April is Volunteer Appreciation Month. Volunteers are vital to our community and we are blessed in having so many willing and hard working volunteers where needed. Places such as Maeford Place, Dunrovin Park Lodge and various organizations have held appreciation events to thank people for their time in making the lives of others a little more pleasant.
At the beautifully decorated 2011 Quesnel Volunteer Citizen of the Year Awards Dinner April 19, with the introduction of the four nominees, this was most evident. Sheri Coles, Dianne Greenwood, Liz Miller, and Wes Sissons all deserved to be awarded the honour of Citizen of the Year. Sheri credits her staff at Integris with support in all her volunteer efforts. Liz Miller has been involved in community groups and more recently with the Miss Quesnel Self-Development Program when her daughter chose to enter the program. Wes Sissons is a regular visitor to Riverview elementary school where he and his wife Cheryl are active volunteers. But by a secret ballot Dianne Greenwood was this year’s winner for her work for the Good Cheer campaign for the past 24 years, 20 years at coordinator.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Janis Butler, Cathy Heinzelman and Bev Pontius for their volunteer time with Kersley Musical Theatre, YES and several other theatrical projects.
And there are many others in our community that deserve to be recognized but strongly reject any thought of letting their name stand for nomination. To all of you in this category we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You help make our community what it is.
Having come through what seemed like a long winter we can be so grateful we have not been in the path of tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods. Our problems are trivial compared to those who have lost loved ones, their homes and livelihood.
In a report from the International Federation on Aging, “Getting old is normal but aging well is a great art which deserves our admiration,” Jan Loman, president of Zivot 90 said.
“One of the most important human needs is the need of a relationship – we want to belong somewhere.”
Ruth Scoullar is a seniors’ advocate and regular Observer columnist.