‘The first time I’ve ever been recognized’
Karen Cormier honoured with Amherst Rotary Club’s highest honour
Karen Cormier has always loved animals and prides herself on staying busy.
The L.A. Animal Shelter in Upper Nappan has been the beneficiary of her work and she has helped the organization grow to the point that it’s taking on a capital campaign to build a new shelter.
Cormier’s dedication was recently recognized when she was presented with the Amherst Rotary Club’s highest honour, the Paul Harris Community Fellowship Award. The club has presented the award since 1997, when it began honouring someone in the Amherst area who has for a number of years provided leadership and volunteer services to the community within the spirit of the Rotary motto of Service Above Self and the Four Way Test.
“I’m very thankful for this wonderful award. It’s the first time I’ve ever been recognized like this and I’m so honoured,” Cormier said. “I usually like to say yes and help everyone without being acknowledged. I like being a silent partner. I’m the type of person with a ton of energy who likes to keep busy.”
Born in Truro, Cormier moved to Amherst with her husband Don to raise a family of four and run Margolians department store, which later became Dayle’s Department Store until it closed in 2016. She and Don continue to make the building available to local businesses as Dayle’s Grand Market, adding to the viability of downtown Amherst.
As a hockey mom, she didn’t just send her children to the rink, she was active in the former Amherst and Area Minor Hockey Association and its successor, the Cumberland County Minor Hockey Association. She helped organize the Bluenose minor hockey tournament and was active as a member of the Fred Page host committee in 2019.
She has always loved decorating, taking online courses and obtaining a certificate in interior decoration that helped her in the creation of beautiful show windows and displays at Margolians and Dayle’s. She also assisted Rev. Don Miller with his Christmas house tours in support of First Baptist Church.
Cormier has also been active in the hospital auxiliary, helping with the Highland Fling and numerous fashion shows, while her decorating skills also assisted the Cumberland County Museum.
At the animal shelter, she started by cleaning out kennels and helping with fundraising. She has served on the board, including four years as vicepresident, and supervises two full-time and five part-time employees.
“She opens up the place and closes it, she transports the animals to the vet and runs the adoption service, and she still cleans kennels,” Rotary anniversary and awards committee chairman Morris Haugg said during the presentation.
Cormier has taken an online course and obtained a certificate as a veterinary assistant and she is taking another course in dog behaviour to become a canine specialist.
She takes great pride in the shelter’s recent success that has seen adoption rates increase by about 300 per cent in recent years. She’s also looking ahead to the fundraising campaign that will lead to a new shelter.
“The building we’re in now was bought in 1996 and it needs to be replaced,” she said.
While some people say they only help organizations that help people, Cormier said the shelter helps people by providing homes for animals that have to be surrendered by people moving out of their homes into pet-free facilities, while also providing animals for those people living alone who want a pet as a companion.
“There are so many older people moving into seniors’ facilities who can’t take their pets. They’re so happy that we are finding them good homes,” she said. “There are also people who are alone and want a pet to come home to. It works both ways. We’re finding great homes for our animals but we’re helping people too. It’s my passion and I love every moment of it.”