Q1 2024 - Jan 30
Presented by:
It was a slow build as we got closer to the first meeting of 2024. We were worried we might not make our '100 men' goal but we were able to just edge over the finish line and had 102 paid members to kick off the year!
We were once again hosted by the fine folks at Main St Beer and BBQ where we all stayed fed and hydrated as we enjoyed a wonderful night of camaraderie and fellowship.
We started the meeting off with a quick word from our platinum sponsor - Shawn Kraft of Kraft and Co Law. Shawn has strong ties to Airdrie, to community involvement, and is no stranger to philanthropy either. We're thrilled to have him as a sponsor and wholeheartedly recommend his services - which range from busing and corporate law to real estate law, divorce law, estate planning, immigration services and more.
In addition, a huge thanks to our Gold sponsors for this meeting:
Check out our Sponsor page, to learn more about this program. By the way, had we not reached our goal of 100 paid members, the platinum sponsor money is used to 'top up' the funds so that we can give away $10,000. Anything above that is split among the other two presenters. The Gold sponsor money always goes to the 'runner-up' presenters.
Greetings
MLA Blake Richards
Blake was not able to attend in person this meeting but sent along his well-wishes and kudos to the group for all their efforts and commitment. We were able to move past $300,000 total raised over the course of 26 meetings and it's something we should all be proud of.
Mayor Peter Brown and Councilman Ron Chapman
Peter began with a quick shout-out to Keith Wilkinson. The mayor wants to mention him every time he speaks because of the impact Keith has made is something we never want to forget. Peter noted that the recipient of the first ever Mr Airdrie Memorial Award in honour of Keith was given out to fellow 100 Men member Mike Reist. Kudos!
Peter spoke about how many people he has crossed who have been impacted at some point by the work of 100 Men. As Airdrie continues to grow, we haven’t lost the true essence of being a community and caring about your neighbour.
Ron echoed those statements and his wonder at people coming together to help other people. Ron has been here since the population was 2500 people and that spirit hasn’t changed.
We're grateful to have the support and encouragement of our local leaders and appreciate their kind words.
Wilkie Award
Next, we announced our Wilkie Award winner. The Wilkie Award is to recognize someone from the group that embodies the spirit of our late co-founder Keith Wilkinson. We consider The Wilkie to be a noble and prestigious honour!
The recipient for this meeting was Brett Fitt. Brett is a Day One member and has always been a generous part of the Airdrie community. It is, ahem, Fitting that we celebrate Brett at this meeting as his business has just re-opened after needing to rebuild from a devastating fire. We hope this is a great re-start for All Fitts Automotive and his re-opening is worthy of celebration as well.
Guest Speaker: Wes David
We had a very informative and inspirational guest speaker for this meeting - Wes David. Wes is a Canadian Champion Bull Rider turned heavy duty mechanic turned office executive turned competition angler turned tv host and producer!
Wes is currently the host and producer of Fishing the Wild West TV - a very successful show that travels western Canada (and beyond) and gives viewers everything they need to be a successful angler.
His path to TV host was unique to say the least. With a calf-roper-dad and a barrel-racer-mom, his transition into rodeo was a natural one. Wes found a lot of success as a Bull Rider but what he got most out of his rodeo career was learning how to set and achieve goals. That really set the stage for the rest of his career.
We all know the basics of setting goals but we often have too much gap in between our starting point and our end point and that gap can be too overwhelming. Being able to set mini goals in between - Wes calls them stair stepper goals - and ‘walk the stairs’ to the ultimate goals has been the key to his success.
Wes took us through his journey from the rodeo to training to be a heavy duty mechanic, to then moving from the field into the office as an executive and GM, to then becoming a successful competitor in angling competitions, to then hosting a TV show, to then owning the production company that made that show.
These big life changes came from deep reflection about what was important to him, how he could be happy, how he could balance his time with family, and generally trying to answer the familiar question: "what the hell am I going to do with my life?".
The common component was his idea of dreaming up the big goals, setting all the stair-stepping goals that made the climb doable, and constantly reviewing and evaluating his progress.
It has all led to producing the #1 watched fishing show in America, reaching 18.1 million households and setting to film their 9th season. Incredible!
Thanks to Wes for sharing his story with us.
