Mayor's Notes: The Elks

What makes communities a great place to live? Is it:

  • balanced budgets?
  • pools?
  • good roads?
  • clean water?
  • parks?
  • arts?
  • culture?
  • recreation?

I would suggest that these are important but the most important contribution to making Kindersley, or any other community, a great place to live is the volunteers. It is our volunteers who raise money for hospital equipment, it is volunteers who raise money for pools and provide service for the pool, volunteers create parks, volunteers perform in our locally produced plays, volunteers work so we can watch hockey, volunteers care for us after an unfortunate incident or when there is an emergency.

Left to right: Michelle McMillan, Bernie Morton, Gary Hamilton of the Elks, me, Tim Hanna Image Courtesy of johns-wind.ca
Left to right: Michelle McMillan, Bernie Morton, Gary Hamilton of the Elks, me, Tim Hanna
Image Courtesy of johns-wind.ca

It was discouraging to learn that another of our service groups are struggling to find members to volunteer. The Elks have a grand history dating back to 1912 in Canada and 50 years this past March in Kindersley. Today the Elks are in more than 300 communities across Canada. The purpose of the Elks is as a Canadian volunteer organization of men and women serving communities. Their vision is to be the best volunteer organization in Canadian communities. Elks local purpose is to promoting and serving community needs. We need groups like the Elks who are concerned that we live in a healthy community.

There is yet to be a time when I have attended a function a the Elks Hall when I haven’t seen Gary Hamilton volunteering to serve the group. In fact, at SUMA a couple of years ago, a Councillor from another community found me and told me what a great guy Gary is. When I asked him how he knew Gary he said: “We’re Elks!” The Elks in Kindersley donate more than $10,000 per year to local causes. They raise the money in a variety of ways including a weekly bingo game held every Sunday from 1:00 until 4:00.

Kindersley needs volunteers. If you want to make a difference contact Gary at: 306.463.7192, oremail him or stop and talk to him.

A special thanks to Gary for his passionate and long standing volunteer service to Kindersley on behalf of the Elks.

Source: johnenns-wind.ca