ATHABASCA - The Boyle Chamber of Commerce is still in existence.
After a tense few days where it was facing an uncertain future, community members have come forward and as of noon Feb. 27 the executive slots have been filled.
“We had two for the president and one for the vice,” explained secretary Karen Keyes.
“Actually, the one person that was for the president, he never even showed up (same) as the one for the vice chair. She’s in Mexico, but she said that she’d let her name stand.”
However, two names were all that were needed so both were acclaimed to the positions.
The new president is former Boyle mayor Bob Clark and the new vice-president is Ellen Knowles.
Clark explained his decision saying, “I hated to see the chamber go down and I thought, ‘Well, you can’t just sit around and do nothing about it if you don’t want to see it fold.’”
He took some time away from public life after leaving office but felt compelled to step up for the community.
“I was involved with the chamber years ago, before I went on council. And then when I became the mayor, we had designated councillors that attended and were part of the chamber and I had so many meetings that I sort of drifted away,” Clark continued.
“When I saw that they were in dire straits I said, ‘Well, maybe it’s time to get back to work and see what I can do to help out.’ So that’s why I put my name forward.”
Clark said he is excited to once again work with the business community, council and the membership to move to move forward bringing vibrancy and economic prosperity to the community.
“Five or six people coming out to meeting isn’t going to cut it, I don’t care who you belong to, so we have to get more involvement. That’s one way; to get them in and more ideas, more involvement and things could begin to happen,” Clark stated.
Keyes is relieved the chamber will keep going and is looking forward, not dwelling on the past.
“So, we have an executive and where we go from here is with the new executive deciding,” Keyes concluded.
Heather Stocking, TownandCountryToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @HLSox
