Page IMSA Journal44Continued on page 45

Section News

While we were having our meeting and banquet on 5/12/2011, another large function was going on next door (same hotel). It was a large convention and competition of barbershop quartets from the US and Canada. We talked to one of the groups and they agreed to come over and sing several songs to our group. They were fantastic! Their name was The Ringtones Quartet from Quebec and they were last years’ 1st place winners. Ray Bigelow, Northeast Section Secretary

Northeast Section

On Wednesday June 15th 2011, the New Jersey Section held it’s Annual Conference at the Rutgers Eco Complex in Bor-dentown, New Jersey. 64 people from Pennsylvania and New Jersey were in attendance. The meeting started at 8am where various items of interest to the Section were discussed by the officers. Several vendor exhibits were setup in the lower atrium. Vendors present included Power & Tel, Signal Service Inc., Rhythm Engineering, FLIR Systems Inc., General Highway Products Inc., Statewide Traffic Safety and ASKCA Inc. A number of technical presentations were provided for the attendees, these presentations were educational and very informative. Presentations were provided by:

* Tom Cooper (Rhythm Engineering) and Anthony Still (Signal Sales & Parking)* Sal DiSalvo (FLIR Systems Inc.)* Michael Plath (Statewide Traffic Safety)* Joseph Doyle (Pennoni Inc.)* William Smith (Republic ITS)

The Section lost two members this year; Russell T. Leaf Sr. who passed away in February and Ronald S. Tegethoff Sr. who passed away in March. A memorial plaque was pre-sented to Russ’s son, Russ Jr. The Section would like to thank everyone who attended the meeting and also give special thanks to the vendors and presenters for their participation.

New Jersey Section

President George Baureko (left) and 1st VP Michael Wargo (right) present Russell Leaf Jr. with a memorial plaque. Russ’s father, Russ Sr., was an active member with the Section and a past president.

Submitted by James Klinge, IMSA Certification Chair

Far Western SectionWe sincerely hope that you will be able to join us as the Farwestern Section of the IMSA presents the third annual Las Vegas ‘Vendor Show’ at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday, September 27, 2011 from 12:00 Noon until 5:00 PM. For several years we have held certification classes in Las Vegas and have experienced superior attendance.

Do you remember Laughlin? The Farwestern Section of IMSA remembers Laughlin and all the treasured happen-ings and events we shared there and intends to resurrect that experience in a slightly different venue at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV ! ! !

The Vendor Show is being held as part of our annual Certi-fication Program in Las Vegas. You will see new and inno-vative products from numerous vendors! The vendor show will be held in the ‘Palace Station Ball Room’ located on the second floor of the Palace Station Casino. There will be Signs and Markings vendors, Traffic Signal vendors, Roadway Lighting vendors and admission is FREE! Participants will enjoy plentiful food, fun and door prizes! Hourly door prizes will be awarded in addition to our traditional ‘Door Prize Extravaganza’ beginning at 4:30 PM.

Vendors will be provided a 8’x10’ booth with one table and two chairs. Electricity will be available at all booths. Phone and internet connections can be negotiated with the hotel as neended at the vendors expense. Cost: $450.00 ($395.00 for IMSA Sustaining Members). Please send your completed registration and check payable to IMSA Farwestern Section to: Lew Roberts, IMSA Farwestern Section, Vendor Display Coordinator (Terry Gentry), P.O. Box 4903, San Dimas, CA 91773.

Bob Hill, Northeast Section, with the Ringtones Quartet.

September/October 2011 Page 45

Continued on page 46CONGRESSIONAL FIRE SERVICES INSTITUTE (CFSI) dinner. “IMSA Board member Jeff Knight, left, and Deputy Executive Di-rector Doug Aiken, right, chat with Senator John McCain (R-AZ) during the Directors Reception at the 23rd Annual CFSI National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner which was held in Washing-ton, DC in April.”

Submitted by Douglas Aiken, Deputy Executive Director

Section News . . . Continued from page 44

Far Western Section . . .

