Upcoming Speakers
November 19, 2008
Ralph Zentner, Cornerstone Funeral Home
Ralph knew at an early age that being a care-giver in the funeral profession was what he wanted. After finishing High School, he entered the funeral profession and graduated from the Alberta School of Mortuary Science in 1985. At this time, Ralph received his license as a Funeral Director and Embalmer, and he was honored to have achieved the highest overall marks in the province. Ralph has continued to seek out additional training within the field through the completion of courses in Life Appreciation, Mediation and Dispute Resolution, and Managerial Excellence.
Cornerstone Funeral Home, opened in the fall of 1995, was the first funeral home in Southern Alberta to have all amenities under one roof. With an ample sized chapel, reception room, crematorium, including an indoor columbarium as well as a large parking area that accommodates up to 80 vehicles, Cornerstone can accommodate most services. Cornerstone also offers a variety of services to their clients.
Cornerstone was recently awarded the Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year Award for Change and Innovation.
Ralph will be sharing some of the business experiences he and co-owner Faith Zentner have had since establishing their family-owned business in Lethbridge
November 26, 2008 - Len Binning, The Movie Mill
Leonard Binning, B. Mgt (’91) – founder/owner/operator of The Movie Mill (1st independent discount multiplex in Canada - seven screen, 1,100 seat move-over theatre). Married to Debra (’88) with two girls & one boy: Brooke (17), Macaul (15) and Clarke (13). Born & raised in Lethbridge. University of Lethbridge graduate. Chamber of Commerce member for 14 years. Served on the board for MANY years, including the executive. Member of several committees. Currently serving as President of the Motion Picture Association of Alberta – sit on the national board. Actively involved in the community, supportive of many sporting, charitable and scholastic events.
January 21, 2009 - Bridget A. Pastoor, MLA
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Legislature Experience
· Second Term, elected November 22, 2004 / March 3, 2008
· Official Opposition Deputy Whip
· Shadow Minister for Seniors and Community Supports
· Shadow Minister for International and Intergovernmental Relations
· Shadow Minister for Municipal Affairs
· Back up Shadow Minister for Children and Youth Services and Aboriginal Relations
· Sits on 2 Committees:
o Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing
o Committee Standing on Health - Vice Chair
Professional Experience
· 16 years RN - Geriatric Specialist - Edith Cavell Care Centre
· 2 term Alderman, City of Lethbridge (1998-2004) |
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Community Experience
· Alberta Resident since 1967
· Chair, Council/Corporate Review of the City of Lethbridge (2001-2004)
· Elected Board Member, Federation of Canadian Municipalities (1999-2002)
· Member, Lethbridge Library Board, Exhibition Board and Municipal Planning Commission
· Member, Pension Appeals Board (1993-1997)
· Member, University of Lethbridge Senate (1985-1991)
· Awarded the Government of Canada Commemorative Gold Medal for her community service (1993) |
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Education
· Nursing, Lethbridge Community College
· Geriatric Specialist, Grant MacEwan College |
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Previous Speakers
November 12, 2008 - Denise Hammon, Crazy Cakes
Born in Lethbridge to Jerry and Jean Hammon, an auctioneer/farmer and teacher respectively. Denise grew up on a farm just north of Turin, Alberta.
She was raised at a time when children were free to be children, when adults were addressed as Mr. and Mrs. and when teachers were still allowed to give the strap to deserving children.
Denise attended elementary school at Turin and High school in Picture Butte. After having children she returned to LCC to complete the Journalism course, majoring in Advertising and PR.
She is co-owner of Eagle Commodities (an agricultural commodity trading company) and Crazy Cakes.
Denise is the mother of three, grandmother to eight, soon to be nine grandchildren. She and her partner Bill reside on the west side
November 5, 2008 - Lynda Kavanagh, aka The “WOW” Gal, WOW Communications
Recognized as an expert in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Lynda has hosted a Marketing Tips program on Community TV, and has been quoted or published in a variety of Canadian daily newspapers, magazines and ezines.
Her company WOW Communications & Training has been operating since 1994 in Lethbridge and, in 2005, she opened WOW’s Calgary office. The company provides marketing consultation and training for established businesses but specializes in offering individuals guidance on how to become Entrepreneurs.
