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.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Ron Dodds still remembers his days as a youngster selling Trout Festival raffle tickets, helping build Camp Whitney and handing out Flin Flon souvenirs to train passengers. The retiree has spent much of his life as one of the community's most unheralded volunteers, quietly lending a hand to a wide range of projects and initiatives. And as much as Dodds eschews recognition, his efforts have not gone unnoticed. In fact, he now holds one of the highest honours given to volunteers in Manitoba. Dodds was in Winnipeg recently to accept the Premier's Volunteer Service Award, an accolade he neither expected nor sought. 'I was very excited and I said, 'Well, I guess I'll have to shine my shoes,'' he says with laugh, recalling his reaction to a phone call informing him of his win. Dodds was one of just 10 Manitoba individuals or groups to this year receive the award, which consists of plaque depicting a buffalo. And it was a long time coming. Now 75, Dodds began volunteering around 1949 as a boy growing up in Flin Flon. See 'Dod...' on pg. 6 Continued from pg. 1 He would often join his father, the late Art Dodds, whose contributions were so renowned that his portrait hangs on the Flin Flon Station Museum's Wall of Honour. In adulthood, Dodds continued to carry on his father's tradition of selflessness. He joined the Order of the Odd Fellows, the Station Museum board and the Flinty Committee, among others. His specific duties have been varied but often involve using his skillful hands. With the Odd Fellows, Dodds has taken on projects such as repairing time-worn wooden crosses at a cemetery in The Pas and fixing up the Scout Hall. In the early days of Flinty's Boardwalk, he routed the names onto the sponsored planks that lined the walkway. He also repaired the boardwalk when it was vandalized. At his church, First United Lutheran Church, Dodds not only takes part in weekly services, but also serves on the church council. He decorates the exterior of the church each holiday season and last year worked at rebuilding the church cross. This year he spent time overseeing the construction of a new roof for the church. When the Flin Flon Recycling Centre started up, Dodds would duly complete required repairs, particularly when the building was vandalized. Set up camp For a little over two decades, he worked with the United Steelworkers to set up and take down a summer camp the union operated south of Sturgeon-Weir River. For the past several years, Dodds has recruited people to erect tents for groups and events like the Girl Guides, Beaver Lake Bible Camp and Culture Days. That's just a sampling of his volunteer resume, but Dodds remains characteristically modest about his accomplishments. 'I see different projects going on and if I can help them, I'll ask and see if I can help,' he says. 'It's just more or less trying to help the community.' Jim Fell, who nominated Dodds for the provincial award, is well aware of just how much help the recipient has given to the community. 'Every time you turn around, anything that could be done (volunteer-wise), Ron was right there,' says Fell. Fell notes Dodds' father was also heavily involved in the community, and 'it's rubbed off on Ron.' The younger Dodds has spent so much time volunteering over the years that it is easy to forget that, until last year, he was active in the workforce. Many residents know Dodds for the nearly quarter-century he spent with Hudbay's exploration arm, but he has also been a vehicle mechanic, an aircraft mechanic, a cab driver and an airport operator, among other occupations. Throughout his three- quarters of a century, almost all of them in Flin Flon, Dodds has come to appreciate the role unpaid help plays in the community. 'If it wasn't for volunteers, a lot of things in this town wouldn't happen,' he says. Though still keeping busy, Dodds says he is at an age where he can't do as many things as he used to. In that regard, he is like many volunteers in the area. 'I think Flin Flon is fortunate to have people, even at my age, who are still out there trying to help,' he says. 'And I hope there are people that (step) up to fill in those people's shoes.'