Previous recipient: Airdrie Abilities
The team from Airdrie Abilities talked about how they have used the money from the previous meeting. Along with expanding winter and spring programming, they were also able to plan a William Watson Lodge Park Day - an excursion for people with disabilities and their families to spend a weekend together with other families, activities, and an otherwise unforgettable experience.
Q1 2024 Presentations:
Airdrie Little League
The Airdrie Little League is a non-profit that serves ages 4-16 through spring and summer leagues.
The League has had 25% growth the past couple of years and is expected to continue, so there is a need to improve infrastructure.
With the money from 100 Men, it would support growth and retention through building and maintaining diamonds. Specifically, they would like to build 5 batting cages (one per existing diamond).
Airdrie Disability and Awareness & Resource Centre
The Airdrie Disability and Awareness & Resource Centre is a group of caregivers and professionals who have loved ones with disabilities. It was formed because they have seen first-hand the struggles they’ve gone through with loved ones.
They do in-home visits, coffee shop dates, collaborate with local agencies, develop resources, hold training workshops, and much more.
With the money, they want to continue programs, expand workshops, expand resource development, and add a ‘caring for caregivers' program. This last program tries to deal with the stress and burnout that happens with caregivers. They hope to provide a caregiver retreat, a support group for dads (called Tool Time), and host social nights.
Legacy Place Society
Our final presentation came from the Legacy Place Society which helps Peace Officers, Fire Fighters, Emergency Medical Services, 911 Dispatch and Military Personnel face frustrating and devastating situations on the work front and then find themselves working hard to find a balanced life perspective on the home front.
They have 3 respite houses; a 24/7 intervention hotline, suicide awareness, family camps for members and families and more. The group heard stats about how often their services are used as well as a personal story about the Legacy Place literally saving the life of a member that suffered from depression and severe alcoholism due to PTSD.
While they're a provincial group, they're looking to build a centre in Airdrie which will include a memorial garden for fallen members.
Another incredibly hard decision led to a really close vote. In the end Legacy Place was voted to receive funds. Gratefully, we were also able to give $1150 each to other two presenters.
We'd like to thank Main St Beer and BBQ for hosting us as well as our generous members that donated door prizes.
Door prizes
We were once again hosted by the fine folks at Main St Beer and BBQ where we all stayed fed and hydrated as we enjoyed a wonderful night of camaraderie and fellowship.
We started the meeting off with a quick word from our platinum sponsor - Shawn Kraft of Kraft and Co Law. Shawn has strong ties to Airdrie, to community involvement, and is no stranger to philanthropy either. We're thrilled to have him as a sponsor and wholeheartedly recommend his services - which range from busing and corporate law to real estate law, divorce law, estate planning, immigration services and more.
In addition, a huge thanks to our Gold sponsors for this meeting:
Check out our Sponsor page, to learn more about this program. By the way, had we not reached our goal of 100 paid members, the platinum sponsor money is used to 'top up' the funds so that we can give away $10,000. Anything above that is split among the other two presenters. The Gold sponsor money always goes to the 'runner-up' presenters.
Greetings
MLA Blake Richards
Blake was not able to attend in person this meeting but sent along his well-wishes and kudos to the group for all their efforts and commitment. We were able to move past $300,000 total raised over the course of 26 meetings and it's something we should all be proud of.
Mayor Peter Brown and Councilman Ron Chapman
Peter began with a quick shout-out to Keith Wilkinson. The mayor wants to mention him every time he speaks because of the impact Keith has made is something we never want to forget. Peter noted that the recipient of the first ever Mr Airdrie Memorial Award in honour of Keith was given out to fellow 100 Men member Mike Reist. Kudos!
Peter spoke about how many people he has crossed who have been impacted at some point by the work of 100 Men. As Airdrie continues to grow, we haven’t lost the true essence of being a community and caring about your neighbour.
Ron echoed those statements and his wonder at people coming together to help other people. Ron has been here since the population was 2500 people and that spirit hasn’t changed.
We're grateful to have the support and encouragement of our local leaders and appreciate their kind words.
Wilkie Award
Next, we announced our Wilkie Award winner. The Wilkie Award is to recognize someone from the group that embodies the spirit of our late co-founder Keith Wilkinson. We consider The Wilkie to be a noble and prestigious honour!
