CANADA DAY CANCELLED.

CANADA DAY CANCELLED.

Apparently after forty consecutive years the board of directors have decided to cancel Canada Day due to the lack of volunteers. Marc Vallee, Chris Lawson, Tom Finn
and friends having been doing this event for several years. We have also donated time and food to this event
and others. I think that it is time that other members of the board donate their time. This notice was put on the bulletin board late Sat. or Sun. not giving some people much time to change their plans.

We and several other members would like to know your thoughts. Please email us at girvan@sympatico. ca.

Community Spirit

It is refreshing to see a real community spirit at Forest Lake. I commend all those that have shown a desire to organize a Canada Day bar-b-que, fireworks and bonfire.

Hard to judge on the food. As in years past, we never really know how many people will show up for burgers and/or hotdogs. Propane bar-b-que’s usually come from someone’s cottage and are brought down to the park in the back of a pick-up. As for stuff left over from past years, I dropped off a Rubbermaid bin at Ed & Gabrielle’s place with some plates, napkins and forks but I do not have a count of what’s available. They also have the burner for dogs. We usually purchase new ketchup, mustard and relish for the events.

As far as funding, the $400 is budgeted and is available to anyone interested in organizing the event. Keep in mind that all FLA events are open to property owners (members) their families and friends.

Good to see so many positive posts.

Happy Canada Day and have a great summer at Forest Lake.

Regards,

Marc

UPDATE FOR CANADA DAY

Karen and I hope everyone will join us in celebrating Canada Day at the park Saturday at 5pm. It's a "bring your own food, drink, ect..." and if you have extra to share that would be great! Hopefully the rain will hold off. Looking forward to seeing everyone who can join us with lots of Canada Day spirit!!

What a great way for all of

What a great way for all of us to pull together for another Canada Day. So Family and friends can all get together have a few laughs and celebrate another year at the lake. I will be picking up about 3 packages of hot dogs and bringing a salad or two salads and veggie platter. Can't wait to see everyone. My heart is smiling:)
Thank you to everyone that we could pull this off no matter what. Oh i will stop in Lacute or Big Chief and pick up some fire works as well, but could someone set them off for me as that stuff kinda freeks my out.
To everyone,
Let's Get the Party Started!!!!
Karen Sams

Also the most important

Also the most important thing of all, it isn't about the food and drinks. It is about family and old friends getting together and sharing new and old laughter:)
Sorry again if I pissed off some people.
Karen Sams

Karen Sams Well it seems

Karen Sams

Well it seems like I have offend a few people and that was not my intent. Just trying to understand a few things. If, I lived here in montreal, I would be there first in line to help in anyway; however I live in Vancouver and I figure that shows a lot already by my flying in family to be there.

Please understant my happiest times have been up there and still are. Just making a note.

Please DO NOT make any slams at Larry, as he has been a family friend for over 38yrs and has been there hands down NO questions asked after my father passed away. He is a great man and is True to his word and only wants the best for the lake since he has been there longer then you!!! It would be a great loss to my mom (Lil) and fellow friends. Larry has alway kept my mom and myself smiling. We always know he wants the best for us and everyone else as well. Larry is fare and true man. If you do not know this, that is because you do not know Larry. And that is to bad.

Let me ask a question to Cameron, were you there when our parents almost burnt the boat they were in to light fire works for july 1 many years ago? I don't recall seeing you there? Yes I know it wasn't the smartest thing to do on their part, but hey We all got a laugh and for those that were there know what I am talking about. Rethink your comment towards Larry, mention of road with Canada day, really does it matter? I think not, getting his point across faster. Has it been done, I guess not!

To Ray and Paul, hey guys really DON'T mean ill towards anyone. Was just surprised about july 1st. Really if I could help I really would, but flying in from Van. Is 6hrs, plus gettting to the airport an hour befor and drive from the airport to the cottage 2hrs, then leaving the next day. Come on guys, that is close to 10hr day for me to fly in for a meeting. I would happy to make a HUGE greek salad and bring veggie platter. Just let me know, I am in. Sorry if this comes off rude guys in anyway, just was so excited to see all my cottage friends.
Karen

Ill will? never! :-)

Hey Karen,

I would never have thought you had any ill intentions with your post, it just seemed like someone had told you something that wasn't quite "on the money" pardon the pun. :-)

Unfortunately there are still some that are trying to upset the apple cart and try to prevent good things from happening. They make attacks on others who try to help, and it's just upsetting that's all.

I know you, and have known you for some time. We all know you didn't mean anything by it, however I'm not so sure about the intentions of John and Judy in this regard. I know they'll be upset about me saying it, but sometimes they seem to be trying to the exact opposite of helping. That is pointing out problems, rather than trying to fix problems.

Sorry for ranting as well. Thanks for the sentiments, they are truly appreciated.

And it looks like something will be happening after all, even if it's informal and ramshackle, it will probably wind up being the most fun we've had in a long while. Simply because it will be, people getting together with people. :-)

Ray/
Ray Dube

You make some good points, Karen, but.....

Karen,

You're right...it's amazing that you can make it down at all, so I commend you for that. We all would love to help out, but sometimes things come up. I don't think I've ever missed a Canada Day at the Lake, but I have to be in Montreal this year on Friday and most of Saturday, so I could not step up to organize. I assume others, who do a lot for Forest Lake, also have plans. It happens.
My brothers and I have decided to organize Field Day events, as well as help Ed Parr with the cooking food & distributio of prizes the best we can.

