At the NOTL Spirit Awards, held on February 27th at Ravine Winery, our very own Laurie Harley was presented with the Citizen of the Year Award by the Lord Mayor, Gary Zalepa. Please join us in congratulating Laurie for years of incredible dedication to our community and for the creation of the best Ambassador volunteer program in the country!! For those of you that know Laurie, you also know that there is no one in this Town more deserving of this very special recognition.
Thank you, Laurie, for all that you do for our wonderful town and the NOTL Ambassador team.
Our Leadership team has a couple of new faces to support our team this year. Please join us in welcoming Patti Fraser and Kathryn Richard. Patti will be taking over from Kim Mustill as the Recruiting Lead and she has already been busy welcoming many new volunteers. Kim is moving to a new role dedicated to organizing Ambassador Events. Watch for her to work her magic on the first Ambassador event of the 2024 season - the “Kick-Off” meeting on April 30th. Also in a new role, Kathryn becomes our Team’s “member at large” helping us hold more effective meetings. Thanks to all three for sharing their time to support the Team.
Did you know Niagara-on-the-Lake will be one of the best locations for viewing theApril 8th Solar Eclipse? The last time Niagara experienced a total eclipse was in 1979 and the opportunity won’t come again until 2099. Accommodations are fully booked, wineries are offering special “sip and eclipse” events, unique cycling tours are available, along with lots of private solar eclipse celebrations! The Chamber is collecting information on what’s happening in Town that we can share with visitors. NOTL is expecting lots of guests on the April 6-7 weekend as well as “Eclipse Monday”!!
There are still a few Ambassador Kiosk and Walking shifts available during the Eclipse weekend. We invite you to join us to welcome the “Eclipse Crowds”, many of whom may be visiting for the first time. It’s an opportunity for Ambassadors to do what we do best - create an extraordinary visitor experience.
Don't forget to review your email Inbox for additional reminder messages to sign up for any remaining open shifts during that weekend!!
KEY DATES
Season Kick-off!!!Our
2024 Season has already started with a "bang" thanks to Laurie
Harley's incredible recognition award. To keep the ball rolling please keep Tuesday,
April 30th4:00 to 6:00 PM open for our "Ambassador Kick-Off"
gathering. Here's a chance to mix, mingle and reconnect with past Ambassadors
and welcome our New Ambassadors. We will also introduce some of our plans
for what is promising to be another exceptional year.
We will have time to mingle with our fellow Ambassadors, meet our Partners, share our favourite “stories from the street” and start the season with fun, food and refreshments – all thanks to our generous event sponsor, Konzelmann Estate Winery.
Signing up for Shifts
Solar Eclipse Shifts: As a special one-time event this year we will have the opportunity to volunteer as Ambassadors during the weekend of the Solar Eclipse, which promises to be a huge success with visitors arriving to our neighbourhoods from far and wide. There are still several volunteer openings available for the weekend of April 6, 7 and 8, as mentioned above. If you are interested, please hold these dates in your calendar and sign up in MAP.
Official opening weekend: Our official opening, as always, will be the Victoria Day weekend, May 17, 18, 19 and 20.
Season: Our volunteer seasonruns from the Victoria Day Weekend to October 14th (Thanksgiving weekend) with both kiosk and walking shifts planned for Friday to Sunday, plus holiday Mondays.
Ambassador Training
Hold these dates!
Ambassador Training: April 10th from 10:00 to 11:30 AM or from 2:30 to 4:00 PM at the NOTL Community Centre in the Penner Room. Technology Training: April 16th from 10:00 to 11:30 AM or from 2:30 to 4:00 PM at the NOTL Community Centre in the Penner Room.
Remember: Training is mandatory for new Ambassadors and optional for returning team members that wish to attend again.
NOTL AMBASSADORS - 2024
We are thrilled to let you know that we have 50 returning Ambassadors, and 16 new Ambassadors who have committed to the program this year!
