V
Viewpoint
4 Friday, April 12, 2019
Darryl a.Holyk - PublisHer anD eDitor
Around
Town...
By Darryl Holyk
Canada Day…
Although still a few months away, the Minnedosa
and District Recreation Commission is busy working
on this year’s Canada Day celebration. Another family-
friendly event is being planned which will wrap up with
the spectacular fireworks show over Minnedosa Lake. As
a non-profit, Canada Day cannot be successful without
the help of volunteers and generous financial donations.
Anyone interested in helping make Minnedosa’s Canada
Day 2019 the best it can be should contact Rec Director,
Laura Cook at 204-867-2250 or by email at minrec@mts.
net
Dutch Elm Dollars…
Riding Mountain MLA, Greg Nesbitt announced
$15,960 to the Town of Minnedosa to assist with the man-
agement of Dutch Elm Disease in our community. This
funding, provided through Manitoba Sustainable Devel-
opment will enhance measures to protect our communi-
ty through greater awareness and increased tree removal
for trees affected by Dutch Elm Disease.
Road restrictions…
Riding Mountain National Park has implemented its
spring road restrictions to minimize the impact on high-
ways during spring thaw conditions. Highways #10 within
the boundaries of the park remains closed to heavy truck
traffic (three axles or more). Delivery vehicles will be al-
lowed access to the townsite, maintenance compound
and golf course from the south entrance of the park.
Highway #19 within the park, now has weight restrictions
of 6,006 pounds or 2,730 kg gross vehicle weight in effect.
To give you an idea of this eight limit, the largest vehicle
allowed would be a loaded half-ton or an empty three-
quarter ton.
Easter deadline…
Remember our early deadline for next week’s edi-
tion. As we will be closed Good Friday, next week’s Tri-
bune will be distributed in stores and mail boxes on
Thursday, April 18th. With this, next week’s deadline will
be 12 noon on Monday, April 15th. We will return to our
regular Tuesday at noon deadline the following week.
The Minnedosa Tribune Ltd.
Box 930 Minnedosa, MB R0J 1E0
Published Friday of each week from the premises of
The Minnedosa Tribune Ltd. 14 - 3rd Ave. S.W.
Minnedosa, MB. R0J 1E0
Member of Manitoba Community Newspapers Association
and Newspapers Canada
Audited twice a year by Canadian Media Circulation Audit
Phone: (204) 867-3816
Fax: (204) 867-5171
Who’s Responsible for What?
Does Anyone Know?
By DARRYL HOLYK
O ver the past few months, it has come to our atten-
tion that there are a number of groups and orga-
nizations in our community who are operating blindly
without a mandate, bylaws or constitution. It is not
that these important guidelines do not exist, but more
the fact that they have been lost or misplaced with the
changing of volunteers or staff members. Where have
these important documents gone? No one seems to
know or in some cases, can’t seem be bothered trying
to find out. This causes me great concern and I am get-
ting tired and frustrated asking a question and being
told, “we have no idea”. That is not an acceptable an-
swer!
Documents such as guidelines, bylaws, mandates
and constitutions are a must for any group or organi-
zation. Often, they state what the groups purpose is,
what that group should be working towards and focus-
sing on and often state how the board structure is set-
up. Such documents were created by past members as
a reference point for newcomers and future volunteers
to continue the good work of an organization. From
time to time, it is important for boards to review these
documents. Not only does this refresh their memory
on their purpose but also provides an opportunity for
them to make any required changes or updates.
Without such documentation, volunteers are
wandering aimlessly, without structure or purpose.
They have no idea what their organization stands for
or what their organization is responsible for. This con-
fusion can lead to miscommunication, uneducated
decisions which could have a negative result and over-
lapping of volunteer efforts as more than one group
may be working towards the same goal separately
rather than working together.
Fortunately, a few of these groups who have “mis-
placed” their mandate or bylaws, are now working
on finding or re-establishing such guidelines so that
everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing.
While this is a positive step forward, it is also some-
what of a waste of our volunteers time and effort.
These volunteers now have to start from scratch and
re-invent the wheel when previous volunteers have
already spent the time to do that work, but sadly their
work has been misplaced, lost or carelessly thrown
out.
Another issue we, at the newspaper, have run into
on numerous occasions that greatly concerns me is
The Minnedosa Tribune is independently owned and is the
oldest weekly newspaper in the Canadian West and has guarantee the publication of all submitted articles and
published continuously from the same premises since photographs. These submissions, are at the discretion of the
March of 1883.
E-Mail Addresses:
General: editor@minnedosatribune.com
News Stories: reporter@minnedosatribune.com
Ads/printing: adsales@minnedosatribune.com
Classifieds/Accounts: class@minnedosatribune.com
www.minnedosatribune.com
The Minnedosa Tribune
the fact that there are some entities in our community
who are not good record keepers when it comes to
their finances. On more than one occasion, we have
asked for updates on total amounts raised for a project
or the total amount a certain entity has donated to-
wards a project and have been told, “We have no way
of knowing”. Pardon me? Of course you do, or at least
you should!
Whether you are raising money for a certain proj-
ect or donating towards a project you should have a
accurate record of those financial transactions. I can
tell you exactly how much my business has donated
or sponsored throughout the year or in the past years.
When it comes to a local volunteer organization I am
involved in, I can also tell you exactly how much has
been donated towards that groups general fund or
special projects and who made those donations. This
is not rocket science and should be very simple to
keep track of for future reference.
Hopefully, these misguided groups can get them-
selves back on track and move forward into the future
with a clear idea of their purpose, and financial situ-
ation. The work of our volunteer groups is extremely
important to our community and without them, we
would loose a lot of the things that make our com-
munity great. Communities run on the powerhouse of
volunteers and those volunteers need proper clarity
and guidance so that they can volunteer to the best of
their abilities for the betterment of our community.
Let’s fix these wrongs before we spiral farther out of
control to a point of no return.
Letters to the Editor
The Minnedosa Tribune welcomes Letters to the
Editor. All letters must include the writers full name,
address, and telephone number. Only the writer’s
name will be published; address and phone number
are required for confirmation. Anonymous letters will
not be published. Letters that are deemed libelous,
in bad taste, or describe an incident involving other
people, will not be published.
The Minnedosa Tribune reserves the right to
edit letters based on taste, legality, clarity, and
length. Letters to the Editor can be submitted in
person, sent by mail to Box 930, Minnedosa, MB
R0J 1E0, by fax (204) 867-5171, or by email to
editor@minnedosatribune.com
The Minnedosa Tribune Ltd. does
not
publisher and will appear as space permits. The Minnedosa
Tribune reserves the right to edit any submission as deemed
necessary by the publisher.
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submissions that are not received. To guarantee that such
submissions have been received please confirm with a phone
call or in person.
All contents copyright 2019