News and Events
Mark your calendars for October 28th, 2017 - Fall Wind-UP at the Edson Legion! Out of Towners! Please book your rooms for a discounted price at Best Western - High Road Inn under Northern Metalic, Edson - Phone number 780 712 2378 prior to October 21st.
2017 Annual Meeting and Camp Out
RMWS has the Greg River Cabin booked for the weekend of June 16-18 for the annual general meeting and camp out. The site will be available for camping on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, with pot luck supper Friday night and Saturday lunch. RMWS will supply a steak supper with fixings for those members in attendance on Saturday evening. Sunday normally is a travel day with individuals looking after their own meals.
This year we have Mors Kohanski coming back to share some of his vast knowledge on bush survival and edible plants. Stay tuned for additional planned events at the camp out.
Memberships available at the cabin when you arrive if you don't already have one.
See you all there!
COWBOYS BALL - MARCH 18, 2017
Hinton Community Center
5:00 Cocktails
6:30 Supper
7:30 Auction
9:00 Dance
Tickets can be picked up at Huckleberry Gift Shop, Smitty's and Oui Print in Hinton or Ken Groat at 780 865 1103 or 817 8824
This past year has been tough on some
businesses and individuals with the economy going in the tank and along with that a summer that will go down in the books as one of the wettest in our area we have seen in
years.
With this in mind the RMWS board of directors
made some decisions that will affect most of our members in some way or another. The economy played a big role in the board of directors postponing the annual Cowboy ball which has been held in
October since the society inception to the third weekend in March of next year. This decision was made due in part, many of our major supporters have not had the work that they
have enjoyed in the past thus effecting their bottom line. We hope the economy will turn around somewhat in the first quarter of the new year which will help all of our supporters and help justify
RMWS holding the Cowboy Ball fundraiser. The annual fundraiser is a very important part of our society and we would like to get more members involved in organizing this event and finding sponsors. If
you are inclined to help out, please contact one of the board members.
Secondly we had always planned a membership ride and campout early in September each year, as you know this did not happen this year. We talked about it at the AGM and hoped get someone to take on
the responsibility of planning the weekend. Well as it turned out the board members were all busy with other plans and nothing was planned. But if you think back to early September in this area it
rained every day and the trails were very muddy not to mention how miserable it is camping with the weather we had at the time.
In the new year we are tentatively booking the AGM for June 10th weekend to avoid fathers-day on the following weekend. I will attempt to book Gregg River cabin for the weekend of the 10th for our
annual meeting and we will discuss a member committee to help organize a membership gathering for the fall of 2017.
Ken Groat
2016 AGM
Mark your calendars!!!
Our 4th Annual AGM will be held at the Gregg River Cabin June 18th @ 10:00
More details to follow
Cowboys Ball 2015
This past weekend RMWS held its fourth Annual cowboys Ball Fundraiser and it was a blast! The sponsorship hasn’t wavered and we would like to thank all supporters for their donations and their generosity once again!
The ticket sales were a little slow with three other functions going on the same night, so we were very pleased with being 40 short of a sellout. Once again the event was held at the Crestwood Inn in Hinton with a beautiful setting provided by Laurel Minich. The evening was started off with a film by Emmy award winning Andrew Manske and followed by a very delicious supper from Pat’s Catering. The first business of the evening was the draw for a door prize, this wasn’t just an ordinary door prize it was a Dave Morin door prize. Dave graciously donated $500.00 for the lucky winner to spend at the Cowboy Ball on anything they wished to spend money on. This created a lot of excitement in the crowd as the draw was being made, and Karen Delorme didn’t take long to respond when her name was announced as the winner. Then our young enthusiastic auctioneer Carter Ostashek showed his ability to keep the crowd involved with his auctioneering prowess.
The highlight of the live auction was once again the custom built saddle sponsored for the last two years by supporters and RMWS greatest believers Bob Kallio and Dave Barron from Edson. The 15 cards were sold in three different sections of the auction and the bidding was lively with lots of participation from the crowd. Once all cards were sold each buyer was called to the stage where the draw was made down to the last three cards which were the winners. The last three cards were held by Rob Bailey who held two of them and the third card being held by Lyle Moberly. The draw was made for third place a bridle with Lyle’s card being drawn. This leaving the saddle and saddle bags to Rob Bailey. Rob was congratulated on his win and he said “you know I don’t even have a horse and I don’t want one so I am donating the saddle back and you can auction it off” This is where we called the old war horse auctioneering mentor Gordon Murison to show his magic to auction the saddle off to the lucky buyer. With all that said and done the saddle went home with Leah Bray.
