Secretary carefully
reads out all 147 Squadron names and waits for a response,
some are quite unique. Then each year our faithful Law Officer manages to wow us again with his dry humour and
files another "no report". However, one of the most interesting parts of the AGM for me is the presentations of the
special awards. Here we get to see and applaud all those very
dedicated Members who have spent a great deal of time and
energy in helming our ship. In particular I was very pleased
to see that P/C/C Doreen Hinksman received the Joseph Gatfield Leadership Award. Doreen has been a very dedicated
CPS-ECP Member and is always able to find time in her busy
schedule for one more committee or a special assignment.
Then the Saturday night formal dinner ends the weekend
for many but also ushers in a new year for CPS-ECP, a year
of promise and progress on many fronts.
By: R. John Garside, AP Photography by: Don Butt, AP
74

Canadian Yachting

From left to right: Doug Stewart, Deb and Howard Sures, Marguerite Berry,
Simo Korpisto, Clark Berry and Joyce Stewart.

Sail boat races.

February 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Yachting February 2017