Municipal units preparing for volunteer events
Nova Scotia to present provincial awards in April
As director of Yarmouth Recreation, Frank Grant appreciates the importance of volunteers. So, as he and his colleagues prepare for this year’s Volunteer Week activities, Grant looks forward to seeing more people recognized for their efforts.
National Volunteer Week in Canada will be observed April 19 to 25 and municipal units in the tri-county region will be among those holding volunteer recognition events, either during that week or around that time.
“In recreation,” said Grant, “we couldn’t do the things we do without volunteers. Yes, we have staff, but we need volunteers out there with minor baseball and minor soccer and minor hockey to give their time, to make things work.”
And, of course, recreation is just an example; Grant said volunteerism touches just about every aspect of the community. From service clubs to the fire service, many people dedicate their time and effort to a variety of causes and organizations.
In preparation for the Yarmouth volunteer reception – scheduled for May 5 at the town hall – community groups will be contacted to see if they have someone they feel should be recognized for their volunteer work, but Grant says anyone can nominate individuals for the Yarmouth event. It could be a person who perhaps doesn’t belong to a particular group but who often seems to be helping out when something’s going on, he said.
Anyone who would like to nominate a person from the Town of Yarmouth or Municipality of Yarmouth can call Yarmouth Recreation or send them an email with the name of the nominee and a bit of information about what they do.
Meanwhile, other municipal units in southwestern Nova Scotia will hold volunteer recognition events as well. Some have their own, while others work in partnership with neighbouring units.
The Municipality of Clare, for example, will have its volunteer ceremony April 23 at the Clare Veterans Centre in Saulnierville, and the Municipality of Argyle will have its event May 1 at the East Side Community Centre in East Pubnico.
Volunteers from the town and municipality of Digby will be honoured April 22 at the Digby Regional High School community theatre.
In Shelburne County, the Municipality of Barrington and Town of Clark’s Harbour will hold a combined event, although details have yet to be announced. Another event, scheduled for April 21, will cover the town and municipality of Shelburne and Town of Lockeport, but the location for this one has not been announced.
Nova Scotia’s annual provincial volunteer awards will be presented in Halifax April 27.