In a time when many non-profit groups are desperate to recruit new members, the 2012 Windsor and West Hants Volunteer Awards banquet was a real eye-opening occasion.
The Town of Windsor and Municipality of West Hants handed out a combined total of 35 appreciation awards to local volunteers at the 14th annual banquet hosted in the Brooklyn Civic Centre on April 16.
In thanking the vast group of nominees present at the ceremony, West Hants Warden Richard Dauphinee called volunteers “the heart of our communities.”
Ellershouse Community Hall Association member Lyman Lyttle was named the Provincial Representative Volunteer for West Hants. He has served with the association for 15 years, working events, helping take fundraisers from concept to completion and assisting with deliveries. He also sits on the Oakhill Cemetery Committee, cleans the St. Louise Church, where he has been a janitor for 51 years, and makes frequent blood donations to the Canadian Red Cross.
Capt. Richard Smith, a Windsor native who has served with the Canadian Coast Guard for 33 years, was presented with the Judy Fry Memorial Volunteer Award, which is given to the Town of Windsor’s provincial volunteer representative.
Smith joined the Windsor Fire Department as a volunteer firefighter in 1991. In his 21-year commitment to the department, he has served as a firefighter, driver, safety officer, trainer and the chairman of several sub-committees formed to organize fundraisers and community events. In 1993, he received an outstanding achievement award from the Windsor Fire Department’s Veterans’ Association for his work promoting fire prevention. He was awarded for a second outstanding achievement in 2007 for training fellow firefighters in rescue boat operations.
Smith, a survivor of prostate cancer, participates in the Hants West Relay for Life fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society, sits on the local police advisory committee and volunteers with Windsor’s annual Parade of Lights in December.
The 14th annual business appreciation awards recognized businesses that continuously go above and beyond to support not-for-profit causes within the Windsor and West Hants area.
Jennifer Daniels, of Daniels’ Flower Shop on Water Street in Windsor, was presented with the Business Community Appreciation Award on behalf of the Municipality of West Hants.
In introducing Daniels, West Hants’ recreation director, Kathy Kehoe, commended the entrepreneur for “recognizing the importance of our neighbours.”
Daniels, chairperson of the Windsor Business Enhancement Society and a volunteer with the West Hants Chamber of Commerce, has shown support to local 4-H groups, animal rescue organizations, fire departments, schools, the Windsor Rotary Club, Apple Blossom princess teas, the Hants County Exhibition, and random community fundraisers organized for special causes.
She is known for fostering cats and kittens available for adoption in her shop to support local rescue groups.
Kehoe said Daniels attributes her desire “to contribute to Hants County’s success” as an entrepreneur to her parents, who opened the flower shop 50 years ago.
The Town of Windsor presented Danny Dill, of Dill Entreprises, with a Business Community Appreciation Award.
“The twin attractions of giants pumpkins and the Cradle of Hockey bring thousands of people to the area each year,” said VanEssa Roberts, Windsor’s director of recreation and tourism.
Roberts said the Dill family, developers of the world-renowned Dill’s Atlantic Giant pumpkins, give hockey fans of all ages the chance to skate on the historic Cradle of Hockey every winter by keeping their farm open to the public and maintaining the roads leading to Long Pond year-round.
Roberts said the Dills played an integral role in the Windsor Hockey Heritage Society’s inaugural Long Pond Heritage Classic fundraiser and the Windsor West Hants Pumpkin Festival, in addition to supporting the Hants County Agriculture Exhibition and numerous non-profit groups.
Adults recognized for their contributions to the community included: Helen Sauveur, Frederick Sanford, Stephen Rogers, Judith Pieper, Raymond Wright, Andrew McDade, Bob and Carole MacDonald, Bill Lake, Debby Kellner, Lisa Johnson, Wanda George, Bette Smith, Susan Parker, Michelle Herx, Elmer “Sonny” Brown, Delores Aresnault, Marina Spinney, Sharon Thibeau, Dave Hunter, Capt. Daniel Lavers, Lori Dolliver, Calvin Wood, Leesa White, Tanya Moore, Heather Donohue, Danielle Weir, Scott Geddes and Marilyn MacKay.
Hailey Fitzgerald, Cody Marsters, Morgan McNeil, Eric Bowness, Erica Porter and Caitlin Seaward were honoured as outstanding youth volunteers.
