The Friends of Jasper National Park held its annual general meeting on June 24, and this year the society decided to make things a little more fun and family-friendly by hosting a barbecue at Lake Annette.

At the meeting, the new election of officers was performed, which saw two board members leave the society and four new ones join. The new members are Jordan Tucker, Maggie Davidson, Jen Dubois and Dale Rhyason. Returning board members are Marcie Dewandel, Heather Heise, Ryan Chillebeck and Scott Wilson. 

“We’re excited to have a new board, and have new people to set the direction of the Friends,” said Heather Aussant, co-manager of the Friends. 

The society had hoped to have people on the board with management and marketing experience, which is something that was achieved with the new board. 

Aussant said they discussed adopting a team approach to the Friends, which has already been put into place with the management. The hope is that the board will conduct their business in the same way  and work toward the same goals. 

The Friends have many projects on the go, and this year they will try to complete as many of them as they can. The first projects on that list are the completion of the Discovery Trail and an update of the Friends website. 

This year Friends in High Places, an affiliate of the Friends of Jasper National Park, has launched the Grizz on the Go program. Visitors can pick up a stuffed plush grizzly bear and bring it with them on their travels. The aim is for visitors to photograph themselves with the bear, and post the pictures on the Friends in High Places Facebook page to win prizes and learn more about the park. 

At the AGM, the volunteer of the year award was given to long-time volunteer Jack Davies, who passed away suddenly in the fall. 

“We gave it to him for all his work on the board,” Aussant said. “We were happy to be able to recognize him in that way.”

Over the past year, Friends volunteers contributed 1,800 hours to various projects, and Aussant predicts the number will be much higher this year. 

“We expect that to go up significantly,” she said. 

This is a big year for the Friends as they will be helping to organize the massive amount of volunteers needed for this year’s Parks Day, which will feature the raising of the new Two Brothers Totem Pole. 

“We’ll definitely be looking for volunteers for that event,” Aussant said. About 200 people will be needed for the actual raising of the pole alone.

The Friends will continue with their usual programs such as Walk in the Past. The Friends meet monthly and try to maintain a fun atmosphere, which Aussant said keeps bringing people back to the organization. 

“It must work, because we have returning staff members every year,” she said. “This year we’ve had an incredible response to our volunteer program.”

Anyone interested in volunteering can do so by checking out the Friends’ website at  www.friendsofjasper.com

The Friends hold volunteer orientation programs to get everyone familiar with each other and the organization before launching into their community service. It helps everyone familiarize themselves with the people they need to know to get their individual jobs done and gives them an idea of what the Friends of Jasper National Park are all about.

“They actually know what they’re volunteering for and know what they’re supporting,” Aussant said. “We’re really just letting people know that they have an opportunity to give back to the park.”