Editorials
June 27, 2007 10:08 PM
We will honour two of our finest citizens tonight.
Audrey Gibson will receive Whitchurch-Stouffvile’s citizen of the year award and Wayne Nugent sports person of the year during opening ceremonies of the Strawberry Festival in Memorial Park.
Mrs. Gibson, now a senior citizen herself, has been an advocate for seniors and others in our community for more than 30 years.
Quietly, and always with a smile, she has volunteered in her church, at the local seniors centre and with fundraising drives for the cancer society and heart and stroke foundation.
Mr. Nugent is a former Stouffville resident and teacher/coach at Stouffvillle District Secondary School.
Now 66 and living and working in Woodbridge, he retires this month from a 42-year coaching career. He touched the lives of many students in York Region, including Stouffville.
He is a charter member of the Stouffville Buttermakers, the men’s slo-pitch team whose once massive Canada Day weekend tournament helped spawn the festival.
The Sun-Tribune is proud to sponsor and administer both of these prestigious citizen awards.
Fortunately, Mrs. Gibson and Mr. Nugent are not alone. Whitchurch-Stouffville is a community of volunteers.
Look around. The activities in your neighbourhood community centres, schools, sports fields, churches and our health care centres are powered by volunteers.
The Strawberry Festival is prime pickings in this regard. A core of volunteers founded the festival in 1985, from the roots of Ontario bicentennial, Canada Day and Buttermakers tourney festivities of recent years.
The faces have changed several times during the 23 years, but volunteers remain the heart of the festival.
Now, a new program, Love Stouffville, has added many new faces to the festival’s roster of volunteer help. Thank the town’s church community for this infusion of help.
It’s hard to imagine our lives without volunteers. From the hockey and soccer coaches to school council members and hospital helpers.
The Ontario government has mandated our teenagers volunteer, if they want to graduate from high school.
In Whitchurch-Stouffville, people of all ages still volunteer because they want to help others in their home town.