IceStorm 98 Study

Acknowledgements

Many thanks are due to all those who consented to be interviewed, some more than once. Without their participation, this study would not have been possible. A list of all interviewees can be found on the CD in the “Interview Statements” Section.

A debt of gratitude is also owed to others who provided information and spent time educating those who worked on the project about emergency response and the weather of ice storms. They include: the Athens Mural, Merle Bedore, the Brockville Recorder and Times, Jay Brown, Maggie Burjorjee, Mats Caulding, Liz Cashman, Paul Dellanoy, CJOH TV, Kay Donovan, Sarah Dumbrille, Bob Eamer, the Gananoque Reporter, Tom George, Rob Gerritsen, Scott Girvin, the Heritage, Ray and Elaine Hook, Kingston this Week, the Kingston Whig Standard, Mike Martin, Nancy Matheson, Trish McGowan, Dan Mellon, Jane Mellor, Chris Powers, Joyce Putnam, Queen’s University Archives, Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, Robin Reil and all the student interviewers from St. Joseph Elementary School in Prescott, Stewart Renfrew, Stan Siok, Connie Stanley, Chris Stetsky, Peter Webster, Hans Westenberg, and Heather Wolsey. Apologies to anyone who has inadvertently not been included; you know who you are and your participation is greatly appreciated.

Special thanks go to the talented team who put the study together. Mary Purcell played many roles. Hired as project manager, she was that and more: interviewer, strategist, and accountant. Her enthusiasm, judgment, energy and knowledge made this her project. A huge thank you to the eight interviewers who dedicated themselves to the project, although faced with other pressing commitments: Maureen Brioux-Jollymore who conducted interviews with military personnel and at Queen's University; Candis Carlson who interviewed those responsible for shelters in the City of Kingston; Lee Parpart and Joseph Castagna – City of Kingston; Ken Ohtake – Provincial Government personnel; Tom Schneider – the media, utilities, and Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority; and Craig Jones and Wayne Smith who conducted the interviews in Brockville, Ganaoque, and the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. Suzanne DeSousa, our indefatigable executive assistant cheerfully carried out every task assigned to her and managed to do an extraordinary job despite juggling two other work commitments. The production of the CD would not have been possible without Brad Murphy, the project’s computer specialist and Bob Burge, computer wizard in the Department of Political Studies at Queen's University. And last but not least, thanks to Jacqueline Miller who came to the rescue when interview statements needed to be written up in a hurry.

Without funding from the Kingston Office of HRDC this project would never have come to be. Additional funding for analysis of the material came from Emergency Preparedness Canada.

Given the nature of the project, errors in the spelling of names are almost inevitable. Every attempt has been made to spell names correctly, but mistakes have no doubt crept in. Apologies to all of you.