Real Life Updates
Last Year….
RNF Ventures was proud to have our crew participate in the 2011 Movember fight against prostate cancer.
Allan was extremely lucky (again) and caught a pike in excess of 20 pounds. Kelly caught one that he is certain exceeded that size, but due to the deft handling of the dip net by Kevin, no permanent record of this event has been captured on film. John, Kelly and Grant shared the prize for the largest walleye, and given the widely held belief this is a more desirable catch than a “jack”, those 3 have proclaimed themselves as the winner of the fish derby. A great time was had by all, and there has been talk of making it an annual event.
This Year….
RNF Ventures is proud to have had 26 team members participate in the 2012 Movember. We would like to thank all of the participants for another very successful campaign.
We are very pleased to advise that Lyndon Barber has recently completed 
his 4th Year of apprenticeship training and has been successful in passing the Red Seal Exam to achieve his accreditation as a Journeyman Carpenter. Congratulations Lyndon.
On another note, Lyndon and his long time girlfriend, Whitney will be tying the knot later this year.
We would like to acknowledge two members of our team who have made it to the one year mark.
Jonathon Boutin is developing into a fine Project Coordinator.
Keith Bird has been working diligently as our Health and Safety Officer, in enhancing our Health and Safety Program.
Congratulations to both. We certainly appreciate your efforts!
We are pleased to announce, that after serving a stint as an
assistant supervisor at the Family Treatment Centre, Derrick Frasz has recently been given the responsibility of overseeing a multi family condominium project in Lloydminster. We are confident Derrick has the necessary skills to be successful in his new role. Good Luck Derrick!
The family of Project Manager Jacques Renaud recently took advantage of the RNF season tickets by attending a Raider game in Prince Albert. Wife, Danielle, along with grandchildren Anthony and Emery are shown here having a good time. Jacques would be the guy in the middle.
After four terms, Kelly has recently relinquished his position as Chairman of the Saskatchewan Construction Association. He will remain on the Board for at least one term as Past Chair to assist new Chairman, Sam Shaw in his new role.
Allan Webb has recently been nominated to the Board of Directors for the Saskatchewan Construction Association. We all expect Allan to become a strong voice for the industry, not only for the Prince Albert Region, but for the Province as well.
Congratulations are in order to Noah Charles on passing his 4th Year apprenticeship training. Noah is a feel good story for us. Since he started with us 12 years ago, he has distanced himself from his very humble beginnings, and has elevated himself to a position whereby he is a very well respected and valued employee. All of us in the management team are very proud of Noah’s accomplishments. We hold him up as the example of what people can accomplish if they put their mind to it.
Congratulations to Brock & Haley Walters for taking that walk down the aisle. Brock has been with RNF Ventures since he was in the carpentry program at Carlton Comprehensive High School. He has been a Red Seal Journeyman Carpenter for 3 years. Brock has developed into a very capable supervisor and currently is Orlan Peterson’s #2 at the Pine View Terrace Project, the largest project we have ever taken on.
Another “feel good” RNF moment happened over the Christmas season. Earnest Hutchinson (Hutch) was employed at RNF from 2009 to 2011 until he moved to Lethbridge to be with partner, Mary. Mary is attending school there. Hutch has kept in touch with Noah and Lorne, two of his closest RNF buddies. The day of our annual Staff meeting, which is generally on the day of our Christmas Social, we found out that Hutch and Mary had recently had a little boy. Unfortunately the little guy was born prematurely, and is afflicted with Spina Bifida. As a testament to the character of the newborn’s parents, it is important to note that Hutch and Mary were aware of the difficulties their baby would have, but did not consider any other options other than having the child, and dealing with whatever that brought in the future. Not everyone would make that decision.
The baby was very small and needed surgery in Calgary. Hutch was living and working in Lethbridge, and travelled almost daily to Calgary to be with his family. As you can imagine this put a significant financial hardship on them. At our staff meeting we became aware that Noah and his wife Maureen were raffling off a baby blanket in an effort to raise a few dollars to send to Mary and Hutch to help offset expenses. We passed around the hat at our meeting and Christmas Social and along with the proceeds of the raffle were able to send them $3,370. This was kick started by a very generous donation of $1,000 by Ashley McGrath. We are very proud that the RNF family rallied around this cause. Some of the donations came from people who had never known Hutch, but were moved to help. An interesting sidebar is that Kelly Timmerman claimed the baby blanket that was offered as the raffle prize, but sent it to Hutch and Mary for their use.
This is the return message we received from Hutch and Mary.
Good Morning Kelly! I just wanted to send a quick thank-you your way in hopes that you would relay the message to everyone who found it in their heart to make our Xmas a great one. When one least expects it, generosity rears its face just in the nick of time.
Mary and I would have had a tough time getting through this financially stressful time without the help of the employees and families of RNF. We were able to pay for our stay at the Ronald McDonald House of Calgary as well as paid our travelling budget. As you can imagine, commuting back and forth from Lethbridge to Calgary and not working for an extended period of time is tough on anyone. But with the help you guys unselfishly gave us, we were able to get through just fine.
Words can’t begin to express the elation and sense of relief Mary and I felt when we heard the news that the RNF family had helped us so substantially. Thank you so much. Please know that we will always be grateful for your friendship and kindness! I have sent a few pictures of Nixon Duane Hutchinson. Warning!!!!!!!! He is the cutest little negrooo u ever done seen ha ha ha!! Thanks again.
P.S. If anyone has any further interest in our journey with Nixon and would like to be in contact with us, please give them this email address. I would be happy to tell them more about Spina Bifida or just keep them updated with progress, pictures, whatever.
Hutch