What does YAHOO! and Winnipeg Ostomy Association have in common? Well, the UOAC was celebrating its 10th anniversary in Calgary and nine members of the WOA travelled to Calgary and made their appearance at the "Meet & Greet" party wearing purple t-shirts announcing the WOA’s 35th birthday as of August 30, 2007. We handed out packets of seeds or tea bags attached with a gift card and a Manitoba pin to everyone in attendance while being greeted by a welcoming Calgary YAHOO! celebrating the UOAC’s 10th birthday. Well it’s a stretch I admit, but you get the picture.
At the Opening Ceremonies, I was asked to accept the FOWC award on behalf of the Winnipeg Ostomy Association. What a surprise that was for all of us in attendance and what an honour to receive such an important National award! I must say that Helmut Friesen has been the driving force on this endeavour for many years along with help from his side kick Barry Cox and others who have assisted whenever asked. It is Helmut and his team who pick up the supplies, go through them carefully, bundle them up and get them shipped off to FOWC headquarters in Ontario. It is thanks to Dave Page and his persistence that we are and continue to be a constant supporter of FOWC through our membership and donations to this organization. And it is thanks to all of you who continue to bring in the unused supplies.
The following night was an informal night so we appeared at the Coloplast evening, again wearing our purple t-shirts and as we walked through the doors everyone received white cowboy hats presented by the Coloplast people. What a sight we were! That evening Coloplast presented Sheelah Zapf with a cheque for $1500 on behalf of the Chapters in Canada for winning second prize in the International Coloplast World Ostomy Day celebrations. And WOA was one of the entries that helped win that award.
Friday was ConvaTec’s night and what a glorious time that was! I was asked to accept ConvaTec’s award for 1st place in the World Ostomy Day celebrations on behalf of the Winnipeg Ostomy Association for the best event held across Canada. We received an award of $700.00 for all the fun we had at our BBQ. YAHOO!!! If you want to reminisce, our scrapbook of that event will be at the meeting.
WOA was well represented as all seven Executive members travelled to Calgary and were joined by Helmut & Gretta Friesen. We had a great time together, attended the many lectures and workshops, held impromptu Executive meetings at the breakfast table, formed great ideas for Chapter meetings and were all floating on cloud 9 by the time we had to head home. You will see pictures and read reports from conference throughout this newsletter. We hope YOU will join us next year as we travel to Hamilton for the 11th UOAC conference.
Best regards,
Lorrie