The evening was finished off with a dance to the great sound of country music with DJ Ryan Groat of Edson. Everyone had a great time dancing the night away.
2015 Cowboys Ball
Rooms available at a special rate. Please call the Crestwood at
780 865 4001
Important Notice!
This year our AGM will be held one week earlier that last year. Mark your calendars! June 12, 13 and 14th. The venue remains the same. Meeting at 10:30 A.M.
Please bring your horse branding iron as we have a picnic table to raffle off and we would like to decorated it with horse brands.
Hope to see you there!
Grande Cache
Mountain Trail Rendezvous
A FIRST
Rocky Mountain Wilderness Society joined forces with the Grande Cache Trappers Local and organized an event in Grande Cache that will be talked about for days. This was a first for both organizations
kind of like a blind date with neither side knowing how things would turn out, but what a blast, everyone that came out for the Mountain Trail Rendezvous had a great time with a presentation of
fitting items that were donated for the silent auction which went over very well. Along with a very delicious supper supplied by Chris Dezoric and some of the best
country music ever heard in town, Mary Nelson kept the dance floor busy till the wee hours of the morning. The Akasaka Figure Skating Club did a great job tending bar and may have been the busiest
people there at times! Thank you! Before the evening was over many of the attendees were asking when we would be having the next one.
This event turned out to be a prodigious undertaking for both the Grande Cache Trappers Local and the RMWS. It always takes a lot of planning and ground work to put on an event such as this and the
RMWS board and members would like to take this opportunity to thank all the merchants and individuals that believed in what we stand for enough to donate towards the silent auction portion of the
evening, it was very successful. We would also like to applaud Shane and Jacquie Ramstead with the Trappers Local, Lyle and Denise Moberly RMWS, Landon and Karen Delorme the Grande Cache Trappers
Local President, Keri Millrons and Pat Steinward for all the hard work they did to make this event such a huge success.
Pictures to follow!!!
Presidents Report – March 2015
What a winter we are having with extremes on both ends of the spectrum, we have had snow storms here in Brule that have dropped up to two feet of snow in a twenty four hour period to temperature highs of plus 17 in January.
On December thirteenth the RMWS held a strategy meeting in Hinton that will help set direction for the Society for the next few years. We discussed many different ideas on advocacy for the mountain region, we all love to spend our leisure time in, along with setting policies to govern the RMWS board.
When you look at the RMWS Logo you will see Hikers, Mountain bikers and a Horse and rider, these are the stake holders we are advocating for. All the trail systems we have worked on over the past three years was to make travel safer and more enjoyable for individuals or groups that enjoy traveling through Alberta’s Mountain region using these modes of travel. With this in mind the board developed a plan to help some adventurers in a fashion that hasn’t been done before. We are planning a pilot project with Alberta Parks to build two Hiker Camps within the Wilmore Wilderness Park at strategic locations with input from some hikers.
Another project that we will be working with Alberta Parks on is the expansion of the Equine campground located in the Rock Lake Provincial Park next to the Hay River. The RMWS has used this location for the past two member campouts while we reopened the Jackson Creek Trail. The Rock Lake area is becoming more popular for people with horses that enjoy shorter trail rides while still having the luxury of camping in their RV’s. With the work we have completed on the Jackson Creek Trail and the possibility of resurrecting a few other trails in the area this location will help take some pressure off the commercial staging area where Outfitters pack up to go into the Wilmore Wilderness Park. This location was never meant for a campground, so with a good suitable alternative place to camp we feel campers will enjoy this location meanwhile giving the Outfitters more room to pack up at the Commercial staging area. To help get these projects up and progressing we struck a committee of three individuals to work on the planning and design. These committee members are Board member Bryan Allen, member Ken South and member Don Law, as we start to see progress on these ventures we will keep everyone up to date through quarterly reports on the Web page.
