The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Doug O'Brien expects to be a busy man over the next year serving a second consecutive term as president of the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce. O'Brien was sworn in as president at the chamber's annual general meeting yesterday at the Flin Flon Friendship Centre Restaurant. "We have a lot of initiatives still on the board as far as the chamber is concerned," said the one-time owner of CFAR. "That includes things that, although they have been worked on for a year or two in some instances, I think we really have to make the effort to try to bring them to fruition this year." Those initiatives include the proposed Peace Park or a similar project, road signage, and playing a role in the potential development of the rock-burrowed tunnel beneath the 100 Stairs into a public walkway. Of course O'Brien will continue to remain focused on the desires of the diverse business community in the Flin Flon-Creighton area. The president still sees the advent of the Flintoba Shopping Centre as a major concern for many business owners. "The community is going through an adjustment and we need to look at how it's affecting some of the businesses and how we as a chamber can be of some assistance," he said. One of O'Brien's goals for his new term is to increase membership and have more businesspeople become directly involved with chamber affairs. "The chamber is not the 16 people that sit around at a table for a meeting three times a month trying to figure out what they should do in the community," he said. "The chamber really is here to represent all the businesses in the community, and that's why we like to stress the fact that you should really consider becoming a member and come to the meetings if you can or at least let us know your thoughts. Those are the important things we have to have." See 'Bid' P.# Con't from P.# O'Brien, who faced no challengers in his bid to retain the presidency, wanted to keep the position because he was disappointed that more chamber proposals were not realized over the past year. "I had certain thoughts when I started last year about what we might be able to accomplish," he said. "Some of the things we just haven't gotten done yet. So when I was approached to maybe sit for a second year, I thought I should. Maybe we can see the things through and get them done." In his address to the 23 people on hand, O'Brien took time to thank the chamber executive, volunteers and staff for their dedication. "It's been a pleasure working with you," said the president, an active member of the organization for the past 32 years. In other news from yesterday's annual general meeting, O'Brien presented Maureen Kozar with the President's Award for outstanding contributions to the chamber over the past year. Winning the Executive Award, formerly the "Rookie of the Year" award, was Phyliss Stadnick, who was not able to attend. The complete 2004-05 slate of officers consists of: President - Doug O'Brien Past-President - Dave Kendall President-Elect - Phill Robinson First Vice-President - Maureen Kozar Second Vice-President - Phyliss Stadnick Third Vice-President - Tom Therien Secretary - Gordon Mitchell Treasurer - Lois (Bunny) Burke Directors - Keith Argo, Janice Cassidy, Randy Daneliuk, Mary Dwernichuk, Tom Goodman, Jeff Horner, Catherine Hynes and Loraine Poirier
