By A.P.Crawford, Kawartha Zone patroller (ap.crawford@skipatrol.ca)
While the official records indicate that Tim Manery first joined the CSP in 1986, that’s not quite true. He first donned a CSP-related uniform at age 12 as a member of the junior ski patrol at the Oshawa Ski Club (now Brimacombe). In fact, patrolling was a family affair with his Dad Woody (zone and division president in his own right) and brother Lorne all in full CSP uniforms at one time or another.
Over the years, Tim has been a key contributor to major initiatives in the CSP Kawartha Zone. These include his work as VP finance, where he modernized the financial reporting structure, as zone ski swap finance manager, as a key member of the zone’s education team including as refresher training seven-week course coordinator when that course ran, subsequently as an instructor at requalification weekends, and ultimately as zone president from 2006 to 2010. It was during his tenure that the CSP Kawartha Zone hosted the well-attended national annual conference in Oshawa. His committee found multiple sponsorships and grants and it was delivered in a cost-effective and affordable package. It was also the last NAC planned and hosted by a zone; subsequently all conference programming was completed by the CSP national office.
It was also with Tim’s leadership and inspiration that the CSP Kawartha Zone designed and implemented its online registration system that allows members to register for the season, pay annual dues, sign into the NDS (now YETI) to update their personal information, sign up for education classes, ski swaps (at the time), and other fundraising events, and also confirm which patrol/resort they wish to patrol at for the upcoming season. It’s been in use for decades.
A few years ago, our sister zone, the CSP Frontenac Zone suffered a period of major structural instability and in light of Tim’s leadership and mentoring abilities, the CSP Ontario Division asked him to step in as interim zone president to keep the zone functioning and build a new leadership team. He established stability in the zone’s executive, put their finances in order and established electronic tools (including adoption of Sharepoint) to secure their documents. As Matthew Middleton, current zone president put it, “With Tim’s calm approach and dedication, Frontenac Zone has now become a huge success story for Ontario Division.”
Tim’s professional expertise is in the financial world and he readily shares his acumen with the CSP. Before the advent of the national financial oversight committee (FOC) of which he is a key member, he worked closely with the national office regarding the CSP’s charitable status to ensure the correct data and paperwork was filed with the Canada Revenue Agency. When the FOC was established, he worked with the committee to write financial policies and procedures for approval by the board of directors and was also instrumental in determining the best investment vehicle for the proceeds from the sale of the CSP’s national headquarters building.
Most recently, Tim was tasked with re-creating the online financial reporting system that had originally been created using the NDS. With the advent of YETI the entire system had to be recreated while maintaining the same capabilities. And the entire project needed to be completed within a four-month timeframe. He built a committee and together the group pulled off the (almost) impossible. An informative report on this endeavour can be found in the August 2023 edition of 5/5 which gives some idea of the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes that most patrollers never see.
Tim is a true builder of the CSP as a leader, supporter and mentor. He steps up when needed and is a driving force in the establishment of new endeavours, always willing to share his expertise and experience. An excellent communicator and always professional, he also knows the value of humour as a volunteer. He is highly respected by his peers.
On behalf of past and present members of the CSP Kawartha Zone and the rest of the CSP we were delighted to recognize Tim Manery as CSP Life Member No. 93 in 2023. Well done Tim, and very much deserved indeed.
Caption: Kawartha Zone’s three current active life members. Once again in their respective patrolling careers they all ski at the same resort and can often be found on the snow at the same time! l-r: Tim Manery (LM 93), Charlie Turner (LM 39), A.P. Crawford (LM 87) (Photo supplied)