Ernest Arsenault receives 2018 Co-op Order of Merit
Well-known co-operator Ernest Arsenault, who’ll forever be associated with Wellington Co-op even though he’s been retired for a decade, has been named the recipient of the 2018 Co-op Order of Merit for his personal and professional devotion to the movement.
The Conseil de développement coopératif de l’Î.-P.-É. (CDC – the francophone co-op development council) presented him with this distinction on Oct. 18, before 16 participants at the Co-operators’ Forum at the Centre Goéland in Cape Egmont.
When the selection committee was searching for candidates for the award, “the choice was extremely easy because we’ve seen such a person working 100 miles an hour throughout his career at Wellington Co-op, especially during the final years before his retirement. It was during those years that he was making all the arrangements for a major renovation and extension to the Wellington Co-op,” said award presenter Giselle Bernard.
“A twin son of Polycarpe and Rosida Arsenault of St. Chrysostome, Ernest inherited some beautiful personality traits from his parents. He has always been humble and kind, he’s always had a great big heart and has always been extremely generous.”
Arsenault first worked in the now-defunct Arsenault & Gaudet general store in Wellington as meat manager for eight years, starting in 1962.
In September 1970, he was hired to take over the meat department at Wellington Co-op. Ten years later, when the store manager position opened up, the board asked him to take on this challenge for a year. Twentyseven years later, he was still in the same position.
For more than a quarter century, he directed the co-op through major transformations to make it more profitable and competitive.
In 1994-95, long before society began to talk seriously about ecological conservation, Arsenault developed a project to hire a group of women to make cotton shopping bags to reduce the volume of plastic bags going to landfills.
He received an ecological conservation award for his project. Ten or 12 years later other grocery chains and department stores followed suit and introduced reusable bags.
When he retired, he also received a special recognition award for his contribution to the economic development of the Evangeline region.
“This year, we wanted to recognize him even more officially without our highest distinction – the Co-op Order of Merit,” said Bernard.