County councillors took a break from their regular deliberations on April 30 to honour volunteers from across Wellington.
Councillor Lou Maieron, the liaison for the county with the Volunteer Centre of Guelph-Wellington, told councillors his duties were not onerous.
“It was essentially the Volunteer Centre,” said Maieron, who offered several comments about the value of volunteers in the community. Maieron noted, too, that this is the first time in the four years of the awards that a student was being honoured.
The mayors of the seven municipalities introduced the winners, and Warden Joanne Ross-Zuj noted she was presenting the Centre Wellington Township award to Carol Kirby.
Since 2000, Kirby has volunteered with the Groves Hospital Volunteer Association where she contributes more than 50 hours a month in the Fergus Opportunity Shop and hospital gift shop, both assisting and managing these operations. As a board member, she has held the positions of treasurer, director of communications and currently, director of fundraising.
Thanks to Carol’s hard work, and that of other GHVA volunteers, the hospital has been able to raise $500,000 of $3-million required for the purchase of a CAT Scan.
Ross-Zuj lauded Kirby for “countless numbers of hours” of volunteering in the community.
Wellington North
Mary Schmidt is the recipient.
Mayor Mike Broomhead noted she is a very involved community member, having made contributions in her church, through the education system, hospital, and as a supporter of local business.
She is supporter of St. John’s Catholic Church, the parish council and past president of the Catholic Women’s League . She has also been an advocate in the school system where, as a committee member, she worked hard to ensure that Arthur District High School stay open when it was threatened with closure.
Schmidt is also a dedicated member of the Arthur Chamber of Commerce where she served as president for three years and she chairs a subcommittee of the township economic development committee for revitalization of the downtown.
Schmidt is Mary is also an active member of the Arthur Horticultural Society.
“Mary’s name comes up all the time” Broomhead said of people needing work done.
Guelph-Eramosa
Cathy Kelly is the recipient.
She was born and raised in Newfoundland and has been living in Rockwood since 1999 when she started her own company, C.K. Coverings.
Since that move, she has been involved as an official for a neighbourhood park, which she helped to maintain, has organized Christmas caroling to raise funds for charity, participated in the Terry Fox Run and the Walk for a Cure, as well as organizing fundraising events for Rockwood Centennial School.
Kelly has volunteered her time for her church, where she has served as church council secretary; the Rockwood Business Foundation, where she organized a trunk sale to raise funds to purchase downtown flags; and the Lion’s Club where she has been involved in the local clean up day and spring fair.
“She’s an all round volunteer,” said Mayor Chris White.
Puslinch Township
Audrey Mast is the recipient. She is a long standing member of the Mount Carmel Zion United Church, was a Sunday School teacher there for many years. and remains a member of the choir.
Mast has assisted in many church functions, including the annual bazaar and seniors luncheon.
She has been involved with local youth through groups such as Brownies, Girl Guides, Cubs, and Scouts.
Mast has been a caretaker for the township at the old township hall as well as the new community centre where she can be found in the wee hours of the morning tidying up before the next function.
It is estimated that Mast, born and raised in Puslinch, contributes more than 400 hours a year as a volunteer in her community.
Mayor Brad Whitcombe said, “More than one resident knows if they need help they can call on Audrey Mast.”
Mapleton Township
Ron Ellis is the recipient for.
He is a lifelong resident of Drayton where he lives with his wife and two children. In 1991 he founded the Drayton Festival Theatre. Prior to that he had never seen a professional play. He has since become and arts advocate, serving for 12 years on the board of directors, before retiring to spearhead an arms-length volunteer organization to assist the theatre with annual fundraising and beautification projects.
His volunteer experience includes offering backstage tours, acting as a greeter, serving as an usher, selling raffle tickets, working the lounge, providing theatre awareness, assisting with staffing special events and coordinating major fundraisers.
Mayor John Green said he and Ellis have been friends for over 40 years, and when the theatre was forming “Ron was one of the first I contacted.” Green also noted that Ellis had been best man at his wedding.
Minto
The Norgan Theatre volunteers were the group recipients for Minto.
It is the only municipality in Canada to own a movie theatre. In 2005, it was closed because of structural deficiencies but was reopened as the council, the citizens of Palmerston were unwilling to let it close. In July 2007, the theatre was reopened due to the thousands of hours contributed by volunteers who assisted in fundraising and refurbishing the old theatre.
Six people volunteered to be captains of a team that run the theatre every weekend. They are responsible for the entire operation of the theatre, including; the concession booth, ticket taking, cleaning and organizing volunteer projectionists. It is only with volunteer contributions that the theatre is a financial viable operation in Minto.
Mayor David Anderson said that without the volunteers, there would be no Norgan today, and that they had volunteered for “thousands of hours.”
Erin
Jay Peacock is the recipient for the Town of Erin, and the first student ever honoured by the awards.
Mayor Rod Finnie said Jay is a grade 12 student at Erin District High School, graduating this June. He started volunteering at Caledon Pool where he spent a great deal of time instructing.
In grade 10, he attended the Ontario Leadership Camp in Orillia that resulted in him becoming a counsellor where he designed activities and acted as a student mentor to a group of grade 7 boys.
At school, he is regarded as a student with compassion for others. He is willingly and enthusiastically involved with his classes and extra-curricular activities. He has been a member of the basketball, volleyball, cross-country, wrestling and rugby teams.
As well he took it upon himself to start a rowing program at the school where he has done everything from establishing a coach and sponsorship to designing practices. He is also on the athletic council, where he works with a group of students to run activities for the school, raise funds for charity and promote school spirit.
Mayor Rod Finnie explained that Peacock’s mom would accept his award because he was in Saskatchewan that day, hoping to complete the organization of an exchange project for Erin high school that he had been working on for two years.
Executive Director of the Volunteer Centre Cathy Taylor said, “Volunteers build caring communities’ is our theme for National Volunteer Week 2009. This event is a great way to wrap up our celebrations this year.
“It is those volunteers whose generosity of time and spirit provide outstanding service to our community and inspire others to contribute to making Wellington County a wonderful place to live.”
Maieron concluded the presentation by noting, “Volunteers are not paid because they are worthless; they are not paid because they are priceless.”
