Citizen of the year nominations open
By Rob Vogt, Local Press Writer
Claresholm and District Family and Community Support Services is looking for nominations for the 2018 citizen of the year and junior citizen of the year.
“Things don’t happen in your community unless you have engaged and committed community members,” said Allison McKee, community outreach coordinator for Claresholm and District Family and Community Support Services. “We’re looking for people who are invested in seeing their community grow.”
People who have nominated someone in the past who did not win are encouraged to re-submit those nominations.
The citizen of the year will be presented a traditional gold key produced by Tom Goodwin of Claresholm Casting, at the Volunteer Appreciation at the Claresholm Community Centre on April 10.
The deadline for nominations is Friday, March 22 and the selection committee requires a written submission detailing the nominee’s past and present volunteer activities.
The more information the committee has, the easier it is, because the judges don’t know every nominee so the nominations have to be presented in detail.
Past winners of the citizen of the year include: Duke Ferguson; Marcus Heck; Walt Wiig; James Pedersen; Irene Newman; and Hugh Thompson. There was a break of a few years until the award was given out in 2005. The most recent winners are Harold Seymour; Gladys Sutcliffe; George Bishop; Don Leonard; Mable Both; Shirley Isaacson; Kathy Davies; Noreen Bishop; Doug Leeds; Rosemary Wishart and Arnold McAulay; Syd Gray; Roy Pachal; and Carmelle Steel.
The junior citizen of the year, sponsored by Chinook Credit Union, will also be given out, and a detailed written submission is required for that as well.
Past winners of the junior citizen of the year are: Ashley McCance; Derek Rothe; Nicole Heward; Jack Middleton and Falon Wagner; Emily Boyle; Kimiko McKenzie; Mattew Rice; Lane Verna; Jocelyn Chartrand; McKenzie Russell; Kaley Nelson; and Spencer Van Dellen.
Nominations for the citizen and junior citizen of the year should be dropped off at the Claresholm Local Press, located across from the post office downtown, in a sealed envelope labelled citizen or junior citizen of the year.
All submissions will be forwarded to the panel of judges for selection.