Village News

Many times, when the Board of Directors is trying to make a decision, they will try to understand why a certain policy or practice exists. What were the factors that influenced a previous board to reach its decision?

Since our Bylaws specify that no-one can serve on the board for more than three consecutive three-year terms, nobody on the Board has “board memory” going back more than nine years. And, to be sure, not everyone has a good memory for even that length of time. Hence the effort to understand the full context of the issue is, at times, challenging.

It has long been a goal of mine to find a volunteer who would enjoy reading through all the organizations past meeting minutes and create a register of decisions that were made. It seemed it would be useful to know what decisions were made, when they were made, and the context surrounding the decision.

Recognizing that not a lot of people would clamour for a job of reading old meeting minutes, I was pleasantly surprised when we did find that volunteer. The exercise has already created a lot of interesting conversation around the coffee table.

Recently someone called me to ask if we could provide the date of the premier showing of Otto Klassen’s first film, which was supposedly shown at MHV in 1975. Within half an hour we were able to inform the caller that the film premiered at the University of Winnipeg in November of 1976. A quick and tangible benefit to the work of this volunteer.