Here's the speech I wrote and delivered for tonight's Stream of Dreams Murals Society AGM.
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As president of the Stream of Dreams Murals Society it’s my pleasure to welcome you to our Annual General Meeting. \
It’s great to see so many dreamers here tonight, sharing ideas among all the Dreamfish and other art and awards on the walls around us \
and in the window \
and hanging from the ceiling. \
and if you haven’t been to our office before, I should warn you that if you need to commune with nature while you’re here, you’ll find the facilities to be an alcove of fish art as well. \\
At this point, protocol calls for me to introduce any VIPs present. But tonight is special because we are entering our tenth year of teaching kids about their local watersheds and creating inspiring murals of community art, so I would first like to recognize our co-founders, Artistic Director Louise Towell and Executive Director Joan Carne. \\
Next, our board of directors:
Vice President Micqualyn Waldie, who also leads our Vancouver Island programs and is a valuable member of our management team. \\
Treasurer Rob Carne \ Secretary Jane Burkholder \ and members at large Jennifer Linton and Andrea Rozsa. \\
And all of the members and volunteers here tonight who keep our program moving forward. Thank you. \\
I would now like to recognize some of the guests here tonight, who have provided support in many ways over the years. [list here: ]. \\
So it’s been ten years? \\
Who knew ten years ago that when a local artist and a streamkeeper beautified an ugly vacant lot with a mural of Dreamfish painted by local elementary schoolchildren to remember the killing of thousands of fish poisoned in Byrne Creek, that the project would result in teaching 80,000 kids across Canada about the importance of clean water? \
Who knew ten years ago that Dreamfish would swim across our nation, and even poke their noses into the United States, carrying their message of hope for a future with healthy streams and rivers? \
Who knew ten years ago that a couple of self-styled stay-at-home Moms would dream up a project that would grow from a handful of friends in a kitchen to a registered charitable society with a real office –– and if you look out the window, an office that overlooks Byrne Creek, the urban waterway that inspired it all? \
At Stream of Dreams we never pass up a teachable moment, so I want all of us to think about Byrne Creek, and think about all the drains we see in that parking lot, and remember that all drains lead to fish habitat! \\
Drains on roads lead to creeks. \
Drains in parking lots lead to streams. \
Drains from roofs lead to rivers. \
All drains lead to the one great ocean that encircles our Earth, and sustains us all. \\
80,000 kids and other program participants know that message, and carry that dream for clean water. \
80,000 Dreamfish on schoolyard fences share that dream with everyone. \\
The Stream of Dreams Murals Society vision began ten years ago. \
The work began ten years ago, \
and the dream and the work go on. \\
It took a couple of passionate, crazy women to take the dream to reality. It took a lot of volunteers. It took a lot of hard work. It took a lot of swimming upstream against the current and negotiating obstacles, just like the salmon do every year when they return to our streams to spawn. \
Just like those beautiful, stubborn salmon have one goal –– to keep their cycle of life alive –– so we at Stream of Dreams have one goal: to ensure that those salmon, and all other species, including us humans, have the clean water that sustains life. \\
I look forward to working with you all in the years to come, and seeing where the dream takes us next. Thank you.