[From the Ontario District's newsletter, The Trillium, issue 61-03, July - September, 2007 , Waldo Redekop, editor.]

Succession Planning
— There Is A Need For It

By Chuck Alexander, Ontario District President

Every fall, in September or October or in some cases as late as November, chapters struggle to fill out their roster of candidates who have agreed to step forward and volunteer to act as chapter board members. The district goes through the same struggle but in an early part of the year.

Ours is a volunteer organization and without volunteers the same people end up doing the work year after year. We, as chapters and a district, must start planning for succession!

Very few chapters have an executive vice president who is elected to train to assume the position of president. At the chapter level, members-at-large should be used to train for future duties on their boards.

Not long ago you might have read in an issue of The Trillium that there was a need for some volunteers to assume some duties at the district level. Only one individual stepped forward and responded. That individual has brought forth new ideas and much needed changes to his portfolio.

How often do you read about the success of an event due to the efforts of their volunteers? Well, the same thing holds true for our chapters and district. While an event usually has a short time frame, volunteering for a chapter and district office does not have to be a lifelong commitment. One way to prevent this from happening is to have an assistant assigned to every job.

I have always admired an organization that my better half is involved with whereby they are mandated to change officers every three years. The individuals, if they wish to remain on their boards, can assume new rolls otherwise they bring in new people to assume the vacated positions.

So, I put the following question to the members of Ontario District. Would you be willing to step forward to assume a roll at the district level as an officer or even act as an assistant to an officer? Our vice president of events has asked for help at the past three House of Delegates meetings but has seen no responses. We have others who could use help due to medical reasons.

Why not step forward and let it be known that you would like to volunteer your services. All you have to do is either e-mail me at president @ ontariodistrict.com or call me at 705-325-5694.

Ours is a volunteer organization. We need your help. Volunteer!     k