While Canada Day was a resounding success in Renews another controversy occurred with Basil and Elaine Reddy and Bill Birmingham right at the centre of it. This time the victims are the children of the community. At a meeting to plan Canada Day activities, the mayor said she wanted a dunk tank to raise money for the recreation association. It was suggested that a Ferryland organization had one and Charlie Dunne might be able to provide information on it, but Elaine Reddy said that the Capt. Wm Jackman Social Club would provide the new one they had. All ten people at the meeting heard the exchange and it was recorded in the minutes of the meeting. An email from the club to the mayor the following day confirmed the dunk tank was available but that the club would not operate it.
On Canada Day however the club did operate the tank and then kept all the money raised for their own club. They accepted, without comment, the thank you from the mayor over the public address system for the donation of the tank to the recreation association. They allowed the mayor to recruit young kids to be “victims” in the dunk tank letting them believe the money raised was for their recreation equipment. The mayor herself took a couple of dunkings for what she believed was the kids’ project and hundreds of kids lined up with their loonies to have fun and raise money for playground equipment. Bill Birmingham and Basil Reddy happily took the kids dollars and at the end of the day Elaine and Basil Reddy, and Bill Birmingham left taking the money with them. The following day, Friday, they ignored e-mails from council concerning the money and on Saturday night announced to the Seniors’ club that they had raised $322.00 most of it from the dunk tank for the benefit of the Capt. Wm. Jackman Club.
This is appalling behavior in our small community, when our seniors club refuses to meet commitments to other organizations, raises funds under false pretences and sets seniors in the community against our youth. They have seriously hurt our community by creating a negative image of seniors in the minds of our young people and establishing the seniors club as a group not to be trusted. Their actions bring shame on the Captain William Jackman Club, a wonderful organization that has been serving our community with decency and respect for over 30 years.
A couple of other noteworthy points: The recreation association was created as an arm of council to address recreation needs in the town and Elaine Reddy is a sitting member of council. So in addition to everything else she is a council member undermining council initiatives. She also agreed to video events of the day using “Harvesting Our History” equipment. The video was to be used to support an application for additional funds next year. The Jackman club did video part of the afternoon events; however, they did not show up to do the evening portion. Not videoed were: the crowds gathered on the ball field for the evening events, the fireworks display, the visit of our Member of Parliament and his message to the gathered crowd, the socializing around the community bonfire and the entertainment provided by talented local musicians and singers. Fifty percent of the day’s events went unrecorded thereby eliminating the opportunity to make a strong presentation for additional funds next year; yet another failure by Elaine Reddy to take seriously her role as an elected council member by promising then failing to deliver a service as promised.
Last Minute News:
Yesterday I emailed the Jackman Club vice-president Bill Birmingham giving him an opportunity to tell his side of the story. He replied refusing to answer any questions. Later last evening he showed up at the mayor’s house saying the Jackman Club wanted to make a donation to the recreation association but did not have an address to forward the cheque. He was told the association was an arm of council and the cheque could be sent to council – but surely Elaine, an elected councilor, knew that! While I am delighted that the recreation association will receive some of the money from the dunk tank operation, what appears to be a grand gesture by the Jackman club is really a feeble attempt at damage control before this story went to print. Thanks for the promised donation folks but at this moment the recreation association does not have the money and we now know what you are like about keeping your word.
Note It is now March 3rd 2011 and the money collected has NOT been passed over to the recreation committee or to Council on their behalf.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Canada Day A Resounding Success
Canada Day celebrations in Renews-Cappahayden were a resounding success.
The day began at 1p.m. with the raising of the Canadian flag by William P. Hynes the oldest living veteran on the Irish Loop and a member of “The First 200” volunteers for World War II. “Oh Canada” was sung with gusto.
The children of the community were treated to a fun filled afternoon of activities in the playground behind the community centre with lots of free goodies like a “Bouncing Castle,” face painting, Canada tattoos and flags. They also competed in fun races of all kinds with prizes awarded to the winners.
Hot Popcorn was available from Devin Dinn a young entrepreneur who has created a summer job for herself vending at party events. She has hot popcorn and is hoping to add cotton candy and “George Street” hotdogs before long. ( If you can use her services or are aware of an event she should attend call her at 363-7547).
The Girl Guides sold hotdogs and hamburgers and soft drinks. A dunk tank was in operation as well drawing lots of cheers and laughs when mayor Donna Dinn took a dunking for a worthy cause. There were lots of tired, happy, painted faces at the end of the day.
