A tale of two managers: Ag Society welcomes new GM

There’s a new woman at the reigns of the Cochrane Agricultural Society and she’s got big shoes to fill as long-time general manager Molly Sapergia steps aside.

Lenore Oler took over the position of general manager with the Cochrane Ag Society on Feb. 1 after Molly Sapergia stepped down.

Oler, who grew up in Springbank, has been involved with the Ag Society since the late '90s, often participating in local events.

An event manager by trade, Oler and her husband also run a horse boarding business northwest of Cochrane.

Oler said she was excited to marry her professional career with her passion for the equestrian industry.

“I was excited when the posting came up,” she said. “It was great to see a position that I had that type of context and background in. It was a wonderful combination of my different professional experiences.”  

Oler, who just hosted her first equestrian event as general manager on Feb. 26, said her first priority is to bring the society into the digital era.

“Being able to take a look at our processes and move things as much towards the digital side of things … has been wonderful,” Oler said. “That was a project for me to take on right off the bat — to do some interim changes to our online presence and get rid of some of the paper and be a little more environmentally friendly.”

Big boots to fill

Oler steps into the role after former manager Molly Sapergia stepped down and took a position in accounting after 14 years with the Ag Society.

At the age of 73, the former general manager said she has fond memories of her time leading the organization. In particular, she recalls spearheading the Cochrane Fall Fair.

“It accidentally happened,” Sapergia said. “A midway happened to have a free weekend and they were in the province, so they called me and asked if they could set up on our grounds and I said ‘sure.’”

That led to a revival of a fair that began as early as the 1900s, according to Sapergia.

“We looked back in our records and the Cochrane Ag Society hosted a fair as far back as 1910,” she said. “It was the way the Ag Society wanted to go. We wanted to be a bigger part of the community. For too many years, we were kind of isolated … we needed and wanted to get more involved in the community and see what we could give back and [the fair] worked out perfectly.”

However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing as Sapergia guided the society through some choppy waters when Rocky View County considered selling the grounds on which it resided.

“They were going to sell the land, so we dealt with that for a long time – not knowing if we were able to stay there or if they were going to sell it,” Sapergia said. “It took about two years of working with Rocky View County and they finally made the motion to let us purchase the land. So, it worked out OK.”

Sapergia had only positive things to say about Oler’s new role and offered some words of wisdom from her time as general manager.

“The biggest advice I can think of is to be patient and flexible,” she said. “Those are the two pieces of character that you need because if you’re patient, you can work around situations and with people and if you’re flexible, you can change your plans.”