Riverkeeper Annual General Meeting: Recap

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Ottawa Riverkeeper held an Annual General Meeting on June 22, 2010. We are happy to report that the evening went well and brought about a few important changes for the organization.

ORK’s board of directors saw some changes to its structure, replacing the position of President with that of Chair. The board then appointed long-time board member Geoff Green to fill the newly created position. Green is an inspiring arctic explorer, environmental educator and the Founder and Executive Director of Students on Ice. We are also happy to announce the appointment of former Riverkeeper Lara van Loon to the board of directors. Lara has recently returned to Ottawa after a stint in New Brunswick, and we are lucky to have her back on board! Lara replaces one of our longest standing board members, Ole Hendrickson, who is stepping down after years of dedicated service. Old has contributed a great deal to the organization and we wish him the best of luck in the future.

Mary Halliwell-Cyr, 2010 Daniel Brunton Volunteer of the Year

Towards the end of the evening, we were pleased to award Mary Halliwell-Cyr the 2010 Daniel Brunton Volunteer of the Year award! Mary has already contributed over 150 hours of time with us this year alone. Mary’s weekly office visits spent archiving, maintaining and organizing legally important documents, and preserving our institutional memory are invaluable to the organization. Her work will help ensure that future generations can look back on the challenges and triumphs of Ottawa Riverkeeper. On top of all this she has managed to help out with event preparation, and kept us on top of our game. All this work means that we can focus on the essential projects that promote the health of the Ottawa River and its tributaries.

The evening ended with the Riverkeeper’s report on “the good, the bad, and the ugly” developments up and down the Ottawa River watershed this year, highlighting some of the successes and challenges chronicled in this newsletter over the past 12 months.

All in all it was a fun and exciting evening that left everyone with a sense of direction and renewed energy to go out and defend our river for the year to come!