Hello League Members,

You may have recently received an email, ostensibly from CSMS President Ernie French. The short email probably said something like ‘Are you available right now?’

This is a scam and you should just delete the email.

The way the scam works is that you reply to ‘Ernie,’ but of course you’re not emailing him, you’re emailing the scammer. The scammer says something like ‘I want the league to buy some gifts to say thank you to volunteers, but I’m out of town. Could you please go to Walmart and buy ten Apple gift cards for us to send out, and the league will reimburse you right away.’ The scammer asks you to send him the gift card numbers. He immediately uses them up on online purchases, leaving you holding the bag.

The scam is particularly effective when the scammer is able to identify both the corporate leadership and those in charge of purchasing.

Many, many organizations like ours have been similarly targeted.

Just delete the email and you’re in the clear. The only way you can get hurt is by replying and going and buying gift cards for the scammer.

Cheers,

Gary Paukert

Hello again, members:

CSMS League has received information from the other leagues and facilities in Calgary and the Province such as the Calgary Slow Pitch Society, who have also been shut down for the summer and their seasons cancelled. They have published the following which may be of interest to those who may be wondering what they might be allowed to do this summer.

From the City of Calgary Parks and Recreation:

The City has clarified their initial announcement about public events being cancelled through August 31st, 2020. They have stated that these cancellations include outdoor sports activities such as soccer and slo-pitch. They have issued the following guidance, suggesting that you ask yourself the following questions when considering an activity:

1) Does the activity violate a public health order? This includes gatherings of 15 or more people, including sporting events, concerts, rodeos and other outdoor events, as well as private gatherings such as BBQs and weddings. Gatherings of FEWER than 15 people are also prohibited if physical distancing (two metres) is not possible, unless those gathering are from the same household.

2) Does the activity involve contact with frequently-touched objects or surfaces? Examples include communal barbeques, drinks with friends, picnics and activities that used shared equipment such as horseshoes and bocce ball.

3) Can the activity proceed with physical distancing in place? Outdoor activities with people outside your household or cohort family may proceed as long as there are fewer than 15 people, people remain physically-distant and there is no contact with frequently-touched objects or surfaces.

Some examples of approved activities are walks, bike-rides, flying kites, gardening in community settings, and visiting parks. Physical distancing is not required among members of a household.

Meanwhile, we have heard from JayCee Park who have informed that all tournament and regular season bookings have been cancelled until further notice. They state that they are still ‘optimistic that some ball will be played this year,’ and are working hard to maintain and update the facilities. But until further notice they are shut down.

I hope that this information will be helpful. In order to be completely sure, please go to the City of Calgary or Province of Alberta websites to review the regulations before engaging in any activity.

Dear League Members,

As mentioned in our last communication to you, your Board of Directors has been discussing the difficult issue of whether or not to try to salvage at least a portion of the 2020 CSMS League season.

Thursday afternoon the Alberta Health Officer announced that the ban on groups of 15 or more gathering has now been extended ‘through the summer.’ This of course prevents us from conducting games or other events this summer, and therefore the 2020 season is cancelled.

Because of the immense amount of work that would be involved in writing more than 220 refund cheques, we will instead apply the CSMS portion of the fees you have paid to your 2021 CSMS season dues. If you do not intend to return to the league in 2021, or are in a hardship situation and really need a refund, please contact Treasurer Don Jorgensen at donaldhjorgensen@gmail.com. Thirty dollars of the fees you paid for 2020 have already been forwarded to Alberta 55+ and it is unknown at this time whether they will refund those monies or hold them until next year in a manner similar to CSMS.

Registration for the 2021 season will open on January 1st, 2021. However, if you registered and paid for 2020, you will already be registered for 2021 and not have go online to register or pay.

Our league will retain the permits for the Charleswood diamonds over the summer and groups of fewer than 15 people may be able to, in theory, legally use them for practices at some point. However this would be at their own risk and NOT as an organized league activity. Triwood informs us that they have closed their diamond.

It’s a difficult time. We love this sport and it is a huge part of our lives, but like many things, the virus has stolen it from us for this year. In the greater scheme of things with lives and livelihoods being lost around us, that loss pales in comparison. But it still hurts. Sports is often an encouragement and distraction in difficult times and we’d hoped it would serve as that this summer. But sadly, no.

