President’s Message Karen Huestis CSA President After a four-year, pandemic-related hiatus, Bill and I were pleased to meet so many of you during our fall Snowbird Lifestyle Presentations. In September, we began our tour in Alberta by making stops in Calgary and Sherwood Park. From there, it was off to British Columbia where we hosted a meeting in Kelowna. We then headed east to Ontario with stops in Nepean, Port Hope, Oakville, Markham and St. Catharines. We concluded this round of presentations in the Maritimes with meetings in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Summerside, Prince Edward Island and Moncton, New Brunswick. It was encouraging to sign up so many new members and I would like to thank all of the volunteers who helped us put on these great events. As always, thanks to all of our members who attended; your ongoing involvement is what continues to grow the association. I’m also happy to report that our traditional winter shows will soon be up and running. Snowbird Extravaganza is back and will be held at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 30 and 31, 2024. The Arizona Snowbird Extravaganza will take place on Monday, February 5 at the Mesa Convention Center in Mesa, Arizona. Finally, the Winter Texans’ Snowbird Extravaganza will be held on Wednesday, February 14 at the McAllen Convention Center in McAllen, Texas. These shows are always a great way to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. Top-notch entertainment and all of the latest information and products are available to help you make the most of your winter. As always, admission to these shows is free of charge. If you are unable to attend any of our Extravaganzas, please consider joining us for the next round of our Winter Information Meetings. While smaller in scale, these meetings still deliver outstanding Canadian entertainment and snowbird lifestyle information. These smaller settings allow for greater interaction between association representatives and guests, so it is an ideal time to ask any questions or voice any concerns which you may have. It also makes it a little easier to interact with the entertainers, so please join us for a show if you are able. You can find specific dates, times and locations elsewhere in this edition of the magazine. Once again, admission to these events is free of charge. CSA members may also book a member of your board of directors to make an information presentation directly to their local winter community or club. These presentations provide updates regarding all of the latest initiatives on which the association has been working on your behalf, and we attempt to answer any questions that you may have about a wide variety of snowbird-related topics. To book a presentation, please contact our office in Toronto. Stateside, Canadian Snowbird Association representatives continue to make steady progress on our Canadian retiree visa legislative proposal currently being considered by the United States Congress. As we have discussed previously, if this legislation is approved in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, Canadian retirees aged 50 and older will be permitted to spend up to eight months in the United States annually. This will mean an increase of two months from the current six-month limit. The House version of this legislation, H.R. 4448 - the Canadian Snowbird Visa Act, now has 21 bipartisan co-sponsors. Many of the members of Congress who have just recently co-sponsored this legislation also sit on the judiciary committee, which is important strategically as this is the committee where the bill is currently being considered. We will continue to provide members with updates through our email advisories, as this proposal makes its way through the legislative process. In January 2024, my term as president of the Canadian Snowbird Association will come to an end. I have been fortunate to serve you in this capacity during some very trying times. Our board of directors worked diligently to provide our members with all of the latest rapidly changing information needed to navigate the pandemic. The directors and their spouses have helped me immensely and I sincerely thank them for that. The staff of the Canadian Snowbird Association is integral to everything that we do, and they are always available when we need them. I would be remiss if I did not thank Medipac for all of their help and assistance over the years. Most important, thank you to you, our members; none of this is possible without your continued support. I look forward to working with your new board in my capacity as past-president during the next term. Bill and I wish you all a safe and relaxing winter in the sun. 10 | www.snowbirds.org
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