President's Message - September 2003
Who would have thought that one day a Thunder Bay delegate would become the OIAA president? Certainly not me. Well, that day has arrived, and I am looking forward to serving your Ontario Adjuster Insurance Association as president in its 73rd year. For the members who don’t know me, I have been a member of both the Northern Ontario Chapter and the Thunder Bay Chapter, where I held various executive positions with both chapters, including president and chapter delegate. I have been on the OIAA executive council since 1992 and have learned a lot from the past leadership about what our association does for the members. This year, it will be a challenge to run your association from Thunder Bay, but I am confident that with our wonderful, hard-working executive council, composed of 21 adjusters from various areas of Ontario, we will make you all proud to be members of the Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association. This year we welcome Brett Colville, our new Toronto delegate; Jim Fitzpatrick is returning as the Hamilton delegate, and Michael Cherrie, our new Ottawa Valley delegate, is replacing our newly elected secretary Alan Gallagher.
The kick-off this year will be the Past Presidents and Honorary Member’s Night, which will be held at the Wyndham Bristol Place October 8, 2003. Our guest speaker will be Danielle Sauvageau, head coach of the first Canadian Olympic Hockey Team to win a gold in 50 years. Danielle, who led Canada’s 2002 Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team to a thrilling gold-medal victory, is a member of the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Olympic bid committee, and she is also a full-time police officer. Come out and hear how to reach your goals, pursue your dreams and achieve ultimate success through determination and teamwork. I look forward to seeing you at our October event, which I am sure you will enjoy.
I had the pleasure of attending the Ottawa Valley Adjusters Association Annual Golf Tournament in July, which was a great success: they raised money for Operation Go Home and the Old Forge Senior’s Centre. I wish to thank the OVAA for inviting me. It was a pleasure visiting your wonderful city and having the opportunity to meet some of your members. In August, I attended the London Adjusters Association Annual Golf Tournament, which was also a great success; there were well over 300 golfers in attendance. Thank you for inviting me: it was a pleasure visiting your wonderful city and having the opportunity to meet some of your members.
Over the years we have seen the OIAA move forward in many different areas - there are just too many areas to comment on. As this is your association, we look forward to having members more involved in the association, and we always look forward to hearing from you. If you wish to get involved or you have some ideas you wish to put forward to the association, please communicate with us, as we do want to hear from members so we can better serve you as the executive council and as an association. Through my years of being on council, I have seen many excellent individuals who have put in endless volunteer time to run your association, and I wish to say I am proud to have had the opportunity to have worked with you: your hard work has brought this association forward. This year we are hoping to strengthen our relationships in the insurance industry and provide information to our industry on what the Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association really does. I am looking forward to meeting and working with all our members throughout Ontario during my year as president - and let’s all some fun doing it!
Frank Castaldo President Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association 1-877-669-6422