From north of the border …
Well it’s that time of year again, time to clean out the leaf-clogged gutters and pray that the temperatures will stay above freezing for just another week or two (to squeeze in a bit more late season biking)!

It’s also something else.  While we here in Canada have already celebrated our Thanksgiving – and you folks to the south are still weeks away – it’s also time to reflect on what is most important in our respective lives.  For many it’s immediate family, for others it is a broader community (such as the Alliance).  Inevitably it is about sharing and celebrating the contributions that we all, in our humble ways, make to our communities and to society as a whole.  We often do not stop and think about this enough, but it doesn’t hurt to make the point from time to time.

And take nothing for granted: what you cherish today may be gone tomorrow. 

April 2012: Victoria, B.C. !
You will have already received the Newsflash (thanks Breanne!) in regards to our much anticipated conference next April (25^th to 28^th to be exact) in Victoria, British Columbia: "Powerful Vistas/ Powerful Views: New Perspectives in Historic Landscape Preservation."  On your behalf, and keeping your best interests in mind, the organizing committee has been busy organizing and arguing about who and what to include on the program.

Engage in dialogues about the preservation of historic landscapes and the conservation of cultural landscapes of significance.  Share your views and broaden your perspective.  If there’s one thing that the ‘converted’ appreciate about Alliance gatherings are the debates, dialogues, and yes (at times) arguments, in the realm of historic landscape preservation.

Our vistas during our 34^th annual gathering, will be the variety of Canada’s powerful, awe-inspiring West Coast landscapes.  The City of Victoria promotes itself as being "full of life" and we intend to inject as much of that into your conference experience as we can.  We have been able to secure decent rates at the venerable Empress Hotel in the heart of the city.  Field visits will look at aboriginal, colonial and multicultural engagements with the powerful west coast landscapes.

And, as always, we'll provide some ideas about interesting places that you might explore either before/after the conference (including Vancouver across the Georgia Strait or Seattle).  So, think about 'goin’ coastal' in the spring of 2012.  We look forward to welcoming and presenting a powerful regional landscape that will move you!

Membership

Our legacy project includes the collection of oral histories and the posting of photographs from past meetings, especially from our origins in 1978 to present-day.  Debbie Smith is spearheading this initiative.  Don’t be surprised if she contacts you 'old-timers' for insight into the Alliance’s early days.

Thank you once again for participating as a member of the Alliance.

John Zvonar
President, AHLP