South Frontenac Volunteer of the Year awards

Jun 19, 2014

Exerpts from the citations for South Frontenac Volunteer of the Year awards

Lory Dark

Lory Dark has been a dedicated member of the volunteer staff of the Portland Township Community Caring, an organization located in the Princess Anne Building in Hartington, for many years.

Community Caring receives donations of used clothing, household items, toys and books from the community. Lory and her volunteers sort and price the articles which are then sold for a very modest amount. Their mission is Reuse, Recycle and Reduce. Lory helps to distribute the funds that are taken in and in turn the funds are donated to community associations such as the Township Firefighter’s Association or Southern Frontenac Community Services.

Although Lory would be the first to admit that it takes a team of dedicated volunteers to manage the never-ending administration of the Centre, Lory is being recognized for her years of dedication leadership, including the successful application in 2011, when she was the Chairperson, to become a Committee of the Township of South Frontenac.

Norm Irwin

Lifelong South Frontenac resident Norm Irwin’s first love was baseball. He started coaching at the age of 16 and has been actively involved in minor baseball ever since. He coached Central Frontenac Cyclones Rep. Fastball Teams from 2000 to 2013 from Mite to Junior Division. If you wanted to find Norm between April and October just go to one of the local baseball diamonds. This schedule requires a very supportive family. His wife Sheryl, his sons Doug and Brett, and his daughter Jacklyn are actively involved in Norm’s coaching activities. Over his career Norm has won 4 Ontario Championships (Squirt, PeeWee, Bantam, and Junior).

In addition to his coaching, Norm also has provided countless hours of property maintenance on behalf of the Township.

In addition to his baseball exploits, he has been a member of the Loughborough Parks and Recreation Committee since 2008. He has been leader in the Friday Night Lights Committee which was instrumental in acquiring lights on McLellan Field in Sydenham for the past seven years. This committee through fundraising donated over $30,000 to this project. He has also coached Bantam Rep. Hockey and he has refereed the Wednesday Night Basketball League for 5 years. Norm’s contribution to the school community was recognized this year by Sydenham High School when he was awarded the Hilliard Watson Memorial Trophy for Community Involvement.

Norm’s passion for sports and commitment to the community makes him a worthy recipient of the Volunteer of the Year Award for 2014.

Jim Kelly

Jim has been a Lion since 2005 and has held the offices of President, Vice President, Membership Chair of the Sydenham and District Lion’s Club, but most importantly he was the leader starting Vision Screening in Loughborough and Harrowsmith Schools. A program by District A3 Lions to assess Kindergarten school age children for their ability to see and starting in the new school year also to assess their ability to hear.

Secondly, as part of the Medical Alert bracelet program with Lions Clubs in Canada Jim started and organized the Sydenham District Lions Golf Tournament with goal of funding local schools. This program provides the Medical Alert bracelets as needed to school children upon request through the School Administration.

Finally, it’s important to highlight Jim’s involvement with the Loughborough Christmas & Emergency Relief Committee. Jim for years has volunteered with this committee and its efforts to provide community relief in the form of food and / or financial assistance as needed.

We wish to thank Jim for his many contributions to this community by recognizing him as Volunteer of the Year.

Roberta Smith

If anything is happening in Battersea, Roberta Smith, a lifelong resident, is there, willing to lend a helping hand. Roberta has volunteered at Battersea United Church for many years, cooking, cleaning and serving delicious church suppers and luncheons and much more.

Since her retirement she has joined the Storrington Retirees Association, where she was elected to the Retirees Executive and volunteered to look after the Entertainment Committee. She does a wonderful job keeping everyone entertained at the luncheon meetings every month. Roberta volunteered to be the representative of the retirees Association on the Storrington Recreation Committee. The committee put her to work: she volunteered to arrange to have the Storrington Centre painted, the floors stripped and cleaned, and more. Roberta has been a great help at the Canada Day Celebrations at the Gerald Ball Memorial Park on July 1^st an excellent celebration for the community. Andof course, she has been a strong presence at the Pumpkin Festival. We wish to thank Roberta for her many contributions to this community by recognizing her as Volunteer of the Year