The Plan for the major trail cleaning this summer is from Big Grave to Monaghan Creek which is a continuation of RMWS plans to open the main thoroughfare from Grande Cache to Rock Lake. While we are there we will also clean up the trail from Big Grave to Eric Lake in Rocky Pass, where we left off last summer on the tail sponsored in part by ACA and Kallio Contracting, once these two projects are completed the trial from Porcupine Licks to Big Graves will be cleaned to a high standard, and the trail from Grande Cache to Monaghan Creek will be in great shape.
On January 22nd. The RMWS board met with Alberta Parks staff from Hinton and Spruce Grove, Regional Director Andy Van Imschoot and Regional Executive Director Rob Hugill. We have an annual spring meeting with Alberta Parks to fill them in on our summer plans and discuss projects that we plan to do together. As usual we had a great meeting with Alberta Parks with a lot of discussion on improvements in the Wilmore and Rock Lake Parks. Two items of interest that came out of this meeting was RMWS will help organize and coordinate with Alberta Parks staff in Hinton the removal of old stoves in numerous campgrounds, this will be done in the winter months by ski-do utilizing Trappers who have trap lines in the area. The second item is the placement of Green Throne Outhouses to 9 locations in the Wilmore Wilderness Park. The RMWS board will be developing a plan on how to get these facilities into the back country.
The only sad note to come out of this meeting was, this was the last time RMWS will meet with Andy Van Imschoot in his capacity as Regional Director for Alberta Parks, Andy left his position at the end of January to start a new chapter in his career with Ducks Unlimited. He will be missed in future meetings with Alberta Parks as he was a strong believer and supporter in what we stood for.
Mountain Trail Rendezvous
Presented by
The Rocky Mountain Wilderness Society
&
The Grande Cache Local Trappers
Saturday April 11, 2015
Sulphur Ridge Ballroom
Days Inn, Grande Cache, AB
Cocktails - 5:00
Dinner - 6:00
Short Presentation, Silent Auction Tables and Raffles
Dance - 9:00
Tickets: $40.00 per person
For Tickets:
Denise Moberly - 780 827 6702/wildhay1@telus.net
On October 25th, 2014 RMWS held its third annual Cowboy’s Ball at the Crestwood Hotel in Hinton, if you weren’t there you missed a great time. The past three years we have held this event as a fund raiser and windup for RMWS. With an abundance of silent auction and live auction items the sold out crowd had a great time trying to out-bid each other for the various items available. The evening started off with a very interesting array of wolf films from across Canada by Emmy award winning Cinematographer, Andrew Manske, with Compass Media from Grande Prairie. Following the show everyone was treated to a delicious supper supplied by Pat’s catering whom has been our caterer of choice for the last three years running.
Shortly after the dishes were cleared away the auctioneers were loosening up the vocal cords to start off the live auction, this year we had two auctioneers which showed their uncanny ability to rattle off numbers so fast that if one was not paying close attention someone else was bidding the coveted item away. We had the experience and wisdom of Gordon Murison who has sold and earned millions of dollars for various clubs and Societies over the span of many years. Auctioning along with Gordon we had Carter Ostashek with youth and exuberance and ability far beyond his age, they worked the crowd like the pros they are to the enjoyment of everyone. There were many seesaw battles for the winning bid on numerous items, one that comes to mind is for the Chuck Ratliff Moose Horn carving that had two individuals bidding back and forth till finally Al Beauregard claimed the prize. The hot item for the night was a custom built saddle which will be built by well know saddle maker Vern Priest, and generously donated by two businesses from Edson, Kallio Contracting and Barron Concrete. The excitement was flying high as the auctioneers sold off 15 playing cards to draw for the saddle, there were some bidders that bought not only one card but two. After all 15 cards were sold the excitement level rose as the cards were prepared for the draw, of the 15 cards there would be three that awarded a prize with a bridle headstall for the third last card, a set of saddle bags for the second and the saddle for the last card in the box. When there were three cards left in the box, the silence was deafening as the third last card was drawn, and then the second leaving Kevin Guimond with the last card in the box, when he turned and said to the auctioneer, I am giving it back auction it off. What a statement!!! Well this was a huge change in events for the RMWS with the generosity shown by Kevin, so the saddle was put on the auction block and the high bidder was Barron Concrete one of the donors of the saddle.
