the essential
The manager, who specializes in both numbers and pancakes, is an essential figure in the Ruthenian gym club. At the club party this weekend, it will still be in the oven and at the mill.
For Alain Boudes, a friendly sixty-year-old who has retired for a few years and who for more than 25 years has devoted a large part of his free time to the Ruthenian gym club – but not only that – volunteering has become a kind of apostolate.
“My wife Véronique had registered our children at the gym club in 1996 and she quickly got involved in the club, since during the first general meeting in which she participated, she returned to the office as secretaryhe remembers. It was she who, some time later, asked me to come and help with competitions and other sporting and extra-sporting events. And in 1998 I started.“
Debut in 1998
Like many volunteers, whatever the sport, the gateway remains its children licensed in the club. “ I then met other parents with whom I sympathized. It was always a pleasure to get together to help the club. I remember my first demonstration: it was the semi-final of the French GAF championship in 1998 where I took care of security, among other things. As they say, I started to put in the finger and then little by little the whole arm. “
This is how one thing led to another and Alain Boudes joined the steering committee. An accountant by profession, he worked for 27 years at Bosch, logically starting as assistant treasurer before becoming co-president, a position he held until 2017.
If he then gives up his place, this does not mean he is leaving the club. “I switched to pancakeshe slips with a touch of humor. The refreshment catering side is very important because during the various competitions, we must be able to feed our young people and our executives but also offer drinks and treats to the spectators.“Delicacies including of course the famous pancakes.”At the gym club, we do a lot and again this weekend during the club party there will be some.“A party which will bring together all the licensees, managers and non-managers as well as the volunteers.” At an event like this, between club executives and volunteers, a good hundred people put their hands to work to ensure the success of the day. A club cannot survive without volunteers and it is all the volunteers that should be highlighted and not just one.“, specifies the one who also takes pleasure in meeting his companions in moments of conviviality.
Elders and future
“It’s true that there are a few of us who are old-timers, we meet up frequently, especially to work out on Tuesday evenings. But beyond the group of veterans, there is a team of young people who are arriving and who are the future of the club“, explains the kingpin who has just returned to service as co-president just a few days ago.
“It’s a small interim to help the club which needed it“, he slips before adding: “It is impossible for me to talk about the club and its volunteers without talking about Andrée Condat who, in 1982-1983 rolled up his sleeves and put the club on track. Because if we are here today, it is also thanks to her.“And if André Boudes is co-president again, it is certain that during this festive weekend, we will find him in the oven at the mill, as well on the side of the track, as behind the scenes or at the refreshment bar with the crepes.
Canada
