PRESIDENT’ S MESSAGE
Board of Directors
Michelle Smibert, CMO President Municipality of Middlesex Centre
Cahl Pominville, AMCT Immediate Past President Municipality of North Grenville
Christopher Wray, AMCT Vice President / Director at Large Municipality of Wawa
John Hannam, CMO Director at Large City of Thunder Bay
Lois O’ Neill-Jackson, CMO Director at Large Municipality of Trent Lakes
Yvonne Robert, CMO, AMCT Director at Large Township of Elizabethtown-Kitley
Michelle Casavecchia-Somers, CMO Zone 1 Board Director Township of Malahide
Mark Gaynor, CMO Zone 2 Board Director Municipality of Brockton
Angela Morgan, CMO Zone 3 Board Director City of Burlington
Stephen Huycke Zone 4 Board Director Town of Aurora
Candace Thwaites, CMO, AMCT Zone 5 Board Director Town of Gravenhurst
Brenda Brunt, CMO Zone 6 Board Director Township of South Dundas
Carol Trainor, AMCT Zone 7 Board Director Township of St. Joseph
Stephane Palmateer, AMCT Zone 8 Board Director City of Timmins
Marcella Vallelunga Zone 9 Board Director City of Thunder Bay
Thanks to All of You
I Lived
Every time I listen to the song I Lived by OneRepublic, it brings to life all of the wonderful opportunities that I have had and all of the awesome people in our great association that I have worked with over the last year.
The first part of the song says“ Hope when you take that jump, you don’ t feel the fall.” To be honest, when I started my responsibilities as president, I felt that I was taking a bit of a jump into the unknown. I was attending zone meetings outside of my zone, being the guest at conferences with other associations, spending time away from the office, travelling to parts of the province that I didn’ t know existed. Because of the great support of the staff at the AMCTO office and fellow board members, zone executive members and the great members of our association, I felt that the fall was cushioned, if not averted altogether. I survived without any scrapes or bruises and I attribute that to all of you.
By Michelle Smibert, CMO AMCTO President
Later on in the song, you can find the following lyrics:“ I owned every second that this world could give, I saw so many places, the things that I did.” Kapuskasing, Malahide, Adjala Tosorontio, North Grenville, Thunder Bay, Tokyo and Amagasaki City, Japan are just a few of those wonderful places travelled by bus, train, planes( both big and not so big) and automobiles. And the things that I did were absolutely amazing – playing euchre“ Northern” style, eating interesting things with interesting utensils, getting to know people and customs and understanding the unique opportunities and challenges of each zone.
So, my question to you is,“ Do you want to live, like really live?” If your answer is yes, then please give some consideration in getting involved at any level of our awesome association. AMCTO has so many great people – you need to meet every single one of them.
4 Q2 2015 www. amcto. com