The recipient for this meeting was Brett Fitt. Brett is a Day One member and has always been a generous part of the Airdrie community. It is, ahem, Fitting that we celebrate Brett at this meeting as his business has just re-opened after needing to rebuild from a devastating fire. We hope this is a great re-start for All Fitts Automotive and his re-opening is worthy of celebration as well.
Guest Speaker: Wes David
We had a very informative and inspirational guest speaker for this meeting - Wes David. Wes is a Canadian Champion Bull Rider turned heavy duty mechanic turned office executive turned competition angler turned tv host and producer!
Wes is currently the host and producer of Fishing the Wild West TV - a very successful show that travels western Canada (and beyond) and gives viewers everything they need to be a successful angler.
His path to TV host was unique to say the least. With a calf-roper-dad and a barrel-racer-mom, his transition into rodeo was a natural one. Wes found a lot of success as a Bull Rider but what he got most out of his rodeo career was learning how to set and achieve goals. That really set the stage for the rest of his career.
We all know the basics of setting goals but we often have too much gap in between our starting point and our end point and that gap can be too overwhelming. Being able to set mini goals in between - Wes calls them stair stepper goals - and ‘walk the stairs’ to the ultimate goals has been the key to his success.
Wes took us through his journey from the rodeo to training to be a heavy duty mechanic, to then moving from the field into the office as an executive and GM, to then becoming a successful competitor in angling competitions, to then hosting a TV show, to then owning the production company that made that show.
These big life changes came from deep reflection about what was important to him, how he could be happy, how he could balance his time with family, and generally trying to answer the familiar question: "what the hell am I going to do with my life?".
The common component was his idea of dreaming up the big goals, setting all the stair-stepping goals that made the climb doable, and constantly reviewing and evaluating his progress.
It has all led to producing the #1 watched fishing show in America, reaching 18.1 million households and setting to film their 9th season. Incredible!
Thanks to Wes for sharing his story with us.
Previous recipient: Airdrie Abilities
The team from Airdrie Abilities talked about how they have used the money from the previous meeting. Along with expanding winter and spring programming, they were also able to plan a William Watson Lodge Park Day - an excursion for people with disabilities and their families to spend a weekend together with other families, activities, and an otherwise unforgettable experience.
Q1 2024 Presentations:
Airdrie Little League
The Airdrie Little League is a non-profit that serves ages 4-16 through spring and summer leagues.
The League has had 25% growth the past couple of years and is expected to continue, so there is a need to improve infrastructure.
With the money from 100 Men, it would support growth and retention through building and maintaining diamonds. Specifically, they would like to build 5 batting cages (one per existing diamond).
Airdrie Disability and Awareness & Resource Centre
The Airdrie Disability and Awareness & Resource Centre is a group of caregivers and professionals who have loved ones with disabilities. It was formed because they have seen first-hand the struggles they’ve gone through with loved ones.
They do in-home visits, coffee shop dates, collaborate with local agencies, develop resources, hold training workshops, and much more.
With the money, they want to continue programs, expand workshops, expand resource development, and add a ‘caring for caregivers' program. This last program tries to deal with the stress and burnout that happens with caregivers. They hope to provide a caregiver retreat, a support group for dads (called Tool Time), and host social nights.
Legacy Place Society
Our final presentation came from the Legacy Place Society which helps Peace Officers, Fire Fighters, Emergency Medical Services, 911 Dispatch and Military Personnel face frustrating and devastating situations on the work front and then find themselves working hard to find a balanced life perspective on the home front.
They have 3 respite houses; a 24/7 intervention hotline, suicide awareness, family camps for members and families and more. The group heard stats about how often their services are used as well as a personal story about the Legacy Place literally saving the life of a member that suffered from depression and severe alcoholism due to PTSD.
While they're a provincial group, they're looking to build a centre in Airdrie which will include a memorial garden for fallen members.
Another incredibly hard decision led to a really close vote. In the end Legacy Place was voted to receive funds. Gratefully, we were also able to give $1150 each to other two presenters.
We'd like to thank Main St Beer and BBQ for hosting us as well as our generous members that donated door prizes.
Door prizes
- Keith Yeoman - Yeoman Woodworks
- Hussain Mumtaz - Simmply Mobile Detailing
- David Bowman Painting - Paint package
- Ron Chapman - Tiger Propane
- Peter Flannigan - Maaco
- Wes David
- Tim McDonald Real Estate
