Lamont Nursing Alumni Association disbands after 91 years

BY JANA SEMENIUK

The final meeting of the Lamont Nursing Alumni Association last month at the United Church drew nearly 60 graduates of the former nursing program, as it disbanded after 91 years.

was our last meeting because the alumni have disbanded. I know that there's a lot of us, especially in the local area, that will probably always still get together and keep in contact,” she said. “It was a wonderful that although the nursing school began in 1912, the alumni association did not get organized until 1931. Hlushak added that they decided at their June 2022 meeting that the organization would disband the following year due to rapidly declining membership.

“This record of service of the 595 grads is staggering.”

Meanwhile, Hlushak also said that in July

2022, all records of the Alumni Association were donated to the Alberta Provincial Archives, as well as some memorabilia donated to the Royal Albert Alberta Museum.

The Archer Memorial Hospital School of Nursing ran for 60 years and graduated nearly 600 students from 1912 to their last graduating class in June of 1972.

The program finally succumbed to difficulties securing staff, changes in training regulations and requirements in addition to advances in the medical and nursing fields, according to Trudy Harrold’s book on Lamont Health Care Centre history titled ‘On Highest Mission Sent’.

Graduate Sheila Vilcsak spoke to the final alumni meeting while at the Lamont Health Care Centre (LHCC) AGM on June 19 and said that while it was nice to gather, it was also very sad.

“Everybody knew it celebration but very sad.”

LHCC Board Chair Kent Harrold also reflected on the nursing school and his admiration for the graduates.

“(There were) 60 wonderful years and it was an amazing group of ladies. There were 595 graduates from the school of nursing here,” he said. “They felt called to be a nurse, the kind of calling that a minister or priest might receive. This feeling that God had called them to their profession.”

Retired nurse Elaine Hlushak gave a speech around the impending dissolution of the alumni association to attendees at the LHCC Sept. celebration of their 110th anniversary. She said

“The purpose of the association (was) to promote the unity and good feelings among the alumni and advance the interest of the profession of nursing,” she said, adding that the organization funded several things over the years including color TVs for residents, bouquets of red roses gifted to each student upon graduation, gatherings at Elk Island Park, Christmas parties, and yearbooks in addition to funding higher education bursaries for graduates and direct descendants of graduates.

“More than 17 bursaries (have been) awarded in the last 34 years,” said Hlushak. “It’s amazing that one organization with such limited funding has accomplished so much.”

Additionally, Hlushak said an important project taken on by early alumni member Florence Love, compiled the biographies of each of the 595 graduates of the nursing school, recognizing their lifetime achievements.

“The Love Book version 2.0 was completed with the assistance of Shirley Harold, Audrey Shultz, Fran Weber, Pat Kottke and Trudy Harrold,” said Hlushak.

BY JANA SEMENIUK

Lamont County Councillor Neil Woitas expressed concerns during the June 27 County Council meeting over conference costs of more than $9,000, including nearly $3,000 on hotels, charged by Chief Administrative Officer, Peter Tarnawsky and two staff members, between May 15 and June 8 without council knowledge.

Lamont County communications coordinator Jay Zaal confirmed by email that Tarnawsky attended three conferences over three weeks.

First was the Government Finance Officers conference in Banff, May 15-17 where Tarnawsky was invited to speak as a panelist which, although resulted in a minimal cost of $505 to the county, incurred additional costs (hotel plus conference fee) of $2,500 so the Chief Financial Officer and general accountant could also attend.

Tarnawsky next attended the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) conference in Ontario from May 28 to June 1 which totalled $3,545, including $300 per night spent on hotels, in addition to the Canadian Petrochemical Conference in Kananaskis from June 6-8 which cost the county $2,819 while allowing Tarnawsky to take part in a golf tournament and included a hotel bill of nearly $1,000 for the two-night stay.

Zaal added that the conferences were budgeted for and approved by the Reeve as part of Tarnawsky’s professional and economic development activity as per his employment agreement.

Woitas said he only learned the CAO was away when a serious situation came up prior to an Ag Service Board meeting in June where he needed to speak to Tarnawsky. He also said ratepayers contacted him concerned with the CAO’s travels.

“We had (a situation) before the Ag Service board meeting (that) came up and that’s when we found out the CAO was in Kananaskis golfing. Council didn’t know. I didn’t know. Nobody let us know that was happening,” he said.

“I (also) didn't know that we had somebody in Toronto until the ratepayer phoned and asked me if I knew about it. There are some pretty high hotel bills here too.”

Tarnawsky explained that the golf tournament in Kananaskis during the Petrochemical conference was important to making contacts that could be beneficial to the county in the future. In addition, he said the CFO and accountant needed to attend the Banff conference to maintain their CPA accreditation.

“We had some staff attend the Government Financial Officers Association Conference in Banff, and that is for anybody who's a CPA, it's probably the best opportunity for them to earn their points that they need to retain their accreditation,” he said.

“Attending the golf tournament provided an opportunity to have some very focused time with the President of one of the proponents that’s contemplating investments in the Heartland and in particular in Lamont County. There are benefits to that. It was not a training and development item, that was an economic development initiative. I understood that it was an expectation that I be at that conference.”

Tarnawsky explained that he made efforts to reduce costs to the county such as not using a limo and staying in a lesser hotel while in Ont., in addition to driving the county vehicle to Banff instead of his own saving 66 cents per kilometer. In an email, Tarnawsky estimated his efforts saved the County over $2,000 in total.

Tarnawsky added that he delegated his authority while he was away in Kananaskis and that Reeve David Diduck attended the conference with him.

Woitas said he still thinks council should be made aware of CAO conference attendance.

“Even when Roy (Anaka) goes to the Seed Cleaning conference he brings it up in front of council. Even if it’s budgeted, council is still supposed to know where people are going,” said Woitas.

“I’m getting calls from just about every ratepayer that their taxes went up, and then they find out that people are going all over the place - and try explaining it. My taxes went up $1,000 with all of the land I’ve got just like everybody else. One guy said ‘If we’d have known we needed a golfer maybe we could have hired

Tiger Woods’.”

Diduck acknowledged that staff attendance at conferences ‘falls under the purview of the CAO’, and additionally the CAO is the council’s only employee. Diduck suggested reviewing the CAO’s employment contract in addition to the budgeting process.

“In this case, there are certain conferences that the CAO is expected to attend, but maybe for the next budget processes going forward, I think we have to start getting details as to what conferences are proposed to be attended. And then that doesn't need council approval because it would be approved as part of the budgeting process,” he said.

“But if it falls out of that list of categories, then he would need council approval. If council wants to become involved in that decision, I really don’t have a problem with it. “

Diduck also criticized the organizers of the conferences for hosting them in places that are traditionally very expensive to visit.

“Instead of having it at the Holiday Inn or whatever, they choose (places like) Banff which, obviously, you're going to incur a lot more costs if you’ve got to go to those locations,” he said, adding that he could bring back that portion of the CAO contract dealing with conference attendance to the Aug. meeting if council members would like.

Councilor Woitas made a motion for the Reeve to bring forward clauses from the CAO agreement dealing with professional development and conferences which was carried.

Pre-Harvest Machinery Consignment Auction

Phone: (780) 208-2508

Aaron Olson - (403) 913-9644

Justin Janke - (780) 515-0888 We

Allen B. Olson Auction Service Ltd.