The traditional passing of the gavel from an old Chamber president to the new one had to be put off this week.
Normally, the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce annual meeting would have seen the retiring president make some closing remarks, followed by a presentation where the president would stand before photographers and officially pass the gavel to the incoming president.
However, neither outgoing president Scott Campbell nor incoming president Pat Smith were able to attend the Jan. 24 annual meeting. Past-president Leah Milton ended up presiding over the meeting instead.
Chamber Executive Director Linda Machniak said that as a result, outgoing Chamber president Campbell will officially "pass the gavel" to Smith at the President's Banquet Jan. 31 at the Tropical Inn Hotel and Convention Centre in North Battleford.
That will be one of the additional items on the agenda for that evening, which will see Smith officially sworn is as Chamber president for 2012.