International Section

British Columbia SectionSpring NewsWell, my term as the IMSA British Columbia Section President is up. I would like to give a big Thank-You to the Executive for helping me through the last two years. It was a great learning experience for me (to see what goes on behind the scenes in our Section). My biggest highlight would be the International Confer-ence in Orlando, as I had no idea what goes on outside our Section (talk about a fish out of water). Last year, I was able to attend the International conference in Dallas and felt I was able to contribute a little in the area of the Canadian Education group. As most of you know, I really enjoy moderating the IMSA courses and I will be putting more of my emphasis in this area. Canceling courses at the last minute due to poor enrollment has been a real problem for our Section. I believe the Executive have come up with a few creative solutions to help eliminate this problem. We know a lot of our members are not able to attend the lower mainland sessions on a regular basis to get the required TARP points to keep up their certifications. We are tackling this problem and feel we will have something to announce in the next few months.

Lodging is available at: Palace Station Hotel & Casino ($35.00 and up), West Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89102 www.stationcasinos.com Toll Free: 888-476-8706 Phone: 702-367-2411

For additional information please contact: Terry Gentry – 760-885-1838 tgentry@ci.san-dimas.ca.usor Lew Roberts – 559-271-8505 trafsig@comcast.net

Ed Jantzen is now our Section President. This is the sec-ond time Ed has stepped forward to assume this role (thanks). We also have new faces on the Executive. I can hardly wait to see what ideas they will bring forward. As I have said in the past, let us know what we are do-ing right and what you think we should be changing. Our monthly Executive meetings are a great way to get involved. But, just because you attend a meeting does not mean we will load you down with work (that usually happens at your second meeting).

Submitted by Dennis Galisky, Past President IMSA B.C. Section

The Spring Technical Sessions were held on March 1, 2011 at the Executive Plaza Hotel in Coquitlam. The Technical Sessions held this year were both interesting and informative. The vendor display area was popular with all attendees. We are encouraged that attendance keeps increasing. I wish to thank everyone for their ef-forts and assistance to make this such a positive event. Also, I wish to thank our Lunch and Coffee sponsors, for without your contribution and support, events like this would not be possible. Lunch sponsors were: Valmont West Coast Engineering, Oldcastle Moulded Products (Synertech), Valley Traffic Systems and Nova Pole International. The Coffee sponsors were: Trafco Canada, LCP Signal management Inc., Valid Manufac-turing, Texcan (Sonepar Canada), Novax Industries,

Page IMSA Journal46Continued on page 47

Section News . . . Continued from page 45

Ontario Section

British Columbia Section . . .

I am writing this message just before the beginning of our Annual IMSA Ontario Certification School. Once again, we have to be pleased with the number of our Members and friends in the biz who will be participating in the programs being offered.

This is the best opportunity that we can offer to promote uniformity in our industry. Everyone getting together to achieve Certification is one thing, but the better part of the experience is the networking that occurs. It is wonderful thing to see the participants exchange ideas and compare experiences. At this point, it appears as if 181 people will be occupying about 275 class seats. Over the course of the week approximately 600 lunches will be served. Kudos to everyone who helped put this huge event together.

Today also marks the first day of spring. It will be nice to see the return of good weather and of course, the construction season. Hopefully, there has been time in the “off Season” to hone your skills through work training sessions and other programs, especially in the area of work zone safety. If you have participated in such programs please make sure that we know that we know about them, so that you can be ac-credited for your next Certification Renewal.

Recently, I attended the International’s Mid-winter Meeting. There was a lot of discussion about the development and up-dating of the existing programs ... a lot of which is underway. For each such program development or update, a Technical Advisory Committee is formed. It is the basic responsibility of these committees to identify the program content prior to the developer creating the program. Participation in any given Committee is open and to some degrees fluid, as some members “come and go” from the committee depending on their ability to afford time. A short commitment to a specific topic is a lot better than not participating at all. This process is new and I am convinced will improve the quality and

Western Hydroblasting, Econolite Canada, Cobra Electric, and Fortran Traffic Systems.

Organizing Technical Sessions such as this, takes many vol-unteer hours to make it happen I wish to thank Paul Sung and our Board members for their part in making this another successful Spring Technical Session.

