CARNDUFF — Tara Beck became Carnduff’s administrator on April 1. It was not a joke. In fact, it was a long time in the making.
She started working for the town part time in 2008, doing community development work for them and the RM of Mount Pleasant. Five years later, former administrator Annette Brown was in need of an assistant; She offered the position to Beck with the long-term goal of training her to become her successor.
Beck learned the ropes by working with Brown and took the required courses to become fully certified as an administrator. Brown retired 12 years later and the succession plan came to fruition.
Beck said she is “thoroughly enjoying herself”. Although she has worked for the town for years, she finds that she is “still learning new things everyday.” And her many years of being Brown's understudy have trained her well. Although Brown has told her that she can call anytime, Beck has only had to interrupt Brown's retirement on a couple of occasions. She really wants Brown to be able to enjoy retirement to the full.
Beck has spent most of her life in Carnduff. She was born there and left only to attend college for a few years. She returned home after her schooling was finished and by her own admission, didn’t intend to stay for very long. But that changed when she met Blair Beck, a teacher at the Carnduff Elementary School.
He had no plans to move anywhere, so Tara Beck put her plans to head off to greener pastures on hold. The couple is community-minded, so Carnduff became a great fit for them. They married and now have four children – Carter, who attends Indiana State University; Brandon, who will graduate from Carnduff Education Complex this year and head off to the University of Regina in the fall; Corbin, who is finishing Grade 8; and Tia, who is wrapping up Grade 6.
As busy as Tara Beck is in the office, she keeps even busier outside of work. She loves supporting her children in their interests. Their remaining children at home are all active and keep their parents on the go. She coaches Tia’s softball team and manages Corbin’s baseball team. Tia started curling last year and that has helped to reawaken her mother's latent love for curling. She hopes to get back into it this winter.
Beck also volunteers, helping out at Carnduff’s ball diamonds and serving as the secretary of the local archery club, which is run by Brown's husband Sherman. Beck also volunteers with Community Futures Sunrise.
Beck plans to serve Carnduff as its administrator for many years. She is very thankful for the support she has received in her new responsibilities from her office assistant, Agnes Duncombe. As well, she is grateful for how supportive the town’s council has been.
“I am really looking forward to the future. I want to work hard for the residents and the betterment of the community. I am thankful for this opportunity…it’s not something that I take lightly," Beck said.
One of Beck's next responsibilities as she has moved into Brown's office is to hire someone to move into the office she left behind – that of assistant administrator.
