Cityfarm 2008 Board

Directors:

Dan Walton - President

Jim Visser - Vice President

Melisa Zapisocky  - Treasurer

Margaret Oseen - Secretary

Kathy Goble

Mary A. Beckie

Michael Hotrum

Phyllis Kobasiuk

Ex-officio Members:

Kim Sanderson

Brent Andressen

Sandi Draper

Janelle Herbert

Profiles:

Dan Walton

I grew up in Edmonton but left at 19 to pursue a career in Forestry.  As a Forest Ranger with the Alberta Forest Service, I was stationed in Slave Lake, Worsley, Grande Cache and Lodgepole Alberta.  In 1989, I left the Alberta government to start a business in Forestry Consulting, Logging and Environmental Services. During this period I was a General Manager of  3 different Sawmills located in Lodgepole, Alberta, Green Lake, Saskatchewan and Fort Resolution, Northwest Territories, respectfully.  From 2002 to 2004 I was Executive Director of the Deline Land and Financial Corporation in the Northwest Territories.  As well with my wife, we own a 1900 acre farm primarily a cow/calf operation in the Drayton Valley area since 1989.  Since 2004, we have grown a business of Direct Farm retail, raising and selling beef, pork, lamb, free-range chickens, eggs and turkeys throughout the farmer's market network.  We are currently building a farm gate store at our ranch and recently purchased a meat packing plant and retail outlet in Northeast Edmonton under the trade name Easyford Meats. I have a Diploma in Forest Technology from NAIT, a Diploma in Business Administration from Grant McEwan Community College and a Master of Business Administration from the Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.

Jim Visser

I am an artist, represented by the Scott Gallery and a member of the Alberta Society of Artists.  I am a director of the Legacy Lands Conservation Society and also of Cityfarm.

Melisa Zapisocky

 Through her work with the Alberta Farmers' Market Association and Alberta Agriculture's Ag Tourism Initiative, Melisa is interested in creating meaningful connections between urban and rural communities.  A recent graduate with a degree in recreation and leisure studies, Melisa enjoys learning about Alberta's rural landscapes, people and regional flavours.

Margaret Oseen

I grew up and worked on a dryland grain farm in Sundial, located in sunny, windy, southern Alberta, where my hardy, adventurous, Swedish grandparents homesteaded in 1907.  University beckoned and, like many of my baby-boomer generation, I kissed my bucolic existence good-bye and high tailed it to the city.  I graduated with a degree in physical therapy, followed years later by graduate degrees in exercise/work physiology from the universities of Saskatchewan and Alberta.  I was able to combine my interest in rural issues with a research initiative where I examined the cardio-respiratory fitness profile of a group of rural women and compared their results with a group of urbanites.  Likewise, I have pursued volunteer activities with a rural/urban interface and am a board member of two organizations that reflect this link, namely, Cityfarm and Going Organic.

Kathy Goble

Kathy, a Landscape Architectural Technologist, is the principal in a landscape design company. As well, for the past 4 years, she has been an Associate with Evergreen, a national non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the greening of urban spaces. Specifically, she works in the Learning Grounds Program supporting school ground greening projects. She assists teachers, parent groups and community members in the planning, design, on-going care and usage of Naturescapes on school grounds.

Mary A. Beckie

Assistant Professor, Government Studies Faculty of Extension, University of Alberta

For the past several years, Mary has worked as an academic, consultant, and activist in the areas of community/regional development and alternative agri-food systems. Much of this work has taken place in the Northern Great Plains Region, where she has worked with farmers, farm organizations, researchers, educators, and communities that strive to contribute to sustainable development.

Mary completed her doctorate in 2000 through the Division of Extension at the University of Saskatchewan. Using an interdisciplinary perspective, her thesis examines the theory and practice of sustainable development, particularly as relates to agriculture and rural development. From 2001 to 2003, Mary was part of a research team at the University of Wales that coordinated an extensive study, funded by the European Commission, on the role of organic agriculture in sustainable regional development in Europe. In February of 2006, Mary commenced her appointment as Assistant Professor in Government Studies in the Faculty of Extension at the University of Alberta. She continues to be interested in theoretical and empirical studies of sustainable development, and is especially interested in helping to identify and build connections and synergies between rural and urban communities in a regional context.

