January 16, 2024 – Message to the Membership
Posted on January 16, 2024 in Message to the Membership
OK, so there’s good news and bad news with this week’s message to the membership. The good news, depending upon which side of the fence you might sit, is that you’re getting two messages in two consecutive weeks, which hasn’t happened for some time. The bad news is that some of might seem a little repetitive for regular readers. But presumably, you’ll cut me a little slack.
Even more good news though, is that this week’s message will be a two-for one deal, as a second message, one being written by Daniel Afe, our Research and Policy Analyst, follows this one. It’s his first such message, so I’m certain you’ll be as courteous and gracious with him as you are with me.
I want to cover off a few things, so let’s get right to it.
Firstly, the weather. Ugghh! It’s sooo cold!! But you know what? I might be a bit of a freak because I kind of like it. Not so much the cold weather per se, because I hate when stuff doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to (and very little does work the way it’s supposed to in -40!). But I like what it does to us as humans. We are far more kind, more helpful, more courteous, more gracious, more patient – basically, the complete opposite of what most of us normally are.
It harkens back to our ancestors, when you had to help out your neighbours if they were snowed in and their tractor wouldn’t start, or their watering hole was frozen and the cattle needed water. Or if someone was stranded on the side of the road, you helped them because they’d die without that act of humanity.
Well, those qualities still exist because we still see people pushing cars up the University Bridge, or shoveling their neighbour’s sidewalk, or boosting that dead car in their driveway. And it’s because – unlike the pandemic where at first we thought we were all in it together, but then it turned out that two very divided and polar opposite sides were in their own camp – we truly are all in this battle with Mother Nature together.
So keep on being awesome – even after the cold snap breaks. It’s encouraging to see that we still can be kind after all. It’s restoring just a little bit of my faith in humanity.
And on that note of kindness and benevolence, I need to point out that I’m getting my butt kicked by the medical community on this Swinging With the Stars Fundraiser I’m involved with. (Maybe I shouldn’t have called them frugal last week!) Thanks so very much to those of you who have donated in my name to this cause, which again, is for the City Hospital’s Eye Care Centre, which is the place that restored my vision a couple of years ago.
C’mon business people, please show your support for me and prove to the community how awesome the business community is! Please support this business guy by clicking on this link:
Voting – Swinging with the StarsSwinging with the Stars (swtsyxe.com)
We’re running out of time (am I the only one who thinks of Jack Bauer when they hear that?) because it’s less than two weeks until showtime (which by the way, this old, partially disabled body is starting to resist this tortuous regime, so I’ve got to figure out how to get mind over matter on this one… tips are welcome! Where are Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod when you need them?)
I think there are still tickets available, so if you’re interested, check out this link as well.
Tickets – Swinging with the StarsSwinging with the Stars (swtsyxe.com)
And I’ve got a couple of quick announcements to make regarding 2024 NSBA events. Firstly, we’ve hired the incomparable Shawna Nelson as our contract event coordinator, after our previous event planners, Brick Loft Event Co., decided to focus on their own venue and events within, and chose to not renew our arrangement this year. We’d like to thank Crystal and Karly for their wonderful contributions to our successful events.
So, if you see Shawna, who’s very well-known within the business community, representing us, you now know why! We’re really excited and feel very fortunate to have Shawna working with us, so please welcome her with open arms, as I’m sure you will.
And secondly, you may have noticed in last week’s Save the Date portion of the eblast that we are offering a new event in 2024, the Popcorn and Entrepreneurship Film Festival, on June 13. Mark your calendars, as we anticipate this to be another must-attend NSBA event. We are still sorting out the final details on that but will do so shortly and share the news once available.
Until next time, be safe, be smart, be considerate, be well, but most of all, be kind… and stay warm!