This fall my two daughters went off to university, leaving my wife and I empty nesters. Luckily for me, I have our OneCIM family, to whom I dedicate this note. The overwhelming impression I got from attending several CIM branch and society events over the past few months was that CIM is a very active and engaged community, with wonderful, dedicated volunteers—and people who like to have fun!
In early July, I was at the Saskatoon Branch’s 42nd annual golf tournament. Melanie Stare, the new branch chair, and the whole team put on a great event. The tournament was so popular that the course was booked out twice—one morning round and another in the afternoon.
In August, I attended the Metallurgical and Materials Society’s (MetSoc) 2023 Conference of Metallurgists in Toronto. One of the excellent MetSoc initiatives I got to witness was its Emerging Professionals Development Program, where early-career members have the opportunity to take roles in society activities at a board level, while getting free entry to the conference and networking events. I love meeting this new generation of our mining workforce—they are engaged, confident and personable.
I also visited our Central Office in Montreal to spend some quality time with our CIM executive team. I was lucky to squeeze in the CIM Montreal Branch’s 91st annual golf tournament. There, I bumped into Terry Bowles, a CIM past president, who was out there supporting his local branch. Terry’s son Steven was there too, showing that you can easily mix your own family with your CIM family.
Next, I attended the CIM Northern Gateway’s 17th annual golf tournament in Powassan. That was my first time farther north in Ontario. Mark Wagner, branch chair, and “Bionic” Bernie Robertson, vice-chair, put on a great show. Bernie earned his bionic nickname for the high-tech knee brace that helped him get around the course. The branch is made up almost entirely of mining suppliers and consultants, and they proved how supportive they are to CIM by attending in large numbers.
The CIM South Central B.C. Branch hosted its annual conference and golf tournament in Kamloops in mid-September. Branch chair Katherine Ray and her team put on both a great conference and golf day. It was a great mixture of B.C. operators, suppliers and consultants, with great sponsorships supporting a branch that is very active in the community.
In between all this fun, we also maintained our schedule of catching up with the societies and district vice-presidents to share information on current CIM initiatives, and also get feedback as to how the CIM Central Office can better support the activities of branches and societies. The next round of the meetings will be used to communicate how feedback we have received has been collated and acted upon, helping us to better operate and serve our OneCIM community.
It was very rewarding to meet so many of CIM’s branch and society volunteers and see how the many components of CIM contribute to the CIM whole. Thank you to everyone who hosted us these last few months.
I’d like to leave you with this inspiring image: recall that iconic ’70s sound of TV’s Six Million Dollar Man activating his bionic powers, but in the place of Steve Austin add Bionic Bernie, smashing another drive down the middle of the fairway.