During the Spring Technical Sessions, we held our Annual General Meeting, at which time a new Board of Directors was elected. The 2011 and 2012 Board of Directors are:

President: Ed Janzen, Retired1st Vice President: Vacant2nd Vice President: Craig MacKenzie, City of VancouverSecretary: Larry Parks LCP Signal ManagementTreasurer: Craig MacKenzieInternational Delegate & International Past President: Craig MacKenzieAlternate International Delegate: Joseph Quan, City of LangleyPast President: Dennis Galisky, City of VictoriaDirectors at Large:Julie Carter, B.C. HydroDon Goto, Interprovincial TrafficAtif Khan, Econolite CanadaGraeme Kraft, City of VancouverLeon Lilley, ElectromegaBrian Olsen, LCP Signal ManagementPierre Pluff, Econolite CanadaScott Sherba, Westcana ElectricMitch Stripp, District of Maple RidgePaul Sung, City of RichmondBill Williams, LCP Signal ManagementTerry Wilson, City of CoquitlamFred Wolin, City of Kelowna

Certification Chair: Graeme KraftMembership Chair: Joseph QuanNewsletter Editor: Joseph Quan

Visit our website at www.imsa.bc.ca

Summer NewsAnother year of wisdom is behind us and another year of success is in front of us! We now have a number of new faces that have graciously chosen to volunteer their time and effort to ensure that the IMSA B.C. Executive board continues to have fresh ideas and a renewed energy. I would like to thank the new members who stepped up and became Directors at Large. I would also like to thank the members who accepted nominations for Executive posts for their continuing time and effort. I look forward with anticipation to working with all of you well into the future. As a reminder to the general Membership, you don’t have to be a board member to put your ideas forward for discussion at our executive meetings. Contact any of our Executives; their contact information is on our website at www.imsa.bc.ca.

As the new President, I follow a path that is well established. The B.C. Section of IMSA has matured over the years since its inception in 1995. My duties as President have been made considerably easier because of a lot of hard work on the part of the previous Executives.

We held our Spring Technical Session and Trade Show in March of this year, which was a very successful event again. I wish to thank all who spent their valuable time and effort to organize this event.

On November 1, 2011, our Fall Technical Session and Trade Show will be held at the Coquitlam Executive Inn, so con-sider joining us for these events. Anyone interested in taking certification courses, please see our web site and sign up for them. When enough people have signed up for a course it will be scheduled.

Submitted by Ed Jantzen, President B.C.. Section www.imsa.bc.ca

September/October 2011 Page 47

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Generatortransfer switchesfor traffic signals,

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power outages.

Section News . . . Continued from page 46

Ontario Section . . .timeliness of Certification Programs. If you have a bit of time and you want to help, please let me know.

The next big event on the schedule is our Invitational Golf Tournament and Annual General Meeting on June 23.

The end of June marks the end of the year for IMSA Ontario, and by my cal-culation the conclusion of our 37th year. Traditionally, we celebrate the end of the year with our Annual Golf Tourna-ment, held this year at the Glen Eagle Golf Club. I am excited this year about the changes that have been organized. Aside from the new golf course, the hot buffet breakfast and shotgun start format, it should be great. This is an excellent opportunity to catch up with friends, customers and colleagues.

I have to say that I am very pleased and proud to have a wonderful group of colleagues dedicate their time and en-ergy toward the work of our organization over the past year. I also have to thank the organizations that support IMSA Ontario. This list includes our Sustaining Members (sup-pliers, contractors, consultants), the Government Agencies (Provincial, Municipal), and the Supervisors and Managers of all these organizations that choose to direct their people to us. We are not “the only game in town” as there are many fine organizations that can be supported, so those who sup-port us... a grateful Thank You.As we celebrate the end of our old year, we immediately start our new year with the Annual General Meeting, the occasion where you, the membership, elect a new Executive to guide our path. It is important that members have their say, so I encourage you all to attend our AGM.

The past year has been enjoyable as President of IMSA On-tario . . . The position has provided the opportunity to travel and meet and “network” with many of you; I cannot think of a finer group of people to be associated with.

Thanks to all of you.

Submitted by Michael Flanigan, President IMSA Ontario