I had the honor and great opportunity to go to the annual Alberta Urban Municipalities Association conference this year in Edmonton. There were all sorts of sessions dealing with municipal issues including opportunities to meet with a number of government ministers. We heard Premier Ed Stelmach speak as well as Brian Mason from the NDP and Dr. Swan from the Liberals and the MLA from the Wildrose Alliance. It was all good, but the best was the last Keynote speaker being Michael Pinball Clemons. He was incredibly dynamic, personal and motivational. He made a number of important points about what is important in life - the main one being a dad and husband! This just was SO awesome to hear! He calls it "substance" in life not just "style". Style is fleeting where substance is (sorry to use this word :)) - substantial! Carrying a piece of leather around the field is just style! He called himself just a "glorified talent". It is safe to say the entire room felt motivated to make a difference in life and as Pinball put it, we make a huge difference in our community being in municipal politics! And yes I did get an autograph on the notes I made about his speech! The photo here is with our entire city of Lacombe council.
