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.
Another Trout Festival has come and gone and by all accounts, it was smaller and attended by fewer people than in recent years past. Maybe some residents preferred a less busy long weekend that focused on a few key events, but no doubt many others were disappointed. "Same old, same old," was one comment that surfaced. But if the Trout Festival is failing to measure up to any of our expectations, the community alone is to blame. The festival runs on a shoestring of volunteers who put in untold hours behind the scenes without ever receiving much in the way of credit. And it's not alone in that regard. I have been involved with several volunteer initiatives over the years (my job doesn't allow for much, but I try). One year I was chairperson of Bakers Narrows Day; another year I organized the local door-to-door canvass for the Canadian Cancer Society. One thing I quickly learned is that virtually all of our volunteer endeavours operate with too few people. In fact, many of the men and women you see assisting with one event are invariably involved with two or three others. They take on the extra burden because no one else will. By A Thread I don't think the general public realizes that so many of the not-for-profit affairs and entities we treasure are hanging by a thread. Most people simply show up to enjoy the fruits of volunteer labour, unaware that things could be one or two burnt-out helpers away from collapsing. I don't say that to alarm you, but merely to drive home the reality. It's simple arithmetic. Unless more people start answering the volunteer bell, we will lose some of what makes Flin Flon special. New volunteers not only mean more helping hands, but also (and just as importantly) fresh ideas. When you have the same committee or the same board of directors year after year, there's a tendency to stick to the status quo while new concepts remain underexplored. Of course volunteers aren't the only problem. Maybe it's just me, but over the last few years it seems our enthusiasm for events like the Trout Festival has waned. We haven't been showing our support, which can unfortunately signal to volunteers that their work is not appreciated (I assure them it is). We need to reverse this trend. But back to volunteering. For many of us, that word sounds suspiciously like "work." In actuality, it is a selfless act that pays back tenfold what you put in. You may not take home a cheque at the end of the day, but you can be proud in knowing that, if only in a small way, you've made someone's day more enjoyable. So let's stop leaving so much up to so few. Let's all do our part by becoming volunteers. Local Angle runs Fridays.