With the auction wrapped up and a venue full of happy people Tommy K with Jasper’s Alpine Music set out to entertain the night away with good old time Country Music. The dance floor was kept busy to the wee hours of the morning with great music and a lot of people showing their dancing skills.
It takes a lot of work to put on an event like this and we always require a number of volunteers beyond the Board of Directors and their families, it would be remiss to not mention and thank the key people involved in making this event the success it has been. Shelli taking charge of donations and along with Annette and Denise making sure we have all bases covered, basically two organization pillars. Laurel and Annette for decorating the setting and doing a great job for every ones enjoyment. Sherry for organizing the volunteers that help on the floor, Monty and Greg for their astute eye as an auction floor spotter. Keaton selling raffle tickets and helping where needed. Denise W, Tanya and Danyelle for doing a fantastic job showing the auction items and selling raffle tickets. Hieke for her great photo taking skills and Andrew Manske for his great filming attributes. Last but not least a big thank you to all the people that came out to the Cowboy Ball and supporting the RMWS.
The RMWS is very fortunate to have the support of all the donators to this annual event, it would be difficult for RMWS to achieve the on the ground accomplishments that have been completed to this point without the substantial support of the local merchants and individuals. The support for this event has been unsurpassed as sponsors came forward from every town from Grande Prairie to Buck Lake. We don’t take this kind of support lightly and appreciate each and every donor that believes in what we stand for. The successes attained over the past three years by RMWS have been enjoyed by many back country adventurers regardless of mode of travel, Hiking, Mountain biking or Horse back. With the support of a strong membership such as the RMWS has, good things are going to come are way and this Society will flourish for many years.
Message from the President - Sept 2014
This past September long weekend the RMWS held a campout at the Equine Staging center located along the North Fork of Hay River in the Rock Lake Provincial Park.
The weather was quite different this year with it being cooler and damper than last year, but we had many members participating from the local area and from as far away as the Grand Prairie area. Once again the women of the RMWS showed their culinary expertise by providing three excellent pot luck suppers for all participants.
Along with a lot of stories told of recent pack trips into Mountain Regions of Alberta and socializing around the camp fire, we managed to get in a couple good days working on the Jackson Creek Trail. Dennis Quintilio and crew started cleaning up this trail last year and we continued from where they left off at our campout last fall, knowing that there would be still more work required this year. Well there is still more to do to finish this project to get it to the RMWS standard. This trail is an important safety trail in the net- work of trails that lead into the Wilmore Wilderness Park as there are no river crossing on this trail which is a bonus for hikers and mountain bikers, should the Hat River be too deep to cross. The trial is in very good condition to use now with approximately one day of brush saw work remaining about three quarters of the way through the 13 kilometer length from start to finish.
The RMWS board will be working with Alberta Parks to get signs installed at the two ends of this trail, then the trail will be GPS’t and installed on future maps produced of the area.
I believe these RMWS campouts are an important endeavor of our Society as it gives opportunity for the members to get together and share ideas and thought s for different projects and get to know each other better. We plan to continue these campouts in the future at the same location for these reasons and as well in some discussions with Alberta Parks they would like to see us do some work on a couple other existing trails in this area. The RMWS board has requested to the Parks management that this staging area be extended in size which will allow for groups or individuals a chance to camp in this area which will take a little pressure off the commercial staging area that is over- crowded on many occasions throughout the summer months.
This past summer RMWS has been very successful in completing the two projects that were planned, with Lyle Moberly and crew cleaning up the trail from Porcupine Licks to Rocky pass which was a huge accomplishment in all respects. This project was generously supported by ACA (Alberta Conservation Association) Thank you ACA.
The other project was the Pope-Thoreau trail from the Mountain trail to the South Berland Trail. This venture was led by Dennis Quintilio with a very capable crew which saw completion on this trail in August. The condition of this trail was very poor in places going over the pass which required quite a lot of time to fix up to the standard, which taxed the crew for time. Dennis had to move his crew out knowing that he would be back to finish the west end of the trail at a later date, with his due diligence he managed to get some help from an ESRD fire crew along with local outfitter John Groat and Marty Kjos who were camped in the area. This trail was a big job which Dennis saw to completion in August, and a big thank you goes out to The Wild Sheep Foundation (Yellowhead Chapter) as the sole sponsor for the project.