However, hope springs eternal. The caution and effort we show today will help us all return in the spring of 2021, fired-up, aching to hit a line-drive or trap a hot ground ball. Celebrating the return of the camaraderie and fellowship we enjoy so much in this league.

This is not ‘stop.’ This is ‘pause.’ We’ll stay in touch over this extra-long off-season and start ramping things up again on January 1st, 2021.

Best wishes to all!

The CSMS Board of Directors

To the Calgary Senior Men’s Slo-pitch League:

We wanted to send all our amazing volunteers an update on how we’re continuing to serve our clients, as well as our current volunteer needs.

Last week, with the help of our volunteers, we answered 1,158 phone calls and distributed 1,138 hampers, impacting 2,802 lives! Because we are limiting each volunteer to one shift per week, we require 670 volunteers to fill all our shifts.

We still have had no cases of COVID-19 at the Food Bank. We thank our volunteers for being diligent in completing the online AHS assessment before each shift, and for following public health protocols around physical distancing and hand washing.

We still need some help for volunteer shifts!

We currently have 86% of shift spots filled – thank you! We still have a few spots left on weekdays; shifts are from 8 – 11, 11 – 2, 2 – 5 or 5 – 8. If you can commit to a weekly shift, please email us. If you know someone who would like to volunteer, please direct them to our website to sign up.

Use of cloth masks in the building
In reviewing recommendations from around the world and keeping with our commitment to health and safety, we are working towards implementing the use of cloth masks in the building. Some studies have shown that people can transmit COVID-19 even without showing any symptoms. Cloth masks can help prevent transmission of COVID-19 by those who are infected but don’t know it – they don’t protect you from other people, but they can protect others from you.

We are going to supply masks to staff and volunteers. If you have your own masks and can use them, it is greatly appreciated. You do not necessarily need one for your next shift as we are currently running a pilot and will provide more information as it becomes available.

Can you help?
We will need many masks to support all our staff and volunteers and greatly appreciate any donations. Our first batch of donated masks are from the Mask Makers YYC Facebook group; they provide appropriate patterns and instructions for those who want to sew their own masks. If you’d like to sew masks to donate to us we will happily accept them. For information about where and how to donate them, please contact Leah.

Thank you for everything you do. Stay well!

Angela Irwin
Volunteer Resources Supervisor
Calgary Food Bank

Dear Calgary Senior Men’s Slo-pitch League Members:

No doubt you’ve already received many emails from the organizations and businesses you are involved with concerning the actions they are taking in order to deal with the Covid-19 health emergency. Your CSMS League Board of Directors would like to do likewise.

As a Board, our biggest concern right now is the health and safety of the 300 or so CSMS League members and their families. Based on age alone, over 70% of our membership demographic falls into the ‘at risk’ (60+) category for the Covid-19 virus. We are worried about you, our wonderful friends in this league, and are thinking and praying for you during this difficult time. It is our hope that none of you contract this virus, and that if you do, its course will be mild or even unrecognized.

During this difficult time, your Board has not been idle. Thankfully, even though we cannot and would not want to meet at our normal venue, the Canadian Legion, we have been able to meet as a Board ‘virtually’ over the internet and will continue to do so. Over the next month we will continue to meet online and make decisions about the 2020 CSMS League season and tournaments. Of course we will be monitoring restrictions and recommendations from provincial and federal authorities in determining what activities we can and should put together.

You should be aware that the City of Calgary has closed access to our diamonds through June 30th, and that the province currently is banning gatherings of more than 15 people. Therefore, unless these restrictions might be unexpectedly eased, it is clear we have lost at least ½ of the 2020 season.

Over the next month your Board will decide what slo-pitch activities may be both possible and wise for the latter half of the summer and fall. Please understand that in these uncertain times we, like you, have no crystal ball and have less information than we’d like. Hopefully we are starting down the back side of this thing and we can salvage some slo-pitch in 2020. But as important as slo-pitch is to all of us, it pales in comparison to risking even one person getting severely ill.

Stay tuned, stay home and stay safe. We will get through this and before you know it be playing the best sport there is, out under warm sunshine. Keep an eye out for further information from your Board in late April or early May.

Our best wishes,

CSMS League Board of Directors