As for Larry, I really do not know him personally all that well, and if he has been great for you and your family, that's terrific. The point Cameron was making had more to do with his behaviour on the political front. You haven't been to any meetings, as far as I know, but one would have to be blind not to see that Larry has done nothing but cause trouble on the political front. I stand by that statement as I have heard & seen with my own ears & eyes. Even my Dad, who you know, and who once respected Larry, now questions his actions and behaviour, so I encourage you to keep a strong personal relationship with everyone who helps and cares for you, just keep in mind that people can be very nice, but still act in a very questionable manner in other circumstances.

Paul Dube

Sorry for any hard feelings, Karen

Hi Karen,

Speaking for myself, I wasn’t offended by your post, but I was upset that you were under the impression that Canada Day Festivities was being cancelled because the board would not give any money. As you have said, you are out in Vancouver, so what is even more upsetting to me is that I must assume that you wrote your post because someone told you that the board was withholding money, which is completely untrue.

I am even more offended by the spirit in which this thread was started, which I believe was nothing less tan an effort to create discord and ill-will directed towards a select few.

I deeply apologize to you if the words I directed at Larry hurt you in any way. I appreciate the fact that he is a great friend to your family and I respect that very much. I am sure that he has many admirable qualities: Good friend, husband, father and grandfather.

However, I’m afraid that my family has seemed to fall outside of his circle of good will. Although you know Larry for all his good traits I have seen another side of Larry which has attacked my family and loved ones by manipulation and insinuation. I myself fell under attack from him at an AGM a few years ago regarding a piece of property I bought at a sheriff’s sale.

I know that my flying off the handle at his roads remark may seem uncalled for, but what you see as an innocent, “by-the-way” comment, I see a direct attack at a very certain member of the board who has stated time and time again that the primary mandate of the association is to upkeep the roads. With people talking about Canada Day being cancelled due to lack of funds, his bringing up road conditions is a sneaky and underhanded way to direct peoples’ resentment at a very specific person.

I respect the friendship you and your family share with Larry and Frieda and understand your desire to stand up for him. Again, I apologize if my words have hurt you.

I also hope you can understand my frustration and my desire to protect my family and loved ones from incessant personal attacks from Larry. I do not know exactly where his grudge comes from, but I know that he thoughtlessly and needlessly attacks my family and provokes others to do so as well. Whatever his motives, he attacks people who have volunteered massive amounts of time and effort to properly fulfill a thankless (and thoroughly scrutinized) job to the benefit of the entire lake.

Cameron

Correction - Paying for Canada Day

It is nice to see so many of my Forest Lake friends alive and well and contributing to this blog on the Forest Lake On-Line website.

Cameron, I need to correct you on one point. It is true that the budget of $400 for last year’s Canada Day event was surpassed. Anyone who does groceries will know that $400 does not go very far these days.

However, there was never a misunderstanding on my part. I knew exactly how much money was budgeted and what I wanted to do (based on some great ideas and input from other members). Not sure where you got that idea.

I hired Gary Davis for the live music and paid for that out of my own pocket. Tom Finn offered to buy the fireworks and he was reimbursed by me. At the end of the day, with these two expenses and other incidentals, I was out of pocket. I was never concerned because I knew that some members had offered to chip in and help cover the extra costs.

In the end, some members did make a voluntary contribution directly to me and the FLA helped by out by transferring the un-used portion of the corn roast budget ($76.42 left over from the $400) to me in the form of a cheque.

Today, I am still out of pocket but still not concerned – call it part of my voluntary contribution.

Our events are successful because some members donate food, some members donate time and some members donate cash. I have always enjoyed helping at our events. For the record, the financial aspect has nothing to do with why I chose not to cover the event this year.

See you at the lake.

Marc

Did not mean to drag you into anything...

Hi Marc,

I apologize if I seemed to imply in any way that you based your decision due to monetary reasons: I thought I was implicit in mentioning that you had personal reasons for not being able to organize Canada Day this year. I was merely trying to correct what I perceived as a dangerous rumour that was starting to spread before it grew into what people would think is a truth.

You have done a fantastic job these past few years and I deeply appreciate your efforts. I’m sorry if my analysis of the money spent last year was inaccurate: I brought it up ONLY because I believed that it may have been the reason people believed that Canada Day was paid for out of the pockets of the volounteers, without any support of the Board.

Canada Day, Kids Day, and Labour Day are all very important aspects of “The Forest Lake Experience”. They help create fond memories as well as bring the community together. I can understand the desire to want to make the events bigger and better, but unfortunately we must keep them on pretty tight budgets. Looking back on my childhood, we had all the hot-dogs we could eat (They were the cheapest thing to buy, and they were boiled…) and all the soda we could drink (Usually brands like Castle or Cott – the cheapest that could be had). I understand that $400 may not seem to go far, but with careful planning, it could feed a small army.

Wood was collected from early spring for a bonfire, and any fireworks were donated by whoever brought them.

Thing is, we can’t afford much more for these events without donations or raising assessments, which requires the approval of the entire association and not just the board. Not everyone can afford or desire higher assessments.

All this means, though, that any entertainment or activities above and beyond having a modest feast, we have to provide for ourselves. And in the end, the memories we all cherish come from the community coming together and making the best of the small things, not the caliber of fireworks or entertainment.

Cameron