Saskatchewan's Kinsmen district has a new governor, and it's the local chapter that claims him as their own.
Estevan's Mark Tribiger took the district's reins on July 1 and began his yearlong stint in the position. The day was marked in the area with the Kin Club's annual Canada Day festivities.
Tribiger was the district's vice-governor last year. The decision was made to run for the role after some consultations with his employer, the local club and, of course, his wife, who is also an Estevan Kinette.
"Those are the three main ones you kind of need (approval from) before deciding to do something like this," said Tribiger, a truck mechanic at Redhead Equipment.
He will not be in any executive role with the local club while he is governor. That's something that was discussed within the club, and he said his peers are prepared for not seeing him around quite as much as in the past.
"It's a huge time commitment," he added.
The governor spends a lot of time on the road. Tribiger will try to visit as many clubs as he can, hoping to visit each club in the south and as many as he can in the north. Saskatchewan has 76 clubs in total with more than 1,100 members.
"That is one of the things that I have a really good executive with me and my deputy-governors. I'm hoping that the ones I can't make it to, they'll be at, and they'll report back to me," said Tribiger. "We go and make sure everything's running smoothly. If they have any questions then we'll find the answer for them."
One of his first duties as governor includes attending the national conference in Newfoundland this August. He will be in meetings with Kin Canada, which has some ideas for what they want to see in each district. The trip does include plenty of business, as the membership have motions that must be voted on.
Tribiger is also responsible for the district conference in Yorkton, which runs the week before the Kinsmen and Kinettes' prized fundraiser, Telemiracle. He will also chair the fall leadership conference for District 3, hosted this year in Tisdale.
"It's the week before Telemiracle starts. It's just a thing to kick it off," said Tribiger.
Last year, Tribiger shadowed the governor and helped when he was needed. That helped him get a little acclimated to the job he will be doing this year.
He will be volunteering at the Craven Country Jamboree this summer as well. The Queen City Kinsmen ran the event when it was still under the moniker Rocking the Valley. It has since been taken over, but the club still runs a 50/50 draw throughout the event so Tribiger will be selling over the weekend.
Access to Craven is one of the perks of being the governor. The District 3 governor also has a seat at the sportsman's dinner in Saskatoon, which draws speakers like Mark Messier and Gordie Howe.
In all, Tribiger's run for one year as governor will mean three, as the position is sandwiched between the roles of vice and past-governor as well.
He will be handing the chain of office to the next governor July 1, 2014, at which time Tribiger will become the past-governor. His duties will be greatly reduced, but he will help bring along the next vice-governor as he prepares for the role.
"If they have questions or if anything major comes up, that's when we're looked on," he said of what his final role will be at the district level.
"It's going to be busy, but it's exciting. It's definitely more of a reality now that I am the elect. I got sworn in and everything. I thought it had already sank in, but at that point it hit me."
He said he has now seen how everything is done, so he will be ready for the job.
