McKinnon continues her work with Calgary Stampede board

Times Reporter

 

Strathmore resident Teri McKinnon was recently voted into her fourth term with the Calgary Stampede board. There is an extensive nomination process that involves conducting business and Stampede references, as well as an in-depth interview.  

There is then an extensive review and vetting process, said McKinnon, designed to identify individuals with the leadership skills, vision, experience, business acumen and dedication to guide the Calgary Stampede into the next 100 years.

McKinnon began her journey with the Stampede years ago, helping her mother hang art pieces in the Western Showcase. To this day she is still involved with the showcase as the Director Liaison for the Western Showcase group.

Last year the Stampede celebrated 100 years, and McKinnon said everything the board is working on now is about what the next 100 will look like. 

“I’m excited to be sitting on the cusp of watching the wrap-up of one and launching the next,” said McKinnon.

“I’m really so proud to be going into this next (century) because some of the stuff that I volunteered for the company in the first place is coming to fruition.”

One of those things is the Western Events Centre, which is a multi-purpose agriculture facility with a priority of agriculture education and interactive learning. McKinnon volunteered at Aggie Days to first begin getting a feel of the agriculture industry after marrying her husband who is involved in the industry. She has a passion for education and agriculture and to see the two combined in any way they can be is always something that appeals to her. 

“The fact that this is under construction and it’s going to be open in 2014 is pretty exciting, and then the other part of the strategic plan is the youth campus. So again with youth being a focus of mine it’s pretty exciting that they’re moving forward with the planning on what a youth campus on park would look like,” said McKinnon. 

Another focus of the board are the volunteers and staff. Any great event relies heavily on having great volunteers, so the Stampede would like to find a way to find new volunteers, while continuing to encourage the current ones to return each year. 

The youth campus is also coming to fruition for the Stampede. It will be on the northeast quadrant of Stampede Park and it will hopefully be a year round education facility for the performing arts. McKinnon said it will support the Young Canadians, and the Champion Show band.  

“The Show band actually has three tiers, we have a feeder system, you start in as a Roundup and then you go to Stetson and then you go to Show band,” said McKinnon.

“We really feel that we foster a growth pattern for these kids. Same with Young Canadians, you come in at a certain level and then at each year you can move up until you get to the people who are actually in the Grandstand Show.”

The school itself is a separate entity from the Grandstand Show. The school runs in connection with the regular school year, and kids get extra credit in high school for being a Young Canadian. She said it has been exciting and fun to be involved with the Calgary Stampede, and be a member of the board for so many years. 

There are lots of fun new things coming to the Stampede this year, said McKinnon, and there will be a lot of big name acts coming to take part in the Grandstand Show. 

“The centennial was incredible so how do you go into the next century, how do start your next century, so we’re pretty excited about how we’re going to launch this to the public,” said McKinnon.

Each year she wonders how the Grandstand show can be topped, and each year she is pleasantly surprised when it is.