Delta Marsh History Initiative, Steering Committee Meeting

9:00 am, 23 May 2006
Home of Shirley Christianson, Portage la Prairie

Present: Barry Bills, Shirley Christianson, Heidi den Haan, Gordon Goldsborough (sec), Bob Jones, Cynthia Jordan, Glen Suggett

1. Minutes of the last meeting (18 April 2006) were approved with one change: Suggett noted that the ethnicity of trappers in the Flee Island vicinity was not known; they were not necessarily Caucasian.

2. Business

a) Other interviews – den Haan will talk with the Hales and Bell families regarding an interview. Goldsborough will try to contact Alex Wright Lyon regarding the Douglas Campbell audio recordings. Suggett reported that transcription of the remaining Ward audio tapes is being done by volunteers he had found. Suggett talked to Brenda Hales regarding the Bell family tree and she suggested asking Jim Fisher to locate it in files at the Delta Waterfowl Foundation office at Delta. The interview with the Blanchards are still to be done.

b) Phragmites harvest – Goldsborough reported that he was contacted by Jef Achenbach of Nova Scotia regarding the possibility of harvesting Phragmites at Delta for use in roof thatching projects here in Manitoba. Suggett will pass along contact information for Lyall Campbell, the regional land manager, for future discussions.

c) Highway 26 log roadhouse – Christianson provided Goldsborough with contact information for the person representing the Wacker farm sale.

d) Raffle – Christianson distributed tickets to all committee members. Goldsborough will print about 300 more tickets.

e) Fish fry – den Haan will deposit the cash proceeds in our bank account after the event. Goldsborough will not attend because he will be away, but will arrange for a slide show to be brought by den Haan. Christianson will buy ice cream, and Jordan and S. Christianson will hand it out. Bills will arrange for orange drink at McDonalds but he will be away on the day so Jones will pick it up. den Haan will check with Kevin Ward for a key to the Interpretive Centre. den Haan will arrange a silent auction, perhaps on a reduced scale given fewer people being involved in organizing this fish fry. Goldsborough will make 40 more signs, and den Haan will arrange to post them along the Delta road.

3. Next meeting: The next meeting will be held at the home of Shirley Christianson (118 Wilkinson Crescent, Portage la Prairie) at 9:00 am on Monday, 18 September 2006.

4. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 AM.