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

Gentlemen,

The fight against this virus is still ongoing, and the Board has still been unable to meet to make any decisions about the upcoming season. We are still monitoring the news, government regulations and recommendations.

As we go through this period of uncertainty, we are also checking with other senior men’s slo-pitch leagues in Alberta. As of today, the overall feeling is to put everything on hold for now.

Any decision about whether our league will be cancelled or not will be on hold until the end of April.

All will depend on what progress is being made to halt this pandemic. The Board will try to meet at that time to go over all our options and try to come up with a game plan.

For now, stay healthy and safe and we will be in touch again soon.

Ernie French
President
Calgary Senior Men’s Slo-pitch League

For those of you planning to attend the Celebration of Life for Cory Veldhoen on April 5th, the family wishes everyone to know that it has been postponed until things are more stable in the community.

I will post information about the rescheduled date, time and venue when I receive it from the family.

Best regards,

Gary Paukert
CSMS League Communications

Gentlemen,

Due to the increasing spread of the coronavirus in Calgary, all aspects of the upcoming 2020 ball season are on hold indefinitely. This includes all scheduled Board meetings, the Annual General Meeting, the start of the season and pre-season activities such as the evaluation day and draft.

We hope that everything will just have to be pushed back and we can get back to operating as usual in the next month or so. ,

The Board will be monitoring the news and government regulations and recommendations, and we intend to send out an update every two weeks.

I hope everyone understands that the health and safety of our members is our main concern, not to mention our responsibility to society around us.

Stay healthy and safe; we will be in touch soon.

Ernie French