She is a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers, and the National, and International, Associations of Professional Speakers. Lynda and her husband D’Arcy travel the world by bicycles and she incorporate this travel into all her training sessions; some examples are Venice and Customer Service, or her Sales workshop regarding Pink Suede boots and Munich, or her Crash Course in Marketing workshop that refers to Scotland. Lynda keeps her audience interested by using photos, videos, humour and high energy to reinforce key messages in each of her sessions.
Her topic for November 5 will be “Bike Paths, are they worth the cost?” This session offers a glimpse of bike paths from around the world that she and her husband have enjoyed cycling on. The presentations offers tips, testimonials and solid studies on how cities, regions and national bike paths are economically, environmentally and healthy to those who use them, but also beneficial to the communities the bike paths run through.
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October 22, 2008 - Gepke Stevenson, Senior Development Officer, City of Lethbridge
She will speak to the club about dealing with hard to site land uses. By this I mean multi-family housing, daycares, transition homes etc. These are the types of uses that need to go somewhere but nobody wants them in their own neighbourhood. As a community, how do we get past that?
Gepke will speak about what the issues are; how public input is factored into decisions - trying to sort fact from fiction; how the appeal system works.
October 15, 2008 - George Kuhl's Arctic Adventure
October 8, 2008 - Kendall Gibson, Alberta 55+ Winter Games
September 17, 2008 - Laraine Stuart, Program Manager, Victim/Witness Services, Lethbridge Regional Police Service
worked in “victim assistance field” for 20 years:
11 years in Vancouver with a “specialized victim assistance program” – violence against women and children – as a Legal Advocate/ Councellor/ Fascilitator/ Trainer
moved to Lethbridge in late 1999 to take on the job of developing a program for the Lethbridge City Police which has been the most satisfying job of my carreer - more focus on "crisis intervention" and "critical incident debreifing"
retiring in 2009 and looking forward to spending more time with grandchildren , dogs, travel and golf!
September 10, 2008 - Dr. Toni Winder, M.D., F.R.C.P.
Dr. Winder completed his Medical Degree at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario followed by his residency in neurology at the University of Calgary. He was awarded an Alberta Heritage Foundation Medical Fellowship, which he completed at the University of California, Los Angeles to research the area of Neuro-otology, which is the study of the various causes and cures of vertigo and dizziness.
Dr. Winder has practiced Neurology and Neuro-otology in Lethbridge for 19 years. He is currently the Medical Director of the Chinook Health Region Secondary Stroke Prevention Clinic and Co-Chair for the Region’s Stroke Steering Committee. Dr. Winder’s main research interests presently are in the areas of Stroke and Vascular Diseases.
September 3, 2008 - Steve Whittington, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro
Steve is the General Manager of Southland Trailer Corp. He is a believer that business and non profits have to work together to find a common ground in order for both types of organizations to meet their goals. As such he is an active volunteer in the community and encourages others at his work place to follow suit. Currently he is the Chair of Lethbridge Housing Authority and a Board member for Big Brothers Big Sisters serving as Chair of the BBBS Marketing Committee, plus a Big Brother. His past volunteer work includes Vice President of Saint Norbert Community Club, Board member Saint Norbert Foundation, Board member Greater Winnipeg Community Club Council and a Red Cross Medical Equipment driver. He is a strong believer in serving the community in which he lives.
Outside of work, Board meetings and other volunteer activities you find Steve kayaking, kite boarding, paragliding, running, biking or scrambling up the side of a mountain. So when the opportunity arose to support a cause that Steve has passion for and to have some fun climbing Mount Kilimanjaro; how could he not go? In his speech he hopes to share the experiences and inspiration of the journey from top to bottom, starting with the fund raising efforts and the reasons for hitting the peak.
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
Winston Churchill
Professional Experience
Founding Member of Abject.com – Internet Gaming Company
Vice President –Agri-Marketing – Marketing Solution Agency
Current – General Manager –Southland Trailer Corp.
Education
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Bachelor of Commerce – Honours
August 27, 2008 - Gerald Gauthier, President, Crime Stoppers
Gerald Gauthier is president of Southern Alberta Crime Stoppers. He joined the volunteer board of Crime Stoppers in 2005, became vice president in 2006 and was elected as president in 2007. He has lived in Lethbridge for eight years. He recently returned to the Lethbridge Herald as a reporter after several years in business. He’s been married to Heather for 22 years and has two teen-aged children.
