Mayor Bruce Whale was presented with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal at the Feb. 12 council meeting.
Whale was nominated for the medal, which was presented by Mapleton CAO Patty Sinnamon, by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
“This comes as a surprise,” said Whale, who was elected mayor in 2010 after serving seven years on council.
After graduating from the University of Guelph, Whale spent three years working in Thailand with CUSO and travelling before returning to Mapleton. He has also been involved with PMD Minor Hockey, Peel/Maryborough Mutual Insurance, George Morris Centre, Dairy Farmers of Ontario, and Dairy Bureau of Canada.
Noting the medals are awarded based on community involvement and volunteerism, Whale, who operates a Mapleton dairy farm with his wife, Deborah, suggested medals should also be awarded to the spouses of recipients.
“The only way you can do that, working in the job that we have, is that one has to cover for the other,” he said.
Whale noted that while only five years old at the time of the Queen’s coronation, “I remember my parents getting really excited about it.”
