Men's Sheds

SHEDDERS in CANADA will be checking in!! This year SHEDFEST will be available online July 7 - 9   Hot off the Press Men's Sheds Across the World   Sharing Stories of Men's Sheds and the Impact They are Having https://paper.li/RecretionCanada/1431485509#/  

What happens when a local man with a great shed and no one to share it with meets a global movement meant to encourage socialization in sheds? The result is the Arnprior McNab/Braeside Men’s Shed, opening Feb. 5. Jean-Guy and Judi Asselin with Darrel O'Shaughnessy, right, are looking forward to the Feb. 5 opening of the Arnprior McNab/Braeside Men's Shed. - Nahanni McIntosh photo The Men’s Shed, a program of the Senior’s Active Living Centre (SALC), will be a place for local senior men to “get together and do guy things.” It sounds simple enough, but in reality the Men’s Shed is so much more than that. The Men’s Shed movement was formally established in Australia in the early 2000s in response to a long-standing need for men to have somewhere to socialize and feel comfortable to discuss their feelings and well-being. Today, there are over 900 sheds in Australia alone and the movement has expanded globally. The first Ca...

For many years while the late Krishan Joshee was the Chairman of the Wild Rose Foundation (a lottery Foundation long before the creation of the Wild Rose political party) he would take his Board to meet with community members on their turf. The Board would travel to communities and meet with volunteer groups; listening to their success stories and challenges they were facing. The Staff of the Wild Rose Foundation then tried to respond through tweaking grant programs or incorporating sessions into the Vitalize conference. The take-away was that everyone ne eds to get out of the office and meet "the folks" on their turf, listen to their successes and the issues they face. What I've noticed over the last 15-20 years is that governments have cut travel budgets for front line staff and there is very little listening going on. Lots of talking to "ourselves". This applies to Non Profit organizations as well. "Engaging Community" means the do...

  BRENT CUTHBERTSON'S EULOGY - October 30, 2014 by Connie Russell A number of people requested a copy of the eulogy I gave at Brent's service today, so I have attached it below. For those of you not able to attend, you should know that the room was jam-packed with family, friends, students, and colleagues. It was in a large hotel ballroom and still was standing room only - staff estimated there was at least 350 people there. The service was filled with tears, laughter, music, poetry, and stories. It was a wonderful celebration of Brent's life.  # It is wonderful to see so many of you here today to celebrate the life of Dr. Brent Cuthbertson. I am not remotely surprised to see such a large crowd, because I know that Brent touched and inspired many in his too short life. Thank you all for coming. If anyone had suggested two weeks ago that I would be here today giving Brent’s eulogy, I would have scoffed. How absurd! Brent was so healthy, so full of life, such...

On Friday April the 12th the Saskatchewan Library Association, in a deeply personal ceremony, presented Maureen Woods with the Frances Morrison Award of merit for outstanding service to libraries. Maureen was surrounded by her family and c losest friends. The Award reflects a body of work focused in Western Canada but impacted an entire country. Twenty-four hours later we lost a valued colleague, a woman dedicated to library development, and a true Library Champion! Maureen Woods died April 13, 2013  A life spent breaking new ground and doing things in her own way. She challenged governments and challenged all of us to stand up for libraries. She took the woman out of Saskatchewan but never Saskatchewan out of the woman. One of her many legacies for us will be how she lived by the principles of community development. Her words "Listen to the Folks" will stay with us forever. Our prayers and love are with her as she is called to a new development...

Had an interesting chat this morning that brought back a flood of memories from my youth. My chiropractor, still an active old timers hockey player, was talking about getting back on the ice this season and using his new stick. When I jokingly asked if he had to cash in his RSSPs to buy the stick he said he got a deal, only $300. My mind went into flash back mode and there I was back in Winnipeg 60 years ago looking up at the rack of hockey sticks in Gooch's bicycle shop (Skates and sticks in winter months). I was a kid of ten with a paper route and money to spend on a new stick.......but it was a big decision did i go for the $1.75 stick or the $1.95 one. Wow 60 years later and I could have been looking at a $300 stick. Back to today and the chiropractor talked about buying $7.00 sticks at Canadian Tire in Regina. According to him the secret of the $7.00 stick was soaking it in the bathtub or they would break first time out. After this conversation I thought about how ...

As Albertans we have our personal list of wants; the challenge is that in the end we have to pay for everything. How do we balance things..........??? We want world class Health Care with no waiting and 24/7/365 access anywhere anytime. We want the freedom to eat and drink whatever we want We want the freedom to do as little exercise as possible We want access to appropriate health related drugs at affordable prices We want a world class k-12 education system with well designed, well maintained schools in our neighbourhoods We expect our teachers to be paid appropriately We want access to affordable world class post secondary education for our young people We want safe communities We want our kids to have access to safe, well maintained natural play spaces We want a dependable, realistic Judicial system We want a safe, well maintained highway system We want clean water and clean air We want an effective, efficient transparent government We want our vulnerable citizens to...

In the early 2000's, unknown to most library folks in Alberta, secret meetings were being held. None of the participants was sworn to secrecy but everyone knew that what was happening was not an approved way of operating for a public servant. I was the "Library Guy" (Stan Woloshyn)  Alberta Public Library Service (1996-2009) A former President of the Alberta Library Trustees Association called to ask me if I was interested in having tea with a small group that was interested in public libraries. I was very interested because during this President's term with the Trustees Association we had had a super working relationship, accomplishing a great deal and building a very good working relationship with Trustees across the Province. I was quite intrigued by the request and any help we could get with supporting libraries would be welcome. After agreeing to meet I was given the date, time and told the gathering would be in a restaurant in St. Albert. On the appo...

Today's blog is one written by a young professional in the Recreation Sector and expresses some of her very personal feelings & insights and some learnings. If you have reactions or thoughts you would like to share please use the Comment section.  Lisa Tink is a courageous young professional from Alberta who blends diverse experience in research, policy and practice with a take no prisoners’ attitude.  Having worked in the provincial government, not-for-profit sector and with post-secondary institutions she is highly skilled and knowledgeable about all things recreation.  Lisa is passionate about bringing theory and policy to life and recognizes the value and role of relationships in doing so. "As a 31 year old, I regularly seek career advice. After only 11 years in the sector it is a way for me to learn from those who have done more, seen more, and know more. It is also a way for me to connect with individuals who share a passion for recreati...