Mary grew up on a farm in south central Saskatchewan. Her first career path focused on the natural sciences and following the completion of a BSc in Biology and a MSc in Molecular Genetics she was involved in teaching and agricultural research in post-secondary education and federal research institutions. Her interest in alternative agri-food systems and sustainable development led to a career change and her enrollment in the PhD program described above.

Michael Hortrum

Michael holds a B.Ed and an MDE and works as Learning Designer at the Faculty of Extension, University of Alberta. He has extensive experience as a curriculum and educational program designer, instructional designer, performance consultant, project manager, teacher and facilitator. His research interests include the promulgation of open learning, personal learning environments, design and maintenence of communities of practice, and the use of social software in the design and implementation of flexible lifelong learning.  His appreciation of open learning is engendered by a systematic view of human activity and a recognition of how we are all interrelated and responsible stewards of our health, the health of our environment, and the sustanability of our lives. He remembers a childhood spent tending urban gardens, planting seeds, digging potatoes, picking beans and making preserves. His adult years have been spent promoting a variety of causes that serve to educate, inform and stimulate. Other volunteer activities include: Educational Committee Chair, UNICEF Ontario;  Board Member, Lakeshore Arts (Etobicoke, Ontario); Student mentor (Etobicoke, Ontario); Moderator, Unitarain Television (Toronto).

Phyllis Kobasiuk

Phyllis was born and raised in Edmonton and is a NAIT business graduate. The eldest of five children, Phyllis spent her pre-school years exploring near the banks of the North Saskatchewan River at Rabbit Hill where she developed appreciation for nature and the environment, being self reliant and creative.  Phyllis was taught to read at an early age and learned that the world belonged to readers because a book could take you on an adventure absolutely anywhere.
 
With four younger brothers and sisters, all one year apart in age, Phyllis was given many responsibilities that helped shape her life. She developed leadership, negotiation, budgeting and organizational skills as well as cooking, sewing and gardening.  
 
Friends, family and co-workers describe Phyllis as being very goal oriented, an effective and fair chairman, well prepared, social, friendly and tenacious toward any cause she sets her mind to.
 
Phyllis is a director with the Alberta Insurance council.  She is a recipient of the Parkland County Award of Excellence for community volunteer work with many organizations including Blueberry Community League where she was a founding member of the Blueberry Bluegrass Festival.  For her contributions to local and provincial government, Phyllis received the Premiers' Award of Municipal Excellence.  Phyllis has served as Chairman for the Parkland School Division, first publicly elected Mayor of Parkland County and was the Pembina River District Director with the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties.  Proud to participate as an athlete in the World Masters' Games hosted by Edmonton, Phyllis placed fourth in the l0 km race walk event.
 
Phyllis believes her most significant impact on history has been achieved through her role as mother to three children, now grown adults:  Paul, Lana and Amy.  If there was an educational, recreational or personal development opportunity available to her children, Phyllis ensured doors were opened.  For many years, Phyllis and her family hosted international students from France, Japan and Germany as a most enjoyable means for her children to learn language skills.
 
Among her hobbies and interests, Phyllis includes reading, gardening, race walking, yoga, skiing and traveling.  Phyllis resides on acreage property north of Stony Plain that was once an original homestead.  Phyllis learned about the family history and has reclaimed the farm yard, fruit trees and shrubs now known as "The Secret Garden".

Brent Andressen

I was born in Fairview Alberta and grew up in small towns in central Alberta.   I am a graduate of the University of Alberta and have taught grades 2-12 during a twenty-five year teaching career. I have long been interested in helping young people understand and value the natural systems that sustain us.  Currently I am working with Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development as an Agriculture Education Coordinator.

I love hiking, cycling, and researching provincial history.

Sandi Draper

Sandi is a community recreation coordinator with the City of Edmonton and has worked in the area of recreation and community development for 40 years with a variety of organizations and agencies

Janelle Herbert

Janelle and her husband Aaron joined Riverbend Gardens in the spring of 2006. She is excited to work with husband and parents on expanding the family farm. Riverbend Gardens has been in business for 25 years and currently grows many types of vegetables and flowers for 6 Edmonton and surrounding area farmers markets. Riverbend also produces cucumbers and cabbage for the wholesale.

Janelle is currently researching the possibilities for Riverbend to expand into agri-tourism and having guests at the farm gate. It has been a busy but successful year so far and Janelle is looking forward to many more years to come.