We need you!
The Board of Directors is looking for some helping hands in the running of our wonderful community. Please consider stepping up and becoming a member of our Board of Directors. As we come out of Covid restrictions, we have many opportunities to provide so much to our community.
Our DCA Mission Statement is: Dedicated to fostering a strong community spirit through events and programs for all within our community
For those of us who have been here for many years, the DCA has met this commitment through our very successful Playschool Program, dances, seasonal events like Christmas Craft Fairs and Canada Day Pancake breakfasts.
We are so blessed to live in such a wonderful place and we need help to continue to support and grow our community spirit. Please consider giving us some of your time so we can continue to grow and promote our strong community spirit.
We know time is a valuable commodity. As a Board we meet once a month for roughly 2 hours. In addition, each Board member often contributes time in an area which they would like to help out. (Last year I stepped up to help develop a new Communication Strategy, updating our website and streamlining all our communication contact points. Lucky for me, my neighbour Mia Staysko – who actually knows what she is doing – stepped up and was able to update our website and our social media platforms, and has been a wonderful resource. Truly couldn’t have done it without her.) Yes, volunteering takes some time, but with a bit of preplanning it’s not hard to do.
Please seriously consider helping out your community. If you want to talk to someone on the Board for a candid conversation about what being on our board would look like – please contact us through the Hall at dwca@platinum.ca. Our Hall Manager will ensure you are contacted as soon as possible.
A Fun Night with PAINT AND SIP!
In the evening of April 20, at our sold-out event, a group of 21 wannabe Picassos met at the Hall for a fun night of sipping wine, munching down a few snacks and painting under the watchful and helpful eye of our Master Painter Corey Baskin of Paint It (mobile painting parties).
We had some wonderful results and a great night out. It was such a treat to sit in a Hall with other people just chatting and having a fun time painting. Although my painting of lilacs was mistaken for a vase of asparagus ferns, no problem, it still stands proudly on my mantel at home. Can’t wait until next year when I can improve on my technique!
Big thanks to Cindy Poole for organizing and Corey Baskin for all his helpful hints.
The De Winton Community Association (DCA) – A. Walter Turnbull Award 2022 The A. Walter Turnbull Award was established by the DCA in recognition of the exceptional volunteer and community service provided by Mr. Turnbull over the many years he lived in our community. This Award has subsequently been presented to individuals and couples who have made significant and ongoing volunteer contributions within the community and the DCA. Honouree names are listed on a plaque displayed at the DCA Hall. Calls for nominations generally go out in advance of the AGM, as well as at the AGM, with the Board reviewing nominations following the AGM.
For 2022, the DCA Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Robert and Donna Poffenroth have been named as recipients of the A. Walter Turnbull Award. Robert and Donna have been pillars of the community for many, many years, having attended the first DCA Canada Day Celebration in 1980. They have remained active within not only our community, but other areas as well. During their volunteering days on the Calgary Stampede Board, they arranged for the Stampede Queen and Princesses to attend our Canada Day festivities, bringing an added level of magic to the day. Robert has helped the DCA and the community over the years with much legal support. He was critical in setting up the Digby-Hughes estate arrangement, where the De Winton Community Association and Davisburg Community Association were bequeathed a parcel of land to manage. Both associations enjoyed proceeds from an oil well on it for many years.
Robert is also on the Pine Creek Cemetery Board, where he was recently involved in transitioning the maintenance and administration of the cemetery over to Foothills County. For years, Donna volunteered to lead a weekly stretching class at the Community Hall, bringing her experience and learnings from other classes to help keep participants limber and healthy. Donna is also a very active member of the Okotoks & District Historical Society. Her keen interest and knowledge of local history were critical to the success of the 2018 De Winton 100-year celebration. Both her and Robert’s efforts on this ambitious project helped ensure that the celebration was a resounding success. Robert and Donna were both involved in the Old MacLeod Trail project, where wagon- wheel inspired signs mark spots where 19th century wagon ruts are still visible from the original trail that ran between Calgary, Fort MacLeod and Fort Benton, Montana. Robert and Donna donated the plaque marking the trail along 258th Ave West. And both have volunteered numerous times at the DCA Casino fundraiser, one of our most important fundraising efforts. (2011, 2014, 2017 & cancelled 2020 event).
Some of you may have noticed another Poffenroth name on the Walter Turnbull plaque. Walter and Jenny Poffenroth were original homesteaders in the area and helped build up the community right from early on. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! Robert and Donna’s contributions to our community, and the area, are measured not in months, or even years, but in decades. They are regular attendees of the DCA’s Annual General Meeting, and can be found contributing to the DCA and community on a regular basis.
Thank-you, Robert and Donna, for all you have done for your friends, neighbours, DCA and community in general. You two make the area a better place!
