Q4 2022 - Oct 18
Presented by:
The Q4 2022 Meeting started with a brief intro from our Platinum Sponsor: Martin's Pest Control. Billy talked about his involvement in the Airdrie 100 (which began with the very first meeting) and what it meant to him and what the group means to the community. Billy is well-recognized around the community for his involvement and generosity.
He also put in a plug for Small Business Week - which is happening now - and talked about the importance of supporting local business wherever possible. These are the folks who give back to sports team and community events, so supporting them when you can makes a ton of sense!
Speaking of which, Martin's Pest Control is a family-owned and locally-operated business. Their priority is building relationships of trust with their valued customers. Martin's provides customers with peace of mind by offering the best pest management programs and services possible. You'll be in great hands with Billy and his team!
We also had two Gold sponsors for this meeting. These companies provide money that is ear-marked for the runner-up presenters regardless of whether we reach our $10,000 goal. This way, we ensure that everyone gets a significant amount of money at each meeting.
A huge thanks to our Gold sponsors for this meeting:
If you have an interest in being a sponsor, visit our sponsor page and connect with Darcy Forbes.
Guest Speaker - Don Bell
Up next was Don Bell. One of the four original founders of WestJet, Jack refers to Don as Airdrie’s silent success story. Don is the rare self-made entrepreneur that is super successful without being loud and constantly self-promoting. After Don gave a brief history of his time at WestJet (including his incredibly timed sale of WestJet in December of 2019 - just pre-COVID), Don opened the floor for any questions from the fellow entrepreneurs in the room.
Don talked about the early days in creating WestJet and lessons learned - including how letting go of negative people in your life can be fruitful - and how an initial ownership group with opposing personality types can actually mean complementary business skills.
Post WestJet, Don got into flying helicopters as a hobby and turned it into a maintenance and restoration business and shared some of the impressive before and after photos and the future of helicopter technology.
Many of Don’s stories began with the phrase “I met a guy…” which was a good prompt for the folks in the room to mingle and network!
After Don's talk, Blake Richards made a surprise appearance over video to welcome the group and to share a big announcement that Don had won a Queen Elizabeth Platinum Jubilee award!! The award is to honour significant contributions and achievements by Canadians and was the first time the Airdrie 100 could claim some national breaking news!
Thanks again to Don for taking time to speak with our group.
Past winner update:
As is customary, we had an update from the previous recipient to let us know how things were coming along. We were thrilled to hear Access Child & Youth Development tell us how the last meeting had paid immediate dividends. First, the influx of cash helped Larissa negotiate a discount rate with a local psychologist for psych assessments and were able to assess several kids. They are also using the funds to help run a youth leadership program with 10 deserving local kids.
Just as impressive (to us, anyway) - we found out that they also reached to the Festival of Lights - who they met through being a ‘competitor’ at the previous meeting - and are partnering and volunteering with them. We always encourage members to reach out to any of the groups that present if their causes connected with you, it's great to see our presenters doing it as well.
Presentations:
Nose Creek Valley Museum
The Nose Creek Valley Museum was established in 1987 as a permanent, public, not for profit institution. The museum collects meaningful historical objects from the Nose Creek Valley and Airdrie area, from 1780 through to the present.
The museum programs include a travelling trunk initiative (for schools, mostly) that takes artifacts and presentations on the road; job shadowing opportunities for students; library programs, and participation in local events (like the recent Children’s Fest and Alberta Day).
Revenue generation for the museum the last two years have been hit hard because of closures and program cancellations due to COVID. This has meant that operating expenses have been covered by slush funds to bridge the gap. If successful tonight, the donation will help with building maintenance, improving technology, increase outreach opportunities in the community, and further programming support.
Airdrie 1st Club
You may recognize this group from their previous name - the Airdrie Lioness Club - but they have rebranded to move away from an international club to one that focuses just on Airdrie. They're putting Airdrie 1st (see what they did there?)
The Airdrie 1st Club has several initiatives including a bulk discounted grocery card program from previous money and, of course, their long-running Christmas Hamper program which helps over 1300 Airdrie residents. Any funds received would go to supporting these existing programs directly.
Airdrie 2nd Scouts
Finally, two Scouters presented on behalf of the 2nd Airdrie Scouts troupe and on behalf of Scouts Canada.
They talked about how they donate their time to provide youth the opportunity to grow and connect with others through adventure, skill building, and an array of other programs.
The group also volunteers regularly and takes pride in helping improve their community.
Any funds received from tonight's meeting would go towards equipment and training - water filters for backpacking, safety and cooking equipment for camps, extra camping equipment for low-income families and training (first aid, water safety, etc) for volunteers, leaders, and scouts.
After the online voting, the $10,000 prize was awarded to the Airdrie Scouts. Congrats!
Thank you to Woodside for hosting - they have come to be a rock-solid venue for us with great food and great service.
