Library Board

Peggy Emslie - Black Diamond
Chair

After having lived in Montreal all their lives, Peggy and John moved to Black Diamond in May 2014 to retire close to their three grandsons in Calgary. The three grandchildren that they left behind in Montreal are frequent visitors and love the west almost as much as their grandparents do. Peggy has always been an avid volunteer, having served on church and school boards as well as the Montreal Mission. In 2008, she started focusing most of her attention on visiting cancer patients at the Montreal Jewish General Hospital. Peggy will tell you that the Sheep River Library caught her eye with its many and varied activities and she was happy to be accepted to its board in late 2016. Peggy and John enjoy hiking, photographing wild animals, and golfing.

Les Antoniuk - Turner Valley

Les and Diane Antoniuk moved to Turner Valley in 2014. They enjoy visits to Vancouver where their daughter, son-in law, and most importantly their grandson live. Les was an educator for his entire career, in latter years teaching Computer Studies and Digital Design and Communication in Edmonton before retiring to Bragg Creek in 2001.

Les was a founding member of the Alberta Teachers’ Association Computer Council, and has a keen interest in photography, singing with the Calgary Opera Chorus and other local Choirs, cross-country skiing and walking in the mountains, where he and Diane guided tourists through the Parks.

Always interested in how computers can enrich and add excitement to educational environments, he hopes that he can make some useful contributions to the Sheep River Library, one of the more farsighted and advanced libraries in Alberta.

Wendy Portfors - Turner Valley 

Wendy was born and raised in Calgary and became a resident of Turner Valley in 2017. She had a successful 36 year career with Scotiabank and held multiple positions in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Panama. Wendy retired in 2013 and starting writing. Her
first book titled Remembering Love, Balboa Press, was released in 2016. She is proud to have been published in three Chicken Soup for the Soul books. In 2021 she published an anthology titled Through My Eyes: 74 True Stories of Survival, Strength and the Power of Believing which is a collection of stories compiled from across Canada.

Throughout Wendy’s career she was an active member of Kiwanis, a Board member of the North Saskatoon Business Association and the West Edmonton Business Association and active in the Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. Volunteering has always been important to her.

Wendy enjoys golfing, hiking, and travelling. With her husband Dave, they travel internationally while house and pet sitting. They split their time between their homes in Diamond Valley and Arizona, when not travelling abroad. They have been to more than twenty-five countries and counting.

Councillor Hazel Martin - Turner Valley

Hazel Martin was born at the Turner Valley Municipal Hospital and raised in Black Diamond. After graduating from Oilfields High School, she worked in the oil and gas industry and is where she met her husband, Gene. Turner Valley became their home in 1981 and is where they raised their three children. Gene and Hazel were both fortunate enough to have been able to work within our community.  

Hazel was employed with the Town of Turner Valley for the past 25-26 years, she started out walking around town reading water meters, then moving into the role of organizing community events, such as Discovery Day and New Year's Eve Party. For the past two years she provided administration support for all departments throughout the organization before retiring in August.  

Volunteering in the community has always been very important to her. She has been involved with their children's sports interests, parent/school council, church board, Turner Valley Discovery Day committee, Friends of the Turner Valley Pool Society, Turner Valley Triathlon and the Sheep Creek Arts Council, where she currently serves on the Executive. 

Councillor Brendan Kelly - Black Diamond

Born in Fort McMurray, Brendan and his family moved to Ottawa shortly after his birth, where 4 more siblings joined the family. After turning 18, he moved and spent the next 6 years on the east coast, between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Attending both Saint Thomas University to obtain his majors in English and Political Science before attending the University of New Brunswick for his Bachelor of Education and ESL degrees.

He and his wife left the east coast to find full time work as teachers and have been teaching with Indigenous communities for the last 10 years in northern and southern Alberta. Brendan is currently the Mayor of Black Diamond and is very active in the community. He is a father to 2 awesome kids and has made Black Diamond home for the past 6 years, looking to set roots here to raise his family.

A director at Westwinds, part of the Downtown Area Redevelopment Program and of course, a proud member of the Sheep River Library Board. Brendan lives for the outdoors, a toasty fire, and a great book!

Ian Huffman - Black Diamond

Ian and Diane started their family near Black Diamond in 1983. After moving around Alberta and adding to the family, they settled in the Town of Black Diamond in 1998.

Ian's love of libraries and the Rocky Mountains started at the age of seven.

His family made their bi-weekly trip to the original Edmonton Public Library Main Branch to gather new books for their reading pleasure and knowledge. The grand library building, built in 1923 with the help of an Andrew Carnegie grant, features a majestic staircase to show the ascent to learning. Unfortunately the building fell to progress in 1968, one year after the opening of the Edmonton Centennial Library.

Ian has enjoyed time in the mountains from Jasper to Waterton Parks, camping, hiking, backpacking, a little climbing, and skiing, proud to call Kananskis Country his neighbour, and the Rocky Mountains his backyard.

Ian is looking forward to helping the Sheep River Library be the best and maintain it's excellent stature among Alberta Libraries.

Andy Lees - Turner Valley

Andy hails from the U.K. and is of Welsh heritage. After graduating from Durham University, for twenty years he was a helicopter pilot with the British Army. In 1988 Andy was posted to CFB Suffield. He and his wife, Chester, fell in love with Canada so he resigned his Army commission and settled in Calgary. For the next twenty years, he worked under Spiritual Care Services at the Calgary Foothills Medical Centre as a chaplain. Ordained an Anglican priest, Andy retired in 2010 and moved to the country in 2015. He is currently interim rector for Christ Church Anglican Fort Macleod and is the Spiritual Care volunteer for the Foothills Country Hospice in Okotoks. He loves Diamond Valley where he lives with his wife and with two adult children nearby. He is proud to be on the board of such an outstanding library.