Venturers in Nature

THE VENTURERS SOCIETY OF CALGARY AND THE FRIENDS OF FISH CREEK PROVINCIAL PARK SOCIETY
By Mike Depper, Program Coordinator/Team Leader, Venturers Society of Calgary
Have you seen a group of guys working on the Memorial Benches during your travels in the Park?  That would be the Venturers Society, who are contracted by the Friends to install and maintain the Memorial Benches throughout the Park and at Big Hill Springs Provincial Park.

The Venturers Society of Calgary was established in 1986 and began operations in the Bragg Creek area of Kananaskis Country.  In 2000 the Venturers launched a program at Fish Creek Provincial Park.  Following that, in 2002 funding was secured to construct a base operations building, including a lunch room, located at the East Shop Maintenance Yard.

Venturers works with Persons with Developmental Disabilities to fulfill our mission of “…ensuring the Physical, Emotional, Intellectual and Spiritual development of the participants through meaningful participation in communities, by enabling our participants to experience the wonders of our natural areas, and by recognizing their many contributions.”  Overall, there are now eight teams in existence, two at Fish Creek, two based out of the Elbow Falls area, two at Burby’s Fire Hall at Bragg Creek and two at Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park.  Each team is lead by a Team Leader with five participants.  Currently, all the participants are males, ranging in age from twenty to sixty-three years old.

The Memorial Bench Program with the Friends is a major project for us.  Each year, in the spring and fall, we do bench maintenance – starting with a through cleaning, including graffiti removal, touching up the stain finish as required, litter picking in the area (man there are a lot of cigarette butts out there), removal of grass and weeds from the shale pad, and finally, raking and smoothing of the shale pad.  There are approximately eighty-five benches in the park, so this requires a substantial time commitment.  In addition, a few new benches are installed each year.  Although the limit for the number of benches in the park has reached it’s peak, some of the first benches installed in 1999 are now coming up for renewal, freeing up sites as some donors do not wish to continue their contract past the initial ten year agreement.

The Venturers also assist the Friends with several other projects such as Tree Wrapping for Beaver Control, collecting recycling from their office, and lending a hand for lots of numerous “if you guys have time” requests.

Our association with the Friends is only one component of our program in the Park.  Through a cooperative agreement with Fish Creek Provincial Park, the Venturers are involved in snow clearing at selected sites, wood cutting and splitting, recycling of bottles, cans, metal, tires, and bicycles, removal of tree forts and unauthorized camp sites, trail care, sign installation and a host of other tasks.  We work closely with Rudy Szymanek and Rob Hummel from Parks Maintenance and generously thank them for their assistance over the years.  Jim Stomp, the Site Manager, is also very supportive, and it is great to be able to have a permanent home and assist the park with their needs.

The next time you see our group out in the park, stop and say hello.  Nothing makes the gang feel better than chatting with people and hearing that the work they are doing is worthwhile.

By JB

Wood ants live in a group called a colony.  They have one Queen that lays one hundred thousand eggs.

Some ant colonies have more then one queen, like carpenter ants.  Ants that live in the woods can be found in Fish Creek Provincial Park.  Sometimes with wood ants you can find them under the pine trees and among dead trees.  They help decompose the wood into the ground and they help by putting air into the ground.

They are good insects to watch and learn from.  There are different ants in Alberta to study about.  There are even ants in the Arctic and in South America.

Army ants DO NOT have tunnels like other ants.  There are one trillion different ants and you can find them in K-country, along the Highway, in the Foothills, by the rivers & lakes.  They eat anything bugs off trees.

Welcome to the premier edition of The Venturers Society Newsletter, sure to be a collectors item -Just like the “Great One’s” Rookie Card !

As this is our first newsletter we would like to introduce ourselves to you, and you will get a chance to learn about our programs, participants and staff over the next several newsletters.

Who We Are

Venturers began with a modest program involving 6 full-time participants back in 1986, offered by Bill Nike. Since then it has grown to accomodate 8 teams involing up to 40 participants, serving the Calgary and Bragg Creek communities as well as Kananaskis Country; since 2004 we have had 2 teams from Medicine Hat that operate primary within Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park.

While our organization has expanded over the past 23 years, we remain true to our mission which is; “To ensure the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual development of our participants, through meaningful participation in the communities, by enabling our participants to experience the wonders of natural areas and by recognizing their many contributions.”

What We Do

We are devoted to the well being of persons with developmental disabilities. Our participants undertake a variety of activities to develop their leadership and team work skills. All of the following activities contribute  to the communities we serve. We can be found maintaining the Memorial Benches in Fish Creek Provincial Park, inspecting and repairing trails in Kananaskis Country, and assisting acreage owners on their properties. We work with the Parks Department and Forest Service in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park by  removing hazardous trees, removing garbage from recreation areas and producing fireworks.  Our Horticulture Program has “grown” in the past 15 months to provide further opportunities. If spring is any indication , we are expecting a very busy summer!

Our Partnerships

Our core budget is dependent upon provincial government financial support provided through Persons with Developmental Disabilities- Calgary Region & the South Alberta Community Board. We have also benefited from grants including support by the Communities Facilities Enhancement Program, Communities Initiative Program, Wild Rose Foundation and the Nickle Family Foundation. We hope to pursue a variety of future partnerships.

Home bases are provided by Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Fish Creek Provincial Park, Camp Horizon, Elbow Valley/K Country and the Burby Fire Station. We could not exist without these partnerships and home bases.

From the Chair

Our Society has undergone some major changes in the past 2 years in particular. We have celebrated the retirement of Bill Nike after more than 20 years of service and welcomed the appointment of Ed Quiring as our new Executive Director. We wish both the best in their new endeavours. Venturers also saw the retirement of two founding Board Members. Len Wilton retired from the Government of Alberta and long-time Bragg Creek Pharmacist, Don Gebauer retired from the board in 2008, after serving for many years as Treasurer. Their support, enthusiasm and wise council helped Venturers to survive and flourish and we thank them both. Richard Laing

From the Executive Director

In his note from the Chair, Richard talked about some of the changes we have had in the last 2 years. To that I would have to add that we also saw a number of changes among our staff and participants. We know about the importance of community and relationships in our approach to working with our participants and this has been amply demonstrated. Losing the relationships, knowledge and experiences gained over many years has presented challenges.  However, the overriding lesson I have learned from this, is the fact that others can and will step forward. New participants, staff and board members have joined us in our venture, and all together we have continued with our many activities. As a Group Leader I knew that many people were responsible for our success, but in my role as Executive Director I have gained a much greater appreciation for how much is done by so many of you to make The Venturers such a special organization. Some are able to give much, and others may only have limited time and resources, but it all counts. Thanks for what you have done, and lets continue to have fun and pull together. Ed Quiring