Leslie Cholowsky, Editor
The Battle River Community Foundation (BRCF) honoured Killam residents Terry and Ellie Hamilton on the weekend at their fall Community Builders Dinner, Saturday, Oct. 24.
A Community Builder event has half of the total ticket sales ($50 of the $100 ticket cost) donated as part of the evening, adding in the funds raised in the live auction portion of the night. Those funds are the start of a new BRCF fund, in the name of Terry and Ellie Hamilton, that will support whatever community organizations that the Hamiltons direct, through the interest it earns. The principle is never touched, and it stays in perpetuity.
Aaron Lassu served as the master of ceremonies on Saturday night.
The evening started with two bagpipers from the Battle River Pipes and Drums, Dan Fee and Kari Fox-Newby, piping in the Hamiltons.
Then the auctioneers for the evening, Dale Jones and Darrin Holben were invited up to auction off the second table to eat.
Jones congratulated the Hamiltons on being recognized that night before getting right into a story. He ended up selling two tables first and second dibs at dinner for $1,000 each.
After dinner, Lassu again took to the podium, saying that he has known the Hamiltons for 17,638 days, “which is a really impressive way of saying my entire life.”
He said that over the years, the relationship has changed, from a nephew, co-worker, business partner, and today, “the relationship I value most is being friends.”
Lassu remarked on the crowd of over 200 people, saying, “Just look around this room. You’ll see an incredible, diverse group of people. That’s a testament to just how many people and organizations Terry and Ellie have touched.”
He then introduced Stephen Kambeitz, Chair of the BRCF. Kambeitz explained how a community builder is chosen, saying, “We hold this event every year to give a nod to people in our communities who actively make it a better place.
“We try to pick people who have given of themselves in some way; sometimes that’s money, and sometimes that’s effort, and sometimes it’s expertise. Most often, it’s a combination of all of those things.
“Fitting that bill these evening we have Terry and Ellie Hamilton. We really appreciate you allowing us to honour you tonight.”
Kambeitz said that the rest of the night would centre around the Hamiltons, but that he wanted to take a minute to talk about the BRCF.
He explained how the funds work, how only the interest they earn is spent, and how a decision is made on who to grant, whether that’s specifically directed by the donor, or whether it is a general field of interest directed by the donor, or whether it’s out of a field of interest, where a committee of the BRCF reviews all applications and makes the decision on who gets funding.
Kambeitz said that of funds going out in the counties, that Flagstaff County receives 75 per cent of that funding.
He said in the first year of granting, in 1996, the BRCF granted a $200 scholarship. “This year, we will be granting a million dollars, and I see no reason why we won’t do that every year from now on.
“Our community did that. You did that. And we’ve only just begun.”
Kambeitz then showed a short movie about the Foundation.
Lassu reintroduced the live auctioneers, Jones and Holben, calling them to the floor to auction off special donations from the Hamilton family, and friends as part of the evening.
Jones said to start that he thought this was the 27th time he has been a part of a community builders dinner.
All jokes aside, Jones was featured in the BRCF movie short, and repeated throughout the evening how honoured he was to play a part in the Foundation.
He talked about going back to the day where five or six people each put in $1,000 to one day donate $200, and then fast forward to today where $1,000,000 is going out from those early donations.
Jones and Holben worked their way through a varied and unusual list of auction items, that included the use of a collector car for a weekend, two dozen eggs, and a three-layer cake, among many other things. A 1957 Farmer’s Pocket Ledger went for a whopping $1,700.
Two add ons included two trays of Christmas baking and a Gopher Safari, explained by son-in-law Scott MacKinnon and family friend Derek Kroetsch. Jones and Holben ended up selling two safaris for a whopping $4,750 each.
Then there was a all-in beef donation, where anyone could donate any amount towards half a beef, donated by Dale and Nanette Jones, that would be given to the Flagstaff Food Bank.
After a short break, the evening moved into the formal tributes to the Hamiltons. The first person to speak was Wayne Spurrill, who spoke about Terry.
Spurrill said he was flattered to be asked, saying, “There’s plenty of room here to question his judgement, but I do appreciate his confidence,” referring to Terry.
Spurrill talked about Terry’s generosity in supporting his community, “and anyone who is friends with Terry can attest that the generosity extends to his personal life as well.”
Spurrill spoke of being on the receiving end of Terry’s generosity, whether it was to borrow a vehicle, sleep on a couch, be invited to the lake, or generally just being made to feel like part of the family.
He shared a story that he felt really summed up Terry’s character, “A time that was a little less than perfect between us.”
He talked about getting ready to head out on a holiday, and getting called instead to Terry’s office to address an issue that needed attention immediately.
“It was a rather heated meeting that we had. I think the only polite way I can describe it in mixed company is to say we had a frank exchange of views.” He said soon things were settled down and figured out. He told Terry, on his way out the door, that part of his frustration was that he was about to head on a six-hour drive in a vehicle with no air conditioning, with a new baby, with temperatures in the 30’s. “The next thing I know I’m driving out of the yard in Terry’s customized van with a stereo system, A/C, a VCR, and a suddenly happy wife.
“And the reason I bring this up is that Terry chose, in that moment, not to focus on the disagreement and minor transitory problem we were having, but to focus on something more important, helping a friend.”
He thanked Hamilton not just for his well-known acts supporting this community, “but for all those many private, unseen, and unacknowledged ones, that have had such an impact.”
Heather Chevraux took the podium next to honour Ellie Hamilton. She says she met Ellie on the Valley Ski Hill when their children were small.
She soon noticed that the Hamilton children did everything. “At one point, I asked Ellie, Are you ever home on a weekend?
