NOTICE
NOTRA Annual General Meeting
Monday March 10th 20008 7 pm
The People Place, Vernon
We have two requests of all of those involved with NOTRA ...
1) Please attend the meeting if at all possible as we are required to record at least twice as many NOTRA members at our AGM as Board of Directors. Insufficient attendance could adversely affect the funding we receive from the Gaming Commission who provide us with an annual grant of $15,000.00. Every rider & volunteer is a member of NOTRA. We try to keep the meeting as close to 1 hour as possible so as not to take up too much of your time.
2) PLEASE seriously consider whether you would be able to contribute to NOTRA as a Board Member. NOTRA is in a very precarious position right now with regard to our board. We are saying good-bye to our President Elena Walker, Secretary Donna Webb, Director in charge of Maintenance Roger Florence, and Directors at Large Pat Alexander and Kerry Casperson. This is a loss of half of our board and will have a dire impact on NOTRA's future if we are unable to find new board members who are passionate about seeing this 24 year old program continue. Please contact Dani by response to this e-mail or by calling 549-0105 if your are feeling you would be able to let your name stand as a board member. *Board job descriptions should be available on the NOTRA website www.notra.info soon ... alternately, you can have Dani e-mail them to you. Thank you for seriously considering our requests ... I am remaining hopeful that there are enough people from Vernon and the surrounding areas that are passionate enough about what we do that NOTRA will not become a thing of the past as the have the programs in Kelowna and Kamloops.
Thank you to the Kal Rotary Dream Auction!
The 2007 Kal Rotary Dream Auction was a huge success raising over $200,000.00.
NOTRA is extremely grateful to be chosen as one of the Kalamalka Rotary’s projects, receiving $6,000.00 in order to purchase an Independent Strides saddle for the program.
NOTRA is extremely excited about the opportunities to ride that this saddle will provide to riders that we have previously been unable to due to the severity of their disabilities.
“The Independence” is an adaptive saddle with adjustable and removable headrest, backrest, forearm supports, hand grips, Peacock Irons, and a Safety Release System. This therapeutic saddle features a prompt reduction technology that gradually allows more independent sitting on horseback by riders with special needs.
Adapting and supporting according to the needs of each individual, “ The Independence” saddle, and its prompts allows a person with severe physical challenges to sit safely and independently astride a horse, while the traditional physical dependency on sidewalkers is dramatically decreased.
Thank you to the Okanagan Horsey Ladies!
On November 16, 2007 horse loving gals in the North Okanagan got together for their 10th annual banquet and Charity Auction. They raised $6,500.00 which was split equally between NOTRA, the Vernon SPCA and the Shuswap SPCA. We are NOTRA are humbly grateful to have been chosen yet again and deeply appreciate the support that has been shown to NOTRA over the years by the Okanagan Horsey Ladies.
The funds raised this year will go toward subsidising a rider(s) that due to financial hardship, cannot afford the riders fees. Watch for updates on the Okanagan Horsey Ladies sponsored rider(s) later in the year!
Thank you to Cheryle Hickman, Nancy Roman, Sharon Dahl, Amy Vaughan and all of the others involved with the banquet. Your efforts are deeply appreciated and will go a long way in putting smiles on the faces of disabled riders in the North Okanagan.
Winter Carnival Parade 2008
“Carnival In the Sky”
NOTRA will again have an entry in the Vernon Winter Carnival parade on Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
All riders, volunteers (or anyone involved with NOTRA in any way) are encouraged to participate in this fun event!
The parade starts at 12:00pm SHARP! Riders are asked to arrive at no later than 11:45am … it’s too cold for us to ask you to be there for the start of judging at 10:30am.
Please contact Dani at 549-0105 if you are interested in participating. She will be able to give you directions to the marshalling area where we will be setting up our float.
Thanking you in advance for supporting NOTRA in this fun way.
Spring Session 2008
April 14th, 2008 – June 6th, 2008
Registration begins on March 15th, 2008
Registrations are accepted on a first come, first serve basis and fill fast, so register early.
See the Program Registration page for registration form and rider’s package downloads and more information.
Ride-A-Thon 2008
NOTRA’s 15th Annual Ride-A-Thon is scheduled for June 22nd, 2008 at Coldstream Ranch. It’s not too soon to start thinking about collecting pledges! Let’s make this NOTRA’s biggest fundraiser to date!
See the Ride-A-Thon page for registration form, pledge form and sponsorship form downloads.
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ANYONE feeling a little more
energetic and who feels strongly about the benefits of therapeutic riding
(friend or family of a rider or volunteer included) … NOTRA is also
looking for new board members as a few will not be returning this coming year.
Without a solid board of directors made up of people who are passionate about
the program, NOTRA will go the way of so many other therapeutic riding programs
in the BC Interior and not be able to continue to function. This would be
tragic for such a beneficial program that has been in existence since 1984.
NOTRA's GREATEST NEEDS are for
individuals who may be gifted with the ability to put pen to paper. There are
many opportunities that are being missed to submit articles to local papers
& magazines and a newsletter for NOTRA members & supporters has been
something that has been greatly needed for quite some time. In addition, there
are also MANY sources of funding that NOTRA has not even begun to tap into as
the grant application process can be quite involved and our Program Coordinator
can only find time to do a few per year. Someone gifted in this area would be
an unbelievable help to the program. |
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