After supper a large crowd gathered at the ball field and were treated to a tremendous fireworks display with lots of “ooohs and awes” for every burst of color that lit the evening sky. Our MP Scott Andrews came to visit and to speak and mingle with the crowd. We appreciated his taking the time to drop by. The crowd gathered around a large bonfire and was treated to wonderful entertainment from some talented young people. I would especially like to acknowledge Maria Lynch, Jennifer Dunne, Josh Shannahan, Adam Tuff, and a special bunch of little sparks for sharing their wonderful talents with us.
The rain that held off all day finally poured about 11:30 p.m. driving everyone from the field ending a fun filled entertaining day for everyone. For me, the spirit of the day was captured in the painted smiling faces of the little “sparks” glowing in the light of the bonfire and thrilling us with the sounds of their tiny voices raised in happy songs. What a day!! For pictures of the day click here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=188820&id=562198212 Thank You Debby Gearin fot the great photos
A big, big, thank you to mayor Donna Dinn and town clerk Susan Perry who infected everyone with their enthusiasm and made the whole event possible. I know they would want me to thank everyone who volunteered and participated in making the day so memorable… So on their behalf “THANK YOU ALL!!”
The day began at 1p.m. with the raising of the Canadian flag by William P. Hynes the oldest living veteran on the Irish Loop and a member of “The First 200” volunteers for World War II. “Oh Canada” was sung with gusto.
The children of the community were treated to a fun filled afternoon of activities in the playground behind the community centre with lots of free goodies like a “Bouncing Castle,” face painting, Canada tattoos and flags. They also competed in fun races of all kinds with prizes awarded to the winners.
Hot Popcorn was available from Devin Dinn a young entrepreneur who has created a summer job for herself vending at party events. She has hot popcorn and is hoping to add cotton candy and “George Street” hotdogs before long. ( If you can use her services or are aware of an event she should attend call her at 363-7547).
The Girl Guides sold hotdogs and hamburgers and soft drinks. A dunk tank was in operation as well drawing lots of cheers and laughs when mayor Donna Dinn took a dunking for a worthy cause. There were lots of tired, happy, painted faces at the end of the day.
After supper a large crowd gathered at the ball field and were treated to a tremendous fireworks display with lots of “ooohs and awes” for every burst of color that lit the evening sky. Our MP Scott Andrews came to visit and to speak and mingle with the crowd. We appreciated his taking the time to drop by. The crowd gathered around a large bonfire and was treated to wonderful entertainment from some talented young people. I would especially like to acknowledge Maria Lynch, Jennifer Dunne, Josh Shannahan, Adam Tuff, and a special bunch of little sparks for sharing their wonderful talents with us.
The rain that held off all day finally poured about 11:30 p.m. driving everyone from the field ending a fun filled entertaining day for everyone. For me, the spirit of the day was captured in the painted smiling faces of the little “sparks” glowing in the light of the bonfire and thrilling us with the sounds of their tiny voices raised in happy songs. What a day!! For pictures of the day click here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=188820&id=562198212 Thank You Debby Gearin fot the great photos
A big, big, thank you to mayor Donna Dinn and town clerk Susan Perry who infected everyone with their enthusiasm and made the whole event possible. I know they would want me to thank everyone who volunteered and participated in making the day so memorable… So on their behalf “THANK YOU ALL!!”
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
I Get Mail!!
I’m being threatened by the Captain William Jackman Club executive again. This time the threat comes directly from the President and the Secretary/Treasurer. Here is an email I received from them yesterday in response to my recent article. Since they seem concerned that I might misrepresent what they say I am printing it here in its entirety along with my email response to them. Note: e.oakley@nf.sympatico.ca is the email address for Basil and Elaine Reddy.
From: e.oakley@nf.sympatico.ca
To: renews-news@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Latest News
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2010 21:09:07 -0230
Unfortunately this blog is a misrepresentation of the reason the meeting was called - too bad but it is a meeting of volunteers which support the Club and its endeavours for two specific events - not a furtherance of your personal vendetta against us! By the way, this email has been printed and recorded and any attempt on your part to edit this correspondence for your own purposes has been recorded for future reference - future reference you might ask?... wait and see...
My emailed response:
July 06, 10:20 pm.
The article did not misrepresent the reason the meeting was called. It clearly states you had another agenda for the meeting. It merely suggested that, since the meeting was being held in the "Harvesting our History" office, it would be a great opportunity to view what is happening with the project. Surely you're proud of the work you have done on the project to date and are anxious to show it off. I simply suggested that the meeting is a great opportunity to do that, and I look forward to that opportunity. I did not misrepresent anything - you obviously misread something.
