Moderator Stepping Down

[waldedw]

Ya done good lilsundance, happy trails

[flyguyd]

Thank you for your service Lilsundance

[Don Meredith]

Originally Posted by lilsundance

Thanks all for the kind words, Selkirk you almost made me blush. There are a few in banned camp who would dispute that.
This was a hard decision to make. When I first Joined the original board there were between 700 and 800 members. Don and Rob were doing it by themselves and decided they needed help. That's when they brought myself, Morb and Brady on board. I remember the first mod meeting. Seeing Morb and Brady towering above him reminded me of Mutt and Jeff. I remember wondering if Morb was old enough to shave. Found out later that no one had taught him to drink from a beer can. It kept running down his chin onto his t shirt. Sorry Morb I just had to say that.
I've seen lots of changes since then. People come and go. Ken AKA savage, was one. For those who were not here when Ken was around he was an in your face tell it like it is kind of guy. But would give you the shirt off his back, even if it was the last shirt he owned. I am sure him and his Jeep are still running cutlines in the great hunting grounds. Another old member I had given him a couple of infractions for language. He was irate about it and I could have banned him. But his history of posts showed no other kind of posts like what he had posted that got him the infractions. A few days later he sent me a pm and apologized and told me what was up. I reversed the infractions. A week later he sent me another pm and made me make him a promise. 3 weeks later I get a pm from his wife on his account. She said she didn't know why it was important to her husband but one of his last wishes was for her to pm me. She asked if I knew why. I told her I did and that his account would be marked "Gone Hunting" she said that her husband had a lot of respect for me and knew I would get it done for him. Others who have just dropped of the board I wonder what happened to them. Stop staring at my rack is one. She had health issues as well as family issues. Some here got together on a weekend and helper her on her acreage. I wonder is she is around or not.
I've seen a lot of mods come and go. Some I wanted to meet and have never had the opportunity too. I still want to meet Catnthehat as well as Hunting stuff, sns2 and three for three.
Theres been a lot of good threads. Two I will never forget are the MRI and barbell thread. That was very hard to moderate when your laughing so hard tears are running down your cheek and you can't see the screen. Another was tree guys magpie thread.
Moderating this board has been a big part of my life for 18 +/- years. It has given lots of lessons. One is that the young come here to learn, we must never forget that little fact. Another is that as outdoorsmen and women we are free thinkers. We don't take what someone else says as fact. We think about it, weigh what it is they have said and form our own opinions. How we respond with our opinions to theirs is where some run into problems. We don't let the government of the day tell us that they know how to run our lives. This Forum has made an impact on my life and made me a better man. Though I may not be a mod for much longer I will still be around. I know where the report a post is and I know who ever replaces me will do a great job. Thanks again guys and gals.

Well done, Del! You've been the stalwart here in all those years. And yes, Rob and I needed help badly when he got you guys to come on board. If memory serves, just before then, the forum had been under attack by some anti-hunting spammers, who were trying to crash it with an overwhelming amount of posts. It was the early days of the web and bulletin boards were a new thing. So, Rob and I spent hours hitting the delete button and trying to wear down the spammers (the police eventually tracked them down in the States). After that the bulletin board company beefed up its security, etc.

I do remember that first meeting at the Edmonton Sportsmen's Show with Rob buying the beers (our only payment). It felt good having some keen outdoor guys on board to help us out. It was also good sharing our stories about who got banned and discussing what needed to be done to keep the forum going. For me, those meetings were one of the highlights of going to the Sportsmen's Show in those years.

This forum quickly became the most popular outdoor bulletin board in Alberta and I think (at least for a time) in Canada. And a lot of that has to do with the great job you and the other moderators have been doing.

Now you can be like me and just be a regular member and post and comment at your own pace. It will take some getting used to.

Take care, stay healthy and enjoy the free time!

Don

[Mr Conservation]

Thanks for all your years of service as a moderator.

Mr Conservation

[Fish along]

Thank you for your service, all the best of luck to you and your family.

[Albertadiver]

Originally Posted by lilsundance

I've seen a lot of mods come and go. Some I wanted to meet and have never had the opportunity too. I still want to meet Catnthehat as well as Hunting stuff, sns2 and three for three.
Theres been a lot of good threads. Two I will never forget are the MRI and barbell thread. That was very hard to moderate when your laughing so hard tears are running down your cheek and you can't see the screen. Another was tree guys magpie thread.

Thanks for your service Lil. I think you're the only one that ever gave me an infraction I believe I twisted off on a white supremacist...

I also remember you giving me the hookup on a nice generator for my RV many moons ago.

I've met Rockymtnx and Catnthehat in person. It was Cat's fault I set off the explosives detector at the airport in Fort Mac!

I remember some epic battles with 'gone hunting' Duffy. He was a character for sure.

My early times on the forum were pretty wild. There'd be a crew of guys just going bananas most evenings keeping you mods busy. Now I think I need to take a knee and find a mojito.

The barbell thread was bust a gut funny. And having met the original poster on that thread just makes me laugh even harder. I tried to get a transcript of that thread before it got nuked.

If it wasn't for this forum TreeGuy would have never let a bunch of magpies loose in my garage and I wouldn't have seen Cabertosser's skookum construction at his home.

I could go on of course..... Anyone want to buy a monster energy drink fridge?

My activity on AO has dropped off substantially for a number of reasons, but it's nice to check in every so often and see what the old guys are up to.

Thanks Lil! You're a good dude.

[lilsundance]

Actually it was Don who gave you the infraction. Do you still have that genny?

[lilsundance]

Don, thanks for the kind words. Coming from you that is a huge compliment. Those first couple years were hectic with spam etc. Ahhh the good old days.

[mudbug]

Hey lilsundance you did an awesome job lots of people don’t understand all the extra work that goes on behind the scenes. Thanks for all your hard work 🍻

[TreeGuy]

Dang! If I recall correctly, Lil has refereed this bunch since there were only a few hundred of us and you didn’t even need to be a member in order to post a comment! The good old Wild West days. Lol.

Thanks Del. You were instrumental in making this place into the massive success it is today. Hope all is well buddy, and good luck in your future endeavours.

Sean


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lilsundance]

Ah treeguy. How well I remember when you joined. Instead of banning you I took you under my wing to settle you down and get you to re read your posts before hitting that post button. I could tell it wasn't what you were saying, but how you were saying it that got u into so much hot water. Once I got that through that thick skull, or maybe through all that hair on your head, you became a treasured member of this board. Take care and thank for remembering, I had forgotten you didn't have to be a registered member to post at first.