We were able to engage some of our new ambassadors at the NOTL Newcomers Community event last November, and some of our newest recruits even joined our experienced Ambassadors and volunteered at the NOTL Ice Wine Festival in January. “Word of mouth” is by far the most effective form of recruiting! If you know a person that you think could enjoy this amazing volunteer position, please have them contact us at info@notl-ambassadors.ca or direct them to our web page to apply directly: https://www.notl-ambassadors.ca/
SPOTLIGHT - EXCITING NEWS for one of our Ambassadors!! Did you see this article in the Niagara-on-the-Lake's Local newspaper? https://www.notllocal.com/local-news/notls-carter-simpson-wins-three-medals-at-special-olympics-canada-winter-games-8389654
Carter Simpson, one of our own Ambassadors, wins Bronze, Silver and GOLD at the Canada Winter Games Special Olympics!!Congratulations, Carter!
EXPERIENCE NOTL
Site visit update
When interacting with visitors, one of the important roles for Ambassadors is the art of storytelling, which comes from sharing their own memorable NOTL experiences. Part of our Ambassador training program is the opportunity to become aware of the many experiences and locations that NOTL offers to visitors! The team has again planned a series of visits throughout the Spring and early Summer to some very interesting locations.
The benefit of these visits is twofold….equally for both the Ambassadors as well as for the Hosts themselves:
Ambassadors gain interesting insights and facts that they will be able to share with visitors, and
Our Hosts benefit by having our Ambassador team promote their businesses.
Our Site Visit season starts early this year, on March 25th, with an exhilarating and eye-opening backstage tour of the Shaw Festival Theatre. There are a few slots still available for this event, so be sure to sign up soon on MAP.
Other visits are being planned from April through July. These will include:
a Walking Tour of Historic NOTL down by the waterfront,
a Trolley Tour and hotel visit, courtesy of Vintage Hotels
visits to several wineries (2 per occasion, based on your feedback).
visits in June to the Brock Monument and ‘Landscape of Nations’ Memorial to the First Nations at Queenston Heights
a visit to Fort George, an key location to learn about for ambassadors
New this year, there will be opportunities to discover some of the villages of NOTL through their own history and present-day ventures. We’ll be going to St. Davids, where a brewer, a winery and a chocolatier await us. Also in the planning phase are Queenston, to see the Laura Secord Homestead, the Mackenzie Printery, as well as the RiverBrink Art Museum. The village of Virgil will also be part of a tour (TBD). Last but not least, a visit to Niagara Parks’ Whirlpool Aero Car is also planned.
As the visits become available, they will be posted on MAP, so keep an eye open for informative emails and sign up on MAP to reserve your spot. Of course, there is no charge for these visits….it’s simply the personal investment of a little bit of time to gain useful information to add to your own stories for visitors.
These site visits are great opportunities for our ever-expanding Ambassador team to get to know each other better and to get that first-hand knowledge. You may pick and choose which visits you would like, but please do attend if you sign up. This is an amazing Town and there is always something new to learn. Looking forward to seeing you!!!
CONNECTIONS
This year, our team will have a greater focus on building our social media presence within the community. You will hear more about this at the upcoming orientation and Kick-off meetings.
We have several social media outlets:
A PRIVATE Facebook group - by invitation only, for us to share photos, comments and helpful information with other Ambassadors
A PUBLIC Facebook group and a PUBLIC Instagram account - for us to share useful information and news with the public
We also have a Web Site:
Our Ambassador web site is a public site we make available to everyone: https://www.notl-ambassadors.ca/
Our site contains information about our town, maps, points of interest and what to do in a few hours or more if you visit
It also provides more information about our local Partners, as well as a copy of this monthly newsletter “The Beat” and occasional pages about special events.
Feel free to share our website with
friends and family!
From all of us to each and every one of you, thank youfor your commitment, your enthusiasm and your special talent for reaching out to our visitors and making them feel welcomed.
You are simply THE BEST!
Co-Leads: Vlad & Laurie
Leadership Team: Lynne, Mike, Kim, Cheryl, Patti, Kathryn and Elena