Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 21/02) - Darren Flynn was always heavily involved in the community during his 10 years there.

The former senior administrative officer who now works with Community Government and Transportation in Rankin Inlet, refereed amateur hockey for several years and was involved in search and rescue, local cadets and the Arviat Racing Club.

The nine years of manning his desk as Arviat SAO came to end earlier this month when Darren Flynn accepted a job with the Department of Community Government and Transportation. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

"I always looked at my involvement with numerous committees in Arviat as simply being part and parcel of the SAO's job," says Flynn.

"The way I looked at it, you did your best to try and chip in and help out a bit."

Looking back at his time as senior administrator, Flynn borrows a line in saying he has regrets, but too few to mention.

He considers himself fortunate to have worked under five hamlet councils he calls extremely proactive in their approach to community affairs.

The former SAO is proud of the fact many projects undertaken during his tenure were done so under full project authority through the hamlet.

"We were able to invest some of our surplus to the point where we were able to build ourselves a first class community hall.

"As far as I know, at 2,173 square metres, it's the biggest community hall of its kind in Nunavut."

Flynn lists the Arviat Training Centre as another hamlet accomplishment during his time as SAO.

"Prior to division, we managed to put a lot of people through training programs in the Kivalliq region," he says. "With the government's refocus on training opportunities, the centre's back on its way to doing well again."

Lots of help along the way

Flynn says he would like the people in Arviat to remember him as a fair and honest man.

He readily admits he wasn't always the most popular person in town, but says he could always be counted on to get the job done.

"Arviat's been the closest community I've had to calling a home in the past 20-odd years of moving around.

"We're leaving our grandchildren and a lot of friends behind. That was, without a doubt, the hardest part in making the decision to move."

Flynn says he's confident Arviat will continue to prosper.

And he owes a great deal of thanks to many people in Arviat for the support and co-operation he received -- both professionally and personally -- during the past 10 years.

"My time in Arviat was not a one-man operation. There's a good collection of workers with the municipality, some of whom have been there for 20 years," he says.

"The hard work of many people has greatly contributed to any success I can claim as hamlet SAO during the past nine years."