First of all, it was absolutely wonderful (and exciting) to see everyone at the Annual General Meeting. Attendance was great and Fort Gibraltar was a wonderful location to hold our annual event. The staff did an amazing job and the food was superb. Connie Dame and her staff did an outstanding job in organizing

the AGM and thanks to them and everyone who helped out to make this a great start to a post-pandemic world. There was a lot of interesting conversations with many ideas expressed that will be discussed with the board.

Our board meeting was held on October 13 where a new executive and committee chairs were elected. The new executive is listed elsewhere in this newsletter and for another term I am once again President. We have three new board members: Alex Abraham, Patricia Salam and Seth Henoch. Glad to have you aboard and I know they will give us contributions and new ideas.

After the success of the in person AGM, we plan on holding most if not all of our events in person. Our first in person Lunch n Learn will be held Thursday November 17, 2022 at Smitty’s on Kenaston. I will be there and anticipate a good turnout. I look forward to our first in person Lunch n Learn in a long time and of course seeing everyone in attendance. It’s a new location for us and let’s strive to make all our events successful with great turnouts. Aside from the presentations it’s a good way to meet other condo owners, directors and chat about whatever comes up.

With fall upon us and winter around the corner, I’m sure we all have some planning to do for the coming months. I, along with a few of the directors will be attending the National Leaders’ Forum in Kingston, Ontario from November 23-25. The theme is “Celebrating the Past and Inspiring the Future”. It’s a great opportunity to meet with the other Chapters across the country and exchange ideas. I’m looking forward to it.

We have a lot of work to do and the directors will be busy planning, organizing and taking on new roles. There are a lot of issues to tackle and we will take them head on and continue to improve the Manitoba Chapter of CCI. Membership and finances are always key issues and we are developing plans to increase our membership especially outside Winnipeg. We welcome your suggestions, so let us know what you would like to see or have us do.

So after winterizing my yard and my condo (how much stuff do we hoard?), I’m in planning mode for a winter vacation.

After not having one for the past two years, I’m eager to get away somewhere warm and just relax for a while. Right now, Puerto Vallarta is the leading contender as I have been there a number of times and enjoy it immensely. I cannot wait! I will fill you in on how it went when I get back.

I am sure a lot of you are planning winter vacations especially since the restrictions are lifted and it’s a little easier to travel now. Some of our board members are planning a winter get away and I am always interested in hearing about their travels, and yours as well. Feel free to email me about your successes during the winter and tell me what you did over the winter months. I am always willing to read about other people’s successes.

Winter is not my favorite time of the year (except for getting away to a warm climate). The dull and dreary weather gets me down and I have to find some interesting things to do to liven up my spirits.

Winter is the time I try to do more indoor activities. I have a model train layout (N scale) that is fairly large and I spend a fair bit of my cold weather time tinkering and adding new things. It’s a never ending project but keeps me busy. Does anyone else dabble in model trains? I would love to hear about it.

As well, this year I plan on redoing my bathrooms. I have a second floor bathroom and a half bath on the main floor of my condo. The upstairs bathroom is on the small side and I would like a larger one as I do spend a lot of time there (as well as the kitchen). I have four bedrooms with one being rather small and I would like to expand the bathroom into that room. It will be fairly expensive but it’s something that I really want to do. I will be planning over the next while and hopefully come up with a start date soon.

I am looking forward to more personal contact in the coming year. I plan on attending all the in person Lunch n Learns and whatever else may come up throughout the year. I hope to see and speak with as many of you as I can at our events. If I don’t speak to you right away, seek me out and let me know what’s on your mind, condo related or otherwise.

I hope you enjoy the Manitoba fall weather and the upcoming holiday season and I will see you at the Lunch n Learns.

Until then, stay safe.

JOHN POPOWICH, President CCI Manitoba Chapter