LITTLE CURRENT—Volunteers from the Hospital Auxilliaries Association of Ontario (HAAO) gathered at the Little Current Recreation Centre for the Follow Your Rainbow: Mind, Spirit, Body HAAO North Central Region Spring Conference—co-hosted by the Little Current Auxiliary and Mindemoya Hospital Auxiliary Inc.
The conference began with a mix and mingle event on Friday evening, complete with musical entertainment, but things got down to business Saturday morning through to Sunday afternoon.
Following a hot breakfast provided by St. Bernard’s Catholic Church women’s group and the recitation of the auxiliary prayer, North Central Region Chair Bea Jensen introduced Northeast Town Mayor Al MacNevin and Central Manitoulin Mayor Richard Stephens for words of welcome.
“Congratulations to Mindemoya and Little Current auxiliaries for hosting this event,” said Mayor MacNevin. “In this time when political promises are flying fast and furious from all quarters, you are the people who actually do the things others promise to do every four years.” He noted that auxiliary members are the ones “who step up to the plate” when it comes to fundraising for their local hospitals and thereby providing a better level of health care for the community. “When you guys decide to do something, it gets done.”
Mayor Stephens also welcomed the attendees and congratulated them on the work they do. He noted that it is thanks in large part to the work and dedication of the auxiliaries that Island hospitals are so “well appointed.” Mayor Stephens invited the delegates to explore Manitoulin further while they were here.
“Come visit us in Central Manitoulin,” he said. “It isn’t very far down the road and we have something to offer everyone.”
Following the mayors’ welcomes, Ross Jensen of Blind River, HAAO regional secretary/treasurer held the roll call wherein each auxiliary rose to introduce themselves and provided a brief summary of their recent efforts and successes.
The head table consisted of Ms. Jensen, Elaine Moore, president of the Little Current Auxiliary, Judy Mackenzie, president of the Mindemoya Auxiliary, HAAO President Dorothy Friske, first vice-president Rick Wark, Manitoulin Health Centre CAO Derek Graham, Terry Olmstead, chair of the Manitoulin Health Centre board, Mayor MacNevin, Mayor Stephens, Mr. Jensen, Joan Clute, regional first vice-president, Peggy Storey Inkster, regional second vice-president and Dianne Musgrove, regional past chair and ‘Spirit’ guest speaker.
The auxiliary members were presented with three guest speakers, each dealing with a segment of the theme. Roxanne Makela, a psycogeriatric resource consultant spoke on ‘Mind,’ Ms. Musgrove on ‘Spirit’ and Lorraine Evoy, who provided a Tai Chi demonstration, on ‘Body.’
The later half of the afternoon was given over to the remarks of HAAO president Dorothy Friske and the annual general meeting for the organization.
A banquet was held in the evening, followed by an evening of entertainment.
Sunday was given over to a president’s meeting at the MHC Little Current site.
The vision of the HAAO is “to communicate effectively and to encourage innovation, best practices, relevance and transparency in the healthcare volunteer sector and its mission is to “provide educational opportunities, promote partnerships, advocate on behalf of and support healthcare volunteer organization.”
This weekend was a shining example of all of that in action.
