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Kinsmen install new officers at their annual general meeting

Each year, at their AGM, the guys of the Lake Cowichan Kinsmen appoint their new executives and tidy up any end of the year business.
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From left: Steve Dinsmore

Each year, at their annual general meeting, the guys of the Lake Cowichan Kinsmen appoint their new executives and tidy up any end of the year business.

This year, they decided to hold the meeting at Dan Bingham’s home on the evening of July 6.

The evening isn’t all business. The club members like to host a dinner and bring along wives and guests, and once the formalities are taken care of they enjoy an evening of each other’s company.

To officially charge the new executives with their new positions, Steve Dinsmore, the deputy governor for the lower island zone out of Ladysmith, came to the dinner.

On Friday, he officially charged Troy Douglas with the position of club president, Steve Nihirnick as vice president, Gord Roy as club secretary, Laurie Knippelberg as treasurer, and John Woywitka as registrar.

As the meeting began, Douglas rolled out the Canada flag hung from a clothes line over the back yard, and the men sang the national anthem as well as the Kinsmen Song, sung by all Kinsmen Clubs across the country.

As one of the first orders of business, the guys welcomed Mel Jacobson, vice president of the B.C. Federation of Moose, and past governor of the Nanaimo Moose Lodge.

Jacobson had come to offer a fundraising opportunity to the club.

“We’re having our 100th anniversary this year at the Moose Lodge in Nanaimo, and we’d like you guys down here to cook our dinner for us.”

Events like this are only one of the ways in which the local Kinsmen raise funds which go back into the Lake Cowichan community.

The two main fundraising events hosted by the local Kinsmen are the Ducky Derby during Lake Days, and their annual Kin Stag Men’s Social Casino Night, which takes place in late March. However, these guys also raise money through things like providing bar services at functions like weddings and local baseball tournaments.

All funds go back into the community, as does the club’s time and labour when it comes to community projects.

At the meeting, club members voted to do some needed work at the Duck Pond, such as laying down of new pea gravel, fixing up the hut, and painting the benches, and anything else that needs to be done.

This year, they awarded a total of $2,250 in prize money from the Ducky Derby, as well as donating $5,000 to Cowichan Lake Community Services.

The club is always on the lookout for fundraising events, donations, and new club members. If you would like to be part of this great team of local guys, contact the new club president, Douglas, at 250-749-0131.