South Frontenac Volunteers Of The Year

Jun 20, 2013

This year one couple and three individuals received recognition from South Frontenac Council as Volunteers of the Year at an awards ceremony on Tuesday night, June 18.

Chris Sleeth – When Chris Sleeth was a young ballplayer, his game was fastball, but he has made his greatest contribution to the game of softball.

From coaching and nurturing skills of young softball players, participation as an umpire, recruitment and support of the Junior Umpire Program, he also took on the organization of the entire East Storrington Softball program. He became President of the Frontenac County Minor Softball Association as well as acting as the Frontenac County Minor Softball Association representative for the Inter Community Softball Association.

Under his tutelage, the East Storrington Softball program has continued to thrive, and he has left an indelible mark on all of the children, parents and co-volunteer parents alike whose lives have been touched by his skill, positive attitude and wonderful role modeling examples.

Sharon and Bill Patterson – In 1997, Sharon and Bill were among the first on board to volunteer for the International Ploughing Match, which came to South Frontenac in 1998. Since then they have been deeply involved with the Storrington Retirees, helping out with cooking, cleaning, organizing events and fundraising etc.

Sharon is an active member of St. James Anglican Church on the Sunbury Road. She has cared for the church for many years and has recruited Bill to help with the grass cutting, snow removal and other jobs.

They are always ready and willing to help out the community whether it is with the retirees, church work, Children’s Bible School, getting donations for the Christmas hampers, or anything else they are asked to help with.

Wayne Closs - Wayne started volunteering at the age of 18 with hockey and continued until age 30. He is most famous for his devotion to the baseball program. He started volunteering for his son’s T-Ball team, and continued to be involved in coaching, umpiring and other aspects of baseball for approximately 31 years. There is not a child who played baseball or hockey growing up in South Frontenac, who wouldn’t know who Wayne Closs is. Wayne also volunteered with the Harrowsmith & District Social & Athletic Club. He was the official baseball director from 2004 to 2011. He also served up some of the best barbequed hamburgers and hot dogs during our “Canada Day in the Park” celebrations in Harrowsmith.

Frank York – Frank York has been a devoted member of the Verona Lions Club and the Verona Cattail Festival for 15 years. He concocted the idea of the Red Green Duct Tape Boat Races, still one of the must see events at the Verona Festival. He created the Purple Lions mini-truck that is used for parades and the Gypsy Wagon that was the original stage for the Verona Festival. He is the go to guy when it comes to set-up and take-down at all Verona Lions and Community Association events. He is also the one who came up with the name Cattail Festival.

His citation summed up the way people in Verona feel about Frank York: “We are very proud of Frank in Verona. He is truly ‘one of a kind’."