President's Message - 2008

It's hard to believe that a year has passed since I became president. Being fairly new to the Society and the Board, I went into this year with no real sense of what to expect. I am ending the year with a deep appreciation of the amazing membership that we have and of what we accomplish.

The general meetings are at the heart of the OHS for all members. We have had a very strong program this year with excellent speakers, and I'd like to thank Lise Chislett for all of her hard work in planning the program and in making sure it ran smoothly. I don't think many members appreciate the behind-the-scenes work that happens to make sure speakers not only show up but have all the set-up they need for their talk. I'd also like to thank Nancy Conroy for all her hard work in promoting our events. The incredible turn-out we had for Ken Parker on a snowy evening in October is a tribute to her efforts.

The newsletter and yearbook are also one of the great benefits of membership, and the quality of the OHS publications was recognized this year at the OHA convention. Angela Snowdon won first place for the yearbook cover, Jean Stalker and the yearbook team won first place for the 2008 yearbook, and Margaret Scratch, Sheila Burvill and the newsletter team won first place for the newsletter. We also won a third place for the brochure produced by Kelly Noel.

One of the things that I find important about the OHS is that we are also outward looking and play a role in the community as a whole. It was wonderful to see this work acknowledged this year. In May, the Community Planting Committee and volunteers received a Civic Appreciation Award from the City of Ottawa for their work on both the Plant Recreation Centre and on the Hospice at Maycourt. Jennifer Mix works tirelessly in organizing these projects, and her personal leadership was recognized when she received a Distinguished Civic Award in the Environmental category for her role in the Plant Recreation Centre project.

Congratulations to everyone who won awards this year!

Although Board activities take up most of the time I have available for OHS work, in June I was able to be part of the community planting project in Centretown that is part of Daybreak Non-Profit Housing. What a wonderful experience to see a property so transformed over the course of three weekends. And thanks to Jennifer's enthusiastic ordering of cedar mulch, we were able to freshen up the gardens at the Plant Recreation Centre as well.

The OHS is so successful thanks to the hard work of many volunteers. I would like to thank everyone who in the past year has contributed to the success of the OHS. You have made my job very easy.

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