President's address (January 2017)

Dear Friends of Gatineau Park,
It is an honour and a privilege to serve as your new President. I want to thank the Board for their support and encouragement. I would also like to thank, outgoing President Graeme Roderick, for his many years of service and dedication. He leaves big shoes to fill. I am looking forward to working with Graeme in his new capacity as Vice-President.

A little about myself. I am born and bread in Ottawa valley from a bilingual family. I am a runner and cross country skier. I spend a lot of time in the Park including as an NCC volunteer patroller in the Autumn and Winter. I have been your Treasurer since November 2013. I joined the Friends of Gatineau Park after going on the Animals Tracks program, which was a great first experience to our outreach and education activities.

The Friends of Gatineau Park as an organization is at a very exciting time in our development. We have a new Board, made up of very enthusiastic and committed volunteers. We have had the benefit of many previous successful Boards, which have given us a sound foundation on which to build.

I would like to introduce you to your new Board:
Diane Schreiner is our new Treasurer. She comes to the position after serving a year on the Board, her passions are citizen science and park interpretation.
Chris Paci is now in his third year as Secretary. He is a keen cyclist, Nordic skier, runner, and ecologist.
Marie-Claire LeMay, former VP, has taken leadership roles in the Friends including coordinator and interpreter.
Anouchka Soto, is the Board liaison for the Programming committee and is active on the Finance Committee.
Francis Beauchamp, Chair of Communications Committee, is a father and park enthusiast and is leading the redesigned website and work to rebrand and refresh our logo.
Nat Peters has been on the Board since 2015, she was past Chair of Communications.
We welcome two new Board members this year, Gabriel Guillet and Sandra Moore who we look forward to working with.
NCC liaison to the Board is Francois Leduc. Francois replaced Louis-Rene Sénéchal last year. Francois brings a wealth of experience with the NCC and Gatineau Park. His guidance and support is invaluable part of the work of our work.
While not a board member, the work of the Friends would not be possible without the dedication, energy and professionalism of Marie-Michèle Dallaire, Marie-Michèle has been an interpreter, past Board member, and is key coordinator.
The work of the Friends is also made possible because of the service of Gershon Rother, who has been the Chair of Program Committee for a number of years. His work on education and outreach with the committee ensures new and improved programs every season. Lastly, Mario Simard, Volunteer Coordinator, past Board member, ensures our programs have sufficient volunteers to support them.
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I look forward to the year ahead. We want to hear from you! We invite you to give us your feedback, and let us know what you would like to see from your Board. How would you like to be engaged and involved as a member of the Friends?

Yours truly,
Sarah Crowe, President Friends of Gatineau Park

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