Maciver and Dezan awarded for service
Rod Maciver of Lennoxville and Matilda Dezan of Ayer’s Cliff recently became the most recent Townshippers to become recipients of a Canada 150 Volunteer Award pin.
“There was a knock on the door Friday afternoon, I went to answer it and there was Minister Bibeau and about fifteen other people,” Maclver said. “It was certainly a surprise.”
Dezan, who received her pin in the
mail, said that she was also very surprised at the honour although she was humble about the reasons behind it.
“I know many people who I think deserve it more, I’ll put it that way,” the Ayer’s Cliff resident said, stating that she is fairly certain “a friend from church” put her name forward. Dezan added that the letter from Bibeau was very kindly worded and praised her for overall contributions to community life.
Maclver shared that he was aware that the Ceilidh Society of Scotstown had submitted his name when the call for nominees went out but said that when he heard the news that Richard Evans and Milt Loomis had received pins two weeks ago, he assumed that the matter was closed.
“They were to be presented to those who have done a lot of good for the community,” the Lennoxville resident said, explaining that he had seen the nomination letter when it first went out months ago.
The pins, made from metal saved from recent restoration work on the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, have been left in the hands of MPS to hand out on a discretionary basis to deserving volunteers in their home ridings. Each MP has 20 to present. In Compton-stanstead the honour has been reserved for volunteers who are 75 years-old or older, and the decision as to which nominees receive the awards was left in the hands of the local youth council.