As for the wait and see comment - everything I say is a matter of public record and anytime you want to debate any of these issues in any forum you'll find me willing and waiting. "Wait and see" is an implied threat, and I won't be threatened by you or anyone.
I do not have a personal vendetta against you but I do have a strong motivation to make sure the project achieves it objectives. You will have no issues with me as long as you do what you contracted to do, nor can you stop me from from writing about any issues as long as they are true. Keep watching for more articles of interest and feel free to comment.
There you have it folks. You are up to date on this story. Stay tuned on the weekend for an interesting article on a Dunk Tank issue.
From: e.oakley@nf.sympatico.ca
To: renews-news@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Latest News
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2010 21:09:07 -0230
Unfortunately this blog is a misrepresentation of the reason the meeting was called - too bad but it is a meeting of volunteers which support the Club and its endeavours for two specific events - not a furtherance of your personal vendetta against us! By the way, this email has been printed and recorded and any attempt on your part to edit this correspondence for your own purposes has been recorded for future reference - future reference you might ask?... wait and see...
My emailed response:
July 06, 10:20 pm.
The article did not misrepresent the reason the meeting was called. It clearly states you had another agenda for the meeting. It merely suggested that, since the meeting was being held in the "Harvesting our History" office, it would be a great opportunity to view what is happening with the project. Surely you're proud of the work you have done on the project to date and are anxious to show it off. I simply suggested that the meeting is a great opportunity to do that, and I look forward to that opportunity. I did not misrepresent anything - you obviously misread something.
As for the wait and see comment - everything I say is a matter of public record and anytime you want to debate any of these issues in any forum you'll find me willing and waiting. "Wait and see" is an implied threat, and I won't be threatened by you or anyone.
I do not have a personal vendetta against you but I do have a strong motivation to make sure the project achieves it objectives. You will have no issues with me as long as you do what you contracted to do, nor can you stop me from from writing about any issues as long as they are true. Keep watching for more articles of interest and feel free to comment.
There you have it folks. You are up to date on this story. Stay tuned on the weekend for an interesting article on a Dunk Tank issue.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Great News!!
Finally a peek inside:
The Captain William Jackman Club has announced a public meeting on Monday July 19th at 7 pm. The meeting will be held in Room 103 of the Regina Mundi Complex.- That is the office of the Harvesting Our History Project.
This is the first time the public will be given access to this public project space. Since it is the operating centre for the project it will be exciting to see the equipment being used to harvest our history. Seeing the database in operation will also be thrilling and of course everyone is anxious to see the volume of materials collected over the last seven months – documents, photographs, journals historical papers etc.
I know that the meeting has a separate agenda that evening but I’m sure the club executive is only too anxious about this opportunity to showcase who is doing the collection work and how they are using the public money in the best interest of the community. I'm sure they won't miss this opportunity to put to rest any concerns people may have. I am sure they will be more than willing to answer any questions related to the project. I know I have a few. So do a bunch of other interested people. See you at the project office.
By the way, I know that Elaine referred to the space ac the “Club Room” for the club but I’m sure that was an error on her part. Surely she knows that useing any money from the project for ongoing activities of the club is illegal and a violation of the Harvesting Our History contract.--- So it cannot be a "Club Room"
The Captain William Jackman Club has announced a public meeting on Monday July 19th at 7 pm. The meeting will be held in Room 103 of the Regina Mundi Complex.- That is the office of the Harvesting Our History Project.
This is the first time the public will be given access to this public project space. Since it is the operating centre for the project it will be exciting to see the equipment being used to harvest our history. Seeing the database in operation will also be thrilling and of course everyone is anxious to see the volume of materials collected over the last seven months – documents, photographs, journals historical papers etc.
I know that the meeting has a separate agenda that evening but I’m sure the club executive is only too anxious about this opportunity to showcase who is doing the collection work and how they are using the public money in the best interest of the community. I'm sure they won't miss this opportunity to put to rest any concerns people may have. I am sure they will be more than willing to answer any questions related to the project. I know I have a few. So do a bunch of other interested people. See you at the project office.
By the way, I know that Elaine referred to the space ac the “Club Room” for the club but I’m sure that was an error on her part. Surely she knows that useing any money from the project for ongoing activities of the club is illegal and a violation of the Harvesting Our History contract.--- So it cannot be a "Club Room"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
