Not all happy with MADD reorganization

Educating people, and keeping drinkers from driving, became a mission for the couple, but that has all changed recently.

Over the years, the Winchesters and the dozens of local people who have belonged to MADD have made presentations in schools, worked with the RCMP at road checkpoints, and set up booths at community events throughout Digby and Annapolis counties.

“And we bought a trailer and used it for floats in parades,” says Roger Winchester.

“We also bought two golf carts and we took those along to schools.”

Winchester says teenagers aren’t necessarily great at listening, but that doesn’t mean you can’t teach them. Students were asked to maneuver the golf carts around a course set up with orange pylons. They were then asked to complete the same course wearing MADD goggles.

Also known as ‘fatal vision goggles’, they simulate the visual impairment of a person who has had too many drinks. Winchester says every time a pylon went toppling over, the kids got the message: impaired driving is just plain dangerous.

The Winchesters, and Dennis Myke, the man who served as MADD’s treasurer for the past nine years say the local community was incredibly supportive. The Digby County chapter of MADD received grants from the national organization—grants that were contingent on their completing educational exercises in the community. They also received financial support from local individuals and businesses.

In addition to the golf carts and trailer, the Digby County chapter of MADD accumulated about $20,000.

Then, earlier this year, there were some major changes. Roger Winchester had served as interim president after Barry Hall resigned in 2007. Like the other local members, he was impressed with the enthusiasm of Jennie Bignell, one of three Middleton women who had been attending MADD meetings in Digby for nearly a year.

“But from the moment she was elected president, I knew everything would have to go her way,” he says.

Assets accumulated by the Digby County chapter of MADD—the bank account, the computer, fax machine, trailer and golf carts—were moved to Middleton and became the property of the newly named MADD Bay of Fundy chapter. The trailer and one of the golf carts were sold.

“It seemed to us like everything we had worked for, they just took,” says Winchester.

At a June meeting in Annapolis, the Winchesters and Dennis Myke resigned from the organization.

Bignell says MADD Bay of Fundy now serves the region from Meteghan to Middleton. Susan MacAskill, MADD’s chapter services manager for Atlantic Canada, says this was always the area served by the Digby-based chapter and the new name better reflects this geographic region.

Winchester agrees that the entire region was served.

“Before Yarmouth had their own chapter, we went down there and talked to people in detox. We had displays during Freeport Days and at the Bear River Exhibition. We made presentations in drivers ed classes in Bridgetown and went to the Community College in Middleton. We went to Laurencetown and talked to seniors.”

Bignell says meetings formerly held in Digby are now being rotated throughout the region. The October meeting was in Middleton and in September a meeting was held in Bridgetown. The last Digby meeting was in April. The June meeting at which the Winchesters decided to sever their ties with MADD was held in Annapolis Royal.

Bignell says she was elected by a democratic process and she’s proud of the achievements of MADD Bay of Fundy.

“I think we are doing a bang-up job,” she said in a telephone interview. She said there are students in Middleton interested in establishing a Teens Against Drunk Driving (TADD) group, and the chapter now has 12-13 active members and three additional members.

The Winchesters say there were 27 members in Digby County alone, and Bignell hasn’t been in touch with them to tell them about the changes. “And the RCMP called us just last month asking if they could borrow the fatal vision goggles.”

Bignell says she has sent emails to advise people of the changes and the RCMP should have received one of her emails.

Bignell and MacAskill say there will be a red ribbon launch in Digby’s Evangeline Mall on Nov. 22. They are also hoping to show MADD Canada’s 45-minute video presentation to students at Digby Regional High School in the spring, but this hasn’t yet been booked.

As for the assets accumulated by the Digby County chapter of MADD, MacAskill says there are costs involved in running a chapter and making presentations. The chapter’s money will be used for this purpose.

The Winchesters believe MADD’s active presence in the region over the past decade prevented drinkers from driving—and that’s really the point. They are concerned that if MADD is less visible in the Digby area, MADD’s message won’t get out.

They admit that they also feel ‘slighted’ by the MADD organization. “We worked with them for 11 years. And when we left, we didn’t even receive a thank-you from head office.”