Ponoka & District Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year 2008 Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013
Vol. 65, No. 7
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DEDICATED TO THE PROMOTION OF PONOKA
County pulls support for ag event centre By Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye Ponoka County has withdrawn its financial support for the Calnash Trucking Ag Event Centre. The decision was made after negations with the Ponoka Ag Event Centre Society (PAECS) to create equitable representation on the board fell through. The Ponoka Stampede and Exhibition Association and the Ponoka Agricultural Society are represented on the board with three members, the Town of Ponoka and Ponoka County each have one member and there is one member at large. The town and the county want equal representation on the board and a letter was sent to PAECS in November stating that. County CAO Charlie Cutforth, a former president of the society, was advised the board did not feel changes were needed. A second letter was sent from the county at the beginning of January, Cutforth said in an interview. The letter states “if it is the intent of the board to continue to operate in a quasi-private way that the county would no longer subsidize the operation with public money.” Some equipment such as a skid steer loader, a service truck and some office equipment has been returned to the county and other services such as snow plowing, manure disposal and gravelling services have also been withdrawn. “Including work-in-kind we’re probably at $3.5 million,” said Cutforth of Ponoka County’s contributions. “We did the site preparation work for it, we built the intersection for the highway and stuff like that.” PAECS president Terry Jones said every ag event centre in Alberta is run by agricultural societies but they still need government grants to operate and function. He does not feel equal representation is advisable at this time. Continued on page 3
DON’T MISS OUT...
Balloons make everything fun: Kianna Ahtila can’t contain her excitement during the Ponoka Gym Club’s fundraiser night at the Legion Feb. 9. Crafts, snacks, spin the wheel for prizes and even a photo booth were made available to attendees of the event. The room was full and organizers had to roll tables out to accommodate the guests. Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
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