One Breakfast with Santa, an Alpine Torrent Mitigation Symposium and multiple meetings later...

Apparently Santa and I are close personal friends...we be checking that Naughty & Nice List...#justsayin' 

I was a volunteer helper at the Rotary Festival of Trees at the Canmore Civic Centre on Sunday, December 7th. Such fun! 
Very festive and jolly.

 Monday, it was back to Town business - after I finished three hours at my full-time job. 

(I have borrowed a lot of text from the original email, to save time.)  
The invitation to an Alpine Torrent Symposium came from the "Mitigation and Resilience Secretariat - Flood Recovery Task Force" of the Government of Alberta .  

As we all know too well, the June storm caused extensive damage to communities, homes, highways, and provincial parks. Much of the damage in the affected areas of the Rockies was caused by debris laden torrents. This one day symposium described the challenges associated with managing torrents in alpine communities, including hazard and risk assessment, and strategies for active and passive mitigation.

It is very pretty in Canmore...

Courtesy: Cartoon Ink, Patrick Lamontagne

...which is one of the reasons we choose to live here. On days like today, one might be excused for thinking: "There are warmer pretty places to be." Stay warm. A good way to do that is to visit Canmore Rotary's Festival of Trees at the Civic Centre. See you there! Budget will be later.

And away we go...

...just a little later than I had hoped. Time has flown since Monday, October 21st, 2013 - election night -  when I won a seat on Canmore Town Council. That same week, on Thursday and Friday: Council Orientation all day, both days. 
After the Friday orientation session, Judge John Reilly swore us in as Mayor and Council. This was a solemn moment for me, and, as a friend and colleague (also newly elected to a municipal council) said: "It is getting really real." His worship John Borrowman brought me back to earth with the wry observation: "Yeah well, first you get sworn in, then you get sworn at."

Monday, end of week 1 in office, came the annual organizational meeting. You can watch it here...but not the most riveting viewing. Part of that was receiving our Committee and Board assignments. I sit on the Budget Committee (but so does all of Council), CAO Performance Review Committee, Public Art Committee (CPAC), Environmental Advisory Review Committee (EARC), Program Audit Committee, Subdivision Authority, and Bow Valley Regional Housing Authority. Whew. 

A break from meetings followed, so I regrouped and got in touch with what really matters - in no particular order: friends, family and grandson Jack. In no particular order...:-)

That seems a good place to finish this post...Up next: Budget.