The RMWS has had a very successful year thus far and a bright future ahead with solid membership that has strong values and capability to carry this Society forward. There is one more event this year and we are in the planning stages now for the COWBOYS BALL which will be help on the 25th of October. In the past we have had abundant sponsorship from the local merchants and with our on the ground work and accomplishments we should be able to continue this success.
Hope to see you at the fund raiser!
2014 Annual General Meeting
This year’s AGM was an outstanding success with a full house and beautiful weather for the whole weekend. Everyone had a great time!
We had two photos in our 2014 Spring Newsletter that tested the memory and knowledge of members attending the event. One picture of the Rockies behind Black Cat Ranch and one of Pluto’s Nose which is located on the east side of Jackknife Pass. The contest was name the mountain and location. The winners were Cliff Henderson and Jenn Norquay. Congrats to you both, hope you are enjoying your hoodies.
We also had an antler carving done by renowned artist Chuck Ratliff that was raffled off with a deck of cards. The lucky winner was Maxine Maxwell! I bet it looks beautiful in your home!
We were also blessed with having Mors Kohanski join us for the weekend. Mors is a scholar in bush survival and had has taught Canadian, USA and England’s Army the art of bush survival. At times Mors had 40 people following him through the bush learning about the different uses of the local plants that could be used for human consumption.
Mors is walking encyclopedia with his vast knowledge on safety in the bush, shelter building and plants. He spent a considerable time entertaining the children with his many creations of whistles and noise makers such as the Bull Roar.
Jenn Norquay stepped up to the plate as usual to help entertain the young members with games. She kept them busy for most of the day Saturday having fun, prizes and lots of laughter.
To round out the day on Saturday Natalie Groat and Sister Darlene McCallum did a fantastic job of playing guitar and singing for the enjoyment of everyone.
That evening a BBQ steak supper was enjoyed by all followed by a socializing where many trails were cleared and travelled and pack trips were re-lived.
Thanks to everyone for attending! Your support is what keeps us going.
To learn more about Mors please check out Mors Kohanski.
As well you can follow him on Youtube at Youtube Mors Kohanski.
The Foothills Research Institute would like to
pass out info about a pilot citizen science project they are working on:
We are asking interested outdoors-men and women
to collect grizzly bear scat this fall with the aid of a smartphone application (for those without a smartphone we
have an alternative program in place). DNA will then be extracted from the scat samples and the results will directly support existing research and long term trend monitoring in Alberta. The app will
be ready mid-August on iOS and Android. We are having at info session at 7:00pm on July 30th at the Hinton Training Centre and hope to get as many people out as possible. There is also one being held
at 7:00pm on July 31st at the Edson Provincial Building. More info here: http://www.grizzlyscatapp.ca/
Upcoming info sessions in:
Hinton
July 30th, 2014
7:00pm
Hinton Training Centre
Room 134
Edson
July 31st, 2014
7:00pm
Edson Provincial Building
Room 110
Drayton Valley
August 5th, 2014
7:00pm
Penn West Building
Main Conference Room
Rocky Mountain House
August 6th, 2014
7:00pm
Provincial Building
Room 125A
If you members have any questions they can contact me directly at 780-817-1844
Thanks again!
Sean P. Kinney, BComm
Communications and Extension Program Lead
Land Use Framework Link
For those of you who were at the 2nd. annual meeting for the RMWS you will recall Cliff Henderson talking about the landuse framework plan that is just now starting up for the North Saskatchewan Regional Plan. We said at the meeting that we would put a link on our web site and face book page.
The land use frame work policy will effect everyone in the province in some sort of fashion, when your area goes through the process. This link will give you an opportunity to fill out an online workbook as well to learn more about the process used to develop the plan.
Please fill out before July 31st
To open the workbook just click on workbook, it takes about a half an hour to go through the workbook and it is our hope that we can get all our members to fill one out.
The first phase of public consultation for the North Saskatchewan Regional Plan is now underway. We invite you to attend the consultation sessions to learn more about
the region as well as share your thoughts on the issues and strategies contained in the Terms of Reference for Developing the North Saskatchewan Regional Plan. You can provide your
input and feedback through the online
workbook before July 31, 2014. (Updated: May 2014)
https://landuse.alberta.ca
Our Annual General Meeting will be held June 20th - 22nd 2014 at the Gregg River Cabin. All members welcome. If you are not yet a member you can join us there or get yours on our Membership Page. This year we are exited to announce that Mors Kohanski will be joining us!! Mors is a renouned Bush Survivalist and we can't wait to see what he has to teach us!