August 20, 2008 - Jerald (Jay) D. Palmer, B.A., LL.B., Stringam Denecky
Jay will be speaking on a variety of topics relevant to businesses.
August 13, 2008 - Mark Fournier, Community Futures
July 30, 2008 - Renae Peterson, RN BN, Business Owner, Beauty From The Inside Out
I have a B.N. of nursing and feel very passionate about female adolescent development. My B.N. along with my personal experiences as a model has created a very dynamic program for young women to understand the importance of their value and who they want to become. Research shows that during the developmental phase of female adolescence a number of physical and psychological challenges are presented that can cause the young women to start to identify more with what they look like as opposed to who they are. The program journeys the young women through ten weeks of learning skills such as 'The art of communication, The art of graciousness, Deconstructing the media and creating media literacy, Learning the model of value and abandonment, and helping the identify qualities that create a beauty from the inside out.
July 23, 2008 - Karoline Philipp, RN BN, Director, Population Health
June 25, 2008 - Sandy Lyons, CA, CIRP, CFE,
Trustee in Bankruptcy with KPMG Inc.
Sandy has been practicing in the area of small business and personal financial restructuring and insolvency matters since 1985 in Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge and has been in Lethbridge with KPMG Inc. for the last 10 years.
Sandy is currently the President of the Alberta Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals.
He is a past member of the Breakfast Club and has served as treasurer and president.
Sandy has held other positions as a board member and volunteer with Junior Achievement of Alberta, North Star Masonic Lodge #4, and the Lethbridge Air show during the time he has been in Alberta.
Sandy is married to Bernadette Lyons who is a home schooling facilitator and owns a small business called Sparkplug Consulting. He is step dad to Christina and Jonathan Carter and has had first hand on hands experience with the "boomerang effect" that many families experience in the current Alberta Economy.
Sandy will be speaking to the club about pending amendments to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, creditor protection, and current trends that may be effecting the financial health of your business or personal finances
June 18 - Gary Wiekum - City of Lethbridge, Planning Department
June 11 - Alderman Jeff Carlson
Born and raised in Lethbridge, Jeff has also spent the majority of his adult life living and working in this wonderful city.
Jeff received his Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Acting from the University of Lethbridge, and completed two semesters at the University of Alberta. Many people will know Jeff from New West Theatre, where he has been employed full-time for the last 15 years, and part-time seven years prior to that.
He has been a long-time arts supporter. Jeff served on the Board of Directors for The Allied Arts Council for eight years and more recently as the Arts and Culture Representative for Economic Development.
While politics have always been a major interest of Jeff's, this is his first foray into public office. He hopes to bring his passion for and knowledge of Lethbridge to City Council and give something back to the City he loves.
Alderman Carlson has been appointed to the following Boards, Commissions and Committees:
- Municipal Planning Commission
- Sir Alexander Galt Museum & Archives Board of Directors
- Community & Social Development Standing Committee
- Appreciation Night Committee
- Chinook Country Tourist Association (alternate)
- City/County Intermunicipal Plan Process Committee
- Liaison to the Canadian Urban Transit AssociationMarch 12, 2008 - Kevin Kvame, President & G.M., Lethbridge Bulls baseball organization.
Kevin has been active in baseball since the mid-80’s. He moved to Lethbridge in 1994 and first got involved with the Bulls who are now entering their 10th year. He became General manager in 2002 then President and General Manager in 2005. Kevin is involved with the Lethbridge Sports Council and active in minor baseball as well.
March 5, 2008- Bonnie Elliot, Senior Manager, Consulting - Business Development Bank of Canada
Bonnie brings over 15 years of business experience to BDC, which includes starting and operating a clothing manufacturing and sales company as well as extensive consulting experience to businesses throughout Alberta & B.C. She has many years of experience in teaching, training and facilitation for groups, which has included creating and delivering leadership and business development sessions both locally and overseas.
Bonnie will be speaking about typical issues that businesses are facing and the ways the BDC can assist and help them either explore opportunities or overcome challenges. |
