For more information please check out our website at www.glenboro.com.

The Executive of the Glenboro Community Development Corporation met in the R.M. of South Cypress on December 16th, 2002 at 7:00 p.m. Present were Ernestine Sepke, Joan Neale, Cliff Cullen, Bob Jewsbury, Les Anderson, Ed Vertz and Sharon Hamilton.

A motion was made by Earl, seconded by Ernestine that the minutes be adopted as printed. Carried.

Cliff thanked Ed and Les for working on the float and Sharon for being Sara the Camel for the Santa Claus parade.

Treasurer’s report: Joan reported that the Chequing Account has a balance of $6542.91. The Savings Account has a balance of $3394.10 with two terms of $1,101.24 each. A motion was made by Joan and seconded by Les that the report be adopted as read. Carried.

Correspondence: A letter was received from the new Regional Development Corporation seeking nominations for 3 board members from each zone.

Committee Reports:

Properties Committee: Moray Jamieson

Hall: We hope to have the tables and partitions ready for the annual meeting. The Department of National Defense is renting the hall from Feb 10-21/03, when approximately 150 members will use it as headquarters. This is part of a training session that they are conducting in this area. They are also looking for vacant farms to use. If you would like to donate the use of your vacant farm please call Cliff.

Theatre: No Report

Agricultural Committee: Ed Vertz

Concerns have been raised in regards to our Farmers Market. We want to keep it alive. A motion was made by Ernestine and seconded by Earl that we pursue a manager for the Farmers Market to keep it alive. Carried.

Tourism Committee: Tanya Drinkwater

No Report

Economic Development Officer: Darren Myers

An important item to pass on to the members of our farm community.

The Experienced Worker Pilot Project: Designed to assist experienced rural agricultural workers and/or their spouses make the transition into the current labor market or explore other work options on the farm. The goal of the project is to ensure that the participants remain either on the farm or gain employment in their local area. Project criteria includes the following:

- 55 to 64 years of age (50 to 54 in special circumstances)

- farmers no longer farming/having to rent their land/having to sell their operation

- farmers who would like to upgrade their skills

- farmers seeking off-farm employment opportunities to supplement insufficient farm income

- farm workers unable to find employment due to low farm incomes and/or farm downsizing

- recently laid off from an agricultural related business

- farm workers who are spouses of affected agricultural workers

- not eligible for Employment Insurance

- under-employed

- reside in the Parkland or Westman region

The project benefits for experienced workers include career counseling and skill identification, identifying sustainable employment opportunities, education and training referrals, advocacy, prior learning assessments to assist experienced workers in identifying transferable skills, business planning, exploring entrepreneurial opportunities and farm business management. Potential outcomes include farm diversification, retraining, identifying transferable skills for employment opportunities or an employment change. Financial assistance may be available to those who qualify for education and training, business planning and the like. This is a pilot project being coordinated by the Parkland community Futures Development Corporation. They are accepting a limited number of participants from the Parkland and Westman regions between November 2002 and March 2003. For more information give me a call at 827-2575 or call Terry Arksey, Project Coordinator at 648-7280.

I recently updated the Glenboro Community profile. This is a task that I perform every few months in order to keep the document as current as possible. The profile is a valuable source of information that is used in a variety of ways. Recent additions to the profile include information on business opportunities and major area employers. It can be found in its’ entirety on the Glenboro website at: www.glenboro.com

The Glenboro website is continuously being updated and "tweaked". Many thanks to Don and Linda Rankmore for the tremendous amount of time and effort put into the site. A reminder to all businesses that advertising space is available on the site for a small fee. Contact Linda or myself should you require further information.

I have forwarded a copy of the 2003 Glenboro and Area community events list to Travel Manitoba. They are soliciting information on local activities for May to October of 2003 for inclusion in their publication. A clip ‘n’ save block ad will also be placed in the Glenboro paper in January to further promote these events.

The 2002 Christmas Lighting Contest was held on Sunday, December 15th. The winners were Loren and Jan Nelson. Second went to Bruce and Mary Ann Craig and third went to Grace Olsen. Kudos to the Glenboro community for the fantastic job done of decorating homes this season. Doing so adds to the beauty of the Village and makes Glenboro an attractive place to visit. Well done one and all!

The Manitoba Recreation Trails Association is sponsoring a calendar photo contest. They are in search of images depicting the Trans Canada Trail in Manitoba. The MRTA is soliciting images from all sections of the trail, in all seasons, with an emphasis on geographic diversity. The selected entries will be reproduced in a high quality calendar for 2004. Prizes will be awarded. The deadline for submissions is August 30th, 2003. For more information give me a call.

On November 28th, 2002 I attended a meeting with members of the Glenboro Area Foundation regarding the Glenboro Farmer’s Market. A manager is urgently needed or the market may cease to operate. Potential options were discussed and since that time some interest has been expressed.

I have applied for funding to the Glenboro Area Foundation on behalf of the GCDC’s Properties Committee. The Foundation is accepting applications from community organizations until December 31st. A motion was made by Joan and seconded by Ernestine that we make application for a grant of $1500.00 to the Glenboro and Area Foundation to help cover the cost of the tables for the hall. The motion was carried.

Museum Committee: Ernestine Sepke

No Report

Old Business: Discussion was held on the closing of the elevator. The annual meeting plans are coming together. Mark your calendar for an evening of "Putting on the Ritz" on January 29th, 2003.

New Business: We will be needing new executive members for 2003. The positions of Chairperson and Vice Chairperson will be vacant. Committee members are also needed. If you are interested please contact Cliff Cullen.

The date of the next meeting is Monday, February 18th, 2003 at 7:30pm.

A motion was made by Les, seconded by Earl that we adjourn. Carried.