OF4WD News

Activities of the Board

As I started working on getting ready for this years AGM (finding a facility, checking AV and food requirements, etc) I started thinking that it might be a good time to reflect on what I have learned and seen over my last two years on the board.  

The idea of my joining the board started at the OF4WD wing night in Oakville.  Chris Miles was looking for volunteers to help at the Toronto Sportsman Show, and I decided to help.  Over a couple of days of talking to the public about OF4WD, and many chats with Chris during slow times, I decided to take the next step and run for the BOD.

My first Board meeting was intense.  There was a lot happening, lots of acronyms being used, and I struggled to keep up.  While the discussions have become easier to understand over time, I have to admit I still have to ask for context sometimes.  At this meeting I was elected by the board to be the secretary, and as a result had to file the new Board members with the government.  You would think that would be easy, but it was a 13 page form and lots of information to gather.

The complexity of what the board does continues to amaze me.  Here are just a few of the things that the board and board members do.  This is just some of the highlights of the activity, there is a lot more that happens.

• Meetings and calls dealing with government officials, other Trail user groups, the MNR, private companies, and lots more.  Peter Wood does a lot of this work, with help from other members of the board
• Events: The board organizes 3 Newbie Runs each season, trail cleanups, and Camp NL.  Each of these take a team to organize and execute, from advertising to registering participants to organizing trail guides.  Colin Jardine, an OF4WD volunteer, is the man with the plan for Camp NL.
• We work with private landowners and companies that ask questions about the sport, raise concerns, or simply want to voice their opinion.
• Paperwork.  And lots of it.  Government forms, insurance forms, contracts, the list is endless.
• Chris Miles is always on the phone or on the road, visiting and working with sponsors to the benefit of members of OF4WD.  He and Brad Yhard, along with other members of the board and volunteers, also takes the OF4WD roadshow out to Show and Shines and other events.
• Website maintenance.  This is becoming a bigger and bigger job each year, and takes several directors to maintain.  Evan Croskery and Raymond Prince are the main website editors.
• Social media is a large and growing component of several directors portfolio’s.  Adrian Collinson, Chris Miles, Brad Yhard regularly make contributions, with the assistance of other directors.
• Raymond Prince is our membership expert.  This includes answering questions, maintaining Membee (our member database), and many other tasks.
• Evan Croskery is our Trail Index Guru.  This past year he revamped the Trail Index to version 2.0 with great reviews.
• Matt Mifsud is our treasurer.  All things financial go through him.
• Coordinate trail maintenance with other user groups.  This year Mark Sims has taken on this task, in addition to coordinating the Adopt a Trail program.
• Organize and execute the AGM.  No small feat!

As I said above, these are just some of the things that each of these the board members volunteer their time to do for OF4WD.  We often consult with each other to answer questions from the public or members, check out trail reports and visit trails, help clubs execute their ideas, and simply do whatever is needed to run OF4WD and support its mandate.

It takes a lot of hands and time to make the OF4WD run.  And we are up to the challenge! Are you? If you are interested in getting further involved, consider running for the board this year, or let us know at info@of4wd.com that you want to volunteer in other ways.  Get involved, it’s a big job and someone has to do it!

Brad Yhard, OF4WD BOD