A Brief History of Friends of Birds Hill parkThe first meeting of the organizational committee and interested individuals that would eventually become the Friends of Birds Hill Park was held on April 13, 2000. There were 53 people at that meeting. A second meeting of the committee was held on the 27th of April 2000. Presentations were made by various individuals at that time including Conservation Manitoba, Parks Branch, John Paulson of the Friends of Spruce Woods, and Al Meyers of the Conservation Department.There were many people at the meeting that felt this should become a lobbying venue for them to air their beefs and in fact left the meeting when they found out it would not be. Others remained until after the next several meetings hoping to see it become a lobby group. When the Co-operating Agreement was signed with Conservation Manitoba, one went so far as to accuse me of “selling my soul to the devil for a few bucks”, after which he left the meeting. The original Board of Directors was elected at the meeting of the 27th of April, 2000 and are listed following:
Art Knight – Chair During the next twelve months all efforts were directed at the legalities of the formation of the organization. This included the incorporation of the Friends of Birds Hill Park organization, the registration of the Name with the Corporations Department of the Manitoba Government, and finally the obtaining of a charities tax number so that any donations made to the organization would be tax deductible. In addition, a “static website was put up with the first year hosting donated by MTS. The Name “Friends of Birds Hill Park” was registered with C.I.R.A. This was all completed and ratified at the Annual General Meeting held in April of 2001. The Friends has held numerous Annual Clean-ups of the Park, several Pig B-B-Q’s and one Craft Sale as fund raisers, and has donated many benches throughout the Park for the use of all people to rest on during their travels throughout the Park. Members assisted by painting the recycle bins at the beach, the stables, and the Campground store areas. The Organization has also hard-topped 3 campsites to make them wheel chair friendly and improve accessibility for a broader public. In addition, the Friends have assisted in the procurement of numerous large ticket items for the use of the Park Staff ranging from 2 way radios, golf carts, computer equipment and photography equipment. Birds Hill Park is a very large area that has facilities ranging from natural, (hiking trails), to man-made, such as the Campground and swimming areas. There are hundreds of thousands of users every year who enjoy the Park, but unfortunately they come and go, and appear to be of the opinion, “someone else will do it”. Recognition and thanks should be extended to all the members of the Friends of Birds Hill Park, both past and present, and to those members of Manitoba Conservation who have assisted the Organization, starting with Todd Zamrykut who was the first NRO to represent Conservation Manitoba on the Committee , and to Mark Clark who assisted with many of the Government contacts needed to get the organization up and running. Prepared by: A.H. (Art ) Knight – Past President, F.o.B.H.P. 26 February, 2009 |