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Kinsmen seek 2018 Citizen of the Year

BY JENNIFER CHORNLEY The VOICE Do you know of an outstanding Pelham resident who helps serve the community’s greatest need? If so, the Fonthill and District Kinsmen Club welcomes your help in request of nominations for its annual Pelham Citizen of th
Kin Citizen Winners
Eleven previous Citizens of the Year join Judy Reid at her award dinner last year. From left, Ron Kore, Gerry Berkhout, Gail Hilyer, David Swan, Anne Robbins, Paul Ryan, Judy Reid, John Wink, Catherine Kuckyt, Sandra Warden, Rosemary and Gary Chambers. VOICE PHOTO

 

BY JENNIFER CHORNLEY The VOICE

Do you know of an outstanding Pelham resident who helps serve the community’s greatest need?

If so, the Fonthill and District Kinsmen Club welcomes your help in request of nominations for its annual Pelham Citizen of the Year Award, 2018.

First presented in 1998, the award honours a Pelham resident who has demonstrated, by their volunteerism, the true sense of community spirit.

The recipient must either reside or work within Pelham, be 21 years old, not a member of any branch of the Kinsmen Clubs of Canada or anyone serving as a paid political official.

Citizen of the Year Committee chair Brian Iggulden said the Kinsmen Club established the award 21 years ago because there were no other organizations recognizing the community contributions residents were making at that time.

“As a service club that is all-Canadian, we decided to take the lead on this, and also, wherever we can on other projects and initiatives,” Iggulden said.

“We encourage residents to submit a written nomination on someone who exemplifies volunteerism based on our Club’s motto ‘Serving the Community’s greatest need.’”

Iggulden said the club receives some six to 12 nominations yearly.

“It’s a really difficult decision for the club to pick one individual, as all past nominees and recipients have been truly outstanding contributors to the Pelham community,” he said.

The club encourages anyone to resubmit nominations for past community contributors, as “this year may be their year,” he said.

Iggulden said that numerous people can nominate one individual and, when submitting the nomination, to provide as much information as possible about the individual’s community efforts.

For the past 13 years, Iggulden has been chairing the committee and says it provides him with a “great honour and fulfillment to recognize outstanding individuals who have the same goals and visions for our community as the Kinsmen do.”

Judy Reid was the club’s 2017 Pelham Citizen of the Year, other recipients include Ron Kore in 2016, the late Gerry Berkhout in 2005, Sandra Warden in 2011, Gail Hilyer in 2009, and Carolyn Mullin, the club’s first recipient in 1998.

The award presentation will be held on Tuesday, March 5 at the Old Pelham Town Hall on Canboro Road. Tickets must be purchased in advance due to limited seating. Availability will be announced once the recipient has been chosen.

Submissions must be in writing, and postmarked by no later than Friday, January 25. They can be sent to Fonthill Kinsmen, PO Box 906, Fonthill, ON, L0S 1E0, or through any Kinsmen Club member.