To learn more about Mors please check out Mors Kohanski.
As well you can follow him on Youtube at Youtube Mors Kohanski.
Members will be contacted with more information of other events and prices for the AGM as time gets closer.
A big thank you to Tammy and Craig McMillian for purchasing the Dinner for two at Jasper Park Lodge and to Stacey Allan for purchasing the two nights stay at Whistlers Inn in Jasper! As well as JPL and Whistlers Inn for sponsoring these items.
2013 RMWS Cowboys Ball Fundraiser
This past weekend, on October 26, 2013, RMWS hosted their second annual Cowboys Ball fundraiser at the Crestwood Hotel in Hinton. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the businesses
and individuals for believing in us and showing their support through generous sponsorship in items for the fundraiser.
We had a sold-out event with a great crowd who really enjoyed themselves, especially with the Emmy-winning films shown by Andrew Manske with Compass Media, the terrific meal put on by Pat's Catering and the abundance of silent and live auction items to bid on. The evening was rounded out with a mighty fine job done by DJ Ryan Groat, for everyone's dancing pleasure.
There were numerous volunteers who we will thank personally for helping at the event to make sure it was a success.
Once again, the RMWS comes out ahead with a great evening of entertainment that will be remembered by many as an event worth attending. This was proven in our ticket sales; we had 150 tickets reserved before they were even printed.
The RMWS Board of Directors would like to thank the Crestwood Hotel for their generosity, once again, in allowing us to use their ballroom. We sincerely thank you for your gracious support.
A warm thanks to everyone who came out to support Rocky Mountain Wilderness Society....See you on the trail!
Thanks to the Hay Family!
We want to say a huge THANK YOU to the Hay Family from Mayerthorpe and Lazy VU Rocky Mountain Pack Trips of Hinton. Fred was recently a wrangler on a pack trip with John Groat of Lazy VU Rocky Mountain Pack Trips. Fred didn't want to collect his wages, so Lazy VU donated them to us!! Thank you again so much!!
RMWS AGM
Our first annual general meeting was a huge success even with the weather conditions on the June 15th weekend with multiple showers throughout. We are pleased to report that approximately 75 people dined with us on Saturday evening and we had numerous participants take part in the GPS course, powersaw safety course and join in on the packing demos. Especially when Mary from Micheal Short's TV show "Let's Go Outdoors" took her turn at tying a diamond hitch. We would like to thank everyone who braved the weather and spent a fun-filled weekend with us!
Members Camp Out in June at Gregg River Cabin!!
We are planning a campout for Members on June 14th, 15th and 16th, 2013 at the Gregg River Cabin. Our plan is to have a nice steak dinner, GPS Course, Chainsaw Course and Horse Packing demo. We haven’t filled in all the details yet as far as the fee will be, but we hope to keep it minimal. We just want to give you all a heads up so you can keep the date open!
Cowboys Ball Donations
Members Smokie Mahon and Erin King enjoy their purchase of a dog sled tour donated by Kingmik Dog Tours in Lake Louise earlier this winter. Thank you Smokie and Erin for your support and thank you Megan from Kingmik Tours for your generous donation!!!
We are the lucky winners of a $1500.00 gift certificate to purchase promotional items for our organization from Oui Print's 15 year Anniverary celebration! Thank you Oui Print!!!!
Cowboy Ball November 3rd. Hinton "SOLD OUT "
A Big thanks to all the folks who attended our sold-out event in Hinton on November 3rd! Almost 200 folks gathered to celebrate mountain culture and show their support for the Rocky Mountain Wilderness Society.
A great time was had by all and big congratulations to our first life member who paid $4,100 for membership #1! How about the $6,500 bid to sponsor 5 Kilometers of trail clearing in 2013. A big thanks to both supporters who stepped up in such a big way.
We would also like to thank all the companies and people who donated to our live and silent auctions for the Cowboys Ball:
We would like to point out that we were remiss in mentioning Laurel Minich, Cam and Brett McClelland in our list for their contribution of hard work before, during and after the Ball in our big kid list. Thank you all for your help!
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