We had more incredible door prizes and want to thank our super generous members:
He also put in a plug for Small Business Week - which is happening now - and talked about the importance of supporting local business wherever possible. These are the folks who give back to sports team and community events, so supporting them when you can makes a ton of sense!
Speaking of which, Martin's Pest Control is a family-owned and locally-operated business. Their priority is building relationships of trust with their valued customers. Martin's provides customers with peace of mind by offering the best pest management programs and services possible. You'll be in great hands with Billy and his team!
We also had two Gold sponsors for this meeting. These companies provide money that is ear-marked for the runner-up presenters regardless of whether we reach our $10,000 goal. This way, we ensure that everyone gets a significant amount of money at each meeting.
A huge thanks to our Gold sponsors for this meeting:
If you have an interest in being a sponsor, visit our sponsor page and connect with Darcy Forbes.
Guest Speaker - Don Bell
Up next was Don Bell. One of the four original founders of WestJet, Jack refers to Don as Airdrie’s silent success story. Don is the rare self-made entrepreneur that is super successful without being loud and constantly self-promoting. After Don gave a brief history of his time at WestJet (including his incredibly timed sale of WestJet in December of 2019 - just pre-COVID), Don opened the floor for any questions from the fellow entrepreneurs in the room.
Don talked about the early days in creating WestJet and lessons learned - including how letting go of negative people in your life can be fruitful - and how an initial ownership group with opposing personality types can actually mean complementary business skills.
Post WestJet, Don got into flying helicopters as a hobby and turned it into a maintenance and restoration business and shared some of the impressive before and after photos and the future of helicopter technology.
Many of Don’s stories began with the phrase “I met a guy…” which was a good prompt for the folks in the room to mingle and network!
After Don's talk, Blake Richards made a surprise appearance over video to welcome the group and to share a big announcement that Don had won a Queen Elizabeth Platinum Jubilee award!! The award is to honour significant contributions and achievements by Canadians and was the first time the Airdrie 100 could claim some national breaking news!
Thanks again to Don for taking time to speak with our group.
Past winner update:
As is customary, we had an update from the previous recipient to let us know how things were coming along. We were thrilled to hear Access Child & Youth Development tell us how the last meeting had paid immediate dividends. First, the influx of cash helped Larissa negotiate a discount rate with a local psychologist for psych assessments and were able to assess several kids. They are also using the funds to help run a youth leadership program with 10 deserving local kids.
Just as impressive (to us, anyway) - we found out that they also reached to the Festival of Lights - who they met through being a ‘competitor’ at the previous meeting - and are partnering and volunteering with them. We always encourage members to reach out to any of the groups that present if their causes connected with you, it's great to see our presenters doing it as well.
Presentations:
Nose Creek Valley Museum
The Nose Creek Valley Museum was established in 1987 as a permanent, public, not for profit institution. The museum collects meaningful historical objects from the Nose Creek Valley and Airdrie area, from 1780 through to the present.
The museum programs include a travelling trunk initiative (for schools, mostly) that takes artifacts and presentations on the road; job shadowing opportunities for students; library programs, and participation in local events (like the recent Children’s Fest and Alberta Day).
Revenue generation for the museum the last two years have been hit hard because of closures and program cancellations due to COVID. This has meant that operating expenses have been covered by slush funds to bridge the gap. If successful tonight, the donation will help with building maintenance, improving technology, increase outreach opportunities in the community, and further programming support.
Airdrie 1st Club
You may recognize this group from their previous name - the Airdrie Lioness Club - but they have rebranded to move away from an international club to one that focuses just on Airdrie. They're putting Airdrie 1st (see what they did there?)
The Airdrie 1st Club has several initiatives including a bulk discounted grocery card program from previous money and, of course, their long-running Christmas Hamper program which helps over 1300 Airdrie residents. Any funds received would go to supporting these existing programs directly.
Airdrie 2nd Scouts
Finally, two Scouters presented on behalf of the 2nd Airdrie Scouts troupe and on behalf of Scouts Canada.
They talked about how they donate their time to provide youth the opportunity to grow and connect with others through adventure, skill building, and an array of other programs.
The group also volunteers regularly and takes pride in helping improve their community.
Any funds received from tonight's meeting would go towards equipment and training - water filters for backpacking, safety and cooking equipment for camps, extra camping equipment for low-income families and training (first aid, water safety, etc) for volunteers, leaders, and scouts.
After the online voting, the $10,000 prize was awarded to the Airdrie Scouts. Congrats!
Thank you to Woodside for hosting - they have come to be a rock-solid venue for us with great food and great service.
We had more incredible door prizes and want to thank our super generous members:
- Rival Axe
- Airdrie Windshield
- Tiger Propane
- Martins Pest Control
- David Bowman
- Peter Guthrie
- Yeoman Woodworks
