When former Westlock town councillor Henry Romanchuk first brought the idea of hosting the 2013 55 Plus Alberta Summer Games to council and administration, he probably wasn’t expecting to chair the board of directors.
Two years later, he finds himself in exactly that position he was named last week as the chair of the Games board — and he said he’s ready for the challenge.
“I look forward to seeing what happens,” he said. “I don’t know much about what my role is at this point, but at this point I’m quite excited.”
Romanchuk, who served six terms on town council prior to the October 2010 election, is obviously no stranger to community service.
He has been involved in community groups both as a councillor and as an individual over the years, and has perennially been a booster for the town and the region.
He first heard about the Games about two years ago, when they were still called the Alberta Seniors Games. After doing some research on the internet, he discovered that they were looking for someone to host the 2013 event.
“I thought this was an excellent idea for the community, and my personal belief over the years has always been that we should be doing more to promote our town,” he said. I thought this would be a great opportunity to showcase Westlock and participate in this kind of event.”
The bid committee eventually grew to include four communities: Westlock, Westlock County, Barrhead and the County of Barrhead.
As of last week, Westlock CAO Darrell Garceau said, 11 of the 13 director positions had been filled.
Linda Williams and Karen Bowman will share the accommodations portfolio, Ken McCarthy will cover communications and safety, and the culture portfolio will be held by Gerry St. Pierre.
Chuck Keller will be in charge of facilities, Ida Cannard will work the food services portfolio and Elize Zuk will head up the Friends of the Games. Angie Hampshire will be in charge of promotions and Lorraine Garceau will take on protocol.
Kelly Tinant will work registration and results, Helmut Ehrenholtz will be in charge of transportation and Chuck Hambling will be in charge of volunteers.
The two positions of activities and administration, as well as the role of vice chairperson, are expected to be filled by people from the Barrhead area, Garceau said.
“We’re trying to balance it out, with representation from both Westlock and Barrhead. We’re heavily weighted towards Westlock right now,” he said.
Barrhead CAO Martin Taylor said no one has stepped up to take on the vice chair position yet, but they don’t want to fill the position just for the sake of filling it — it has to be the right person to take on the two-year commitment.
The timing of the announcement and search for directors could have hindered the search, he added, because many residents take advantage of the summer months for vacation.
Ten of the directors and the board chair will make the trip to Fairview this week to take in the 2011 Games in Fairview, and will return with a better idea of what’s going to be required to pull of the event in our region.
One thing that’s certain is hundreds more volunteers will be needed. Garceau said organizers hope to have somewhere in the range of 600 volunteers.
For more information about the remaining director positions, contact either Garceau at the Westlock town office or Taylor at the Barrhead town office.
• With files from Arron Pickard.
