Once again I am amazed at the number of talented people in Cobourg who volunteer their time to make Cobourg that much a better place to live. It’s one of Cobourg’s “feel good” events. It’s organized by a committee of citizens (see photo) which includes Toni Galea, executive assistant to the Mayor and CAO – she seems to do a lot of the behind the scenes work as did Petra Hartwig before her. They are helped by a second committee who select recipients of the awards. This year, the MC was Olinda Casimiro, Director of the AGN. Awards were handed out by Councillors and Sponsors. I managed to get photos of all recipients and they are collected in a video below. The photos are in the sequence of the presentations – you can connect names with photos based on the list of winners below.
The event on Wednesday night started with music from the Concert band and they also played to introduce some of the winners. I don’t have any recordings of the Concert Band to use on the video below so I added something by Enya – if you don’t like it, turn the sound down! After the usual Town cry by Mandy Robinson, Ted Amsden read out a poem, Mayor John Henderson gave a short “welcome” speech and our MPP and MP sent greetings. The Distinguished Civic Award Winners were then presented followed by the Major Civic Award winners. These have contributed more than five years of volunteer experience. The judges noted that “each of the applications received for this nomination were accompanied by numerous letters of support for each candidate”.
Distinguished Civic Award Winners
| Award | Winner |
| Distinguished Civic Awards for Community Service – Organizations | Northumberland Hills Hospital Brian & Sharon Wharram-Spry David Cromlish Laura McCracken Ebbrell Rick Gadd Emily Lonsberry Sydney Stewart Claire Stillman Emily Thickson Aidan Woodward Petticoat Lane Volunteers Community Care Hospice Group
|
| Distinguished Civic Awards for Community Service | Cornerstone
St. John’s Ambulance
Primrose Donkey Sanctuary
|
| Distinguished Civic Awards for Education & Technology | Mya Gillberry Catherine Kerr & Ruth Worona |
| Distinguished Civic Awards for Athletics – Organizers | Lisa Dudley Kristen Lalonde Jim Smith |
| Distinguished Civic Awards for Athletics – Athletes | Morgan Garland Jaclyn Gibson Leah Pedis & Saige Pedis |
| Athletic Awards for Groups and Teams | 10U Minor Mosquito B Northumberland Jacks Cobourg Bulls St Mary CCS Senior Rugby Team |
| Distinguished Civic Awards for Community Service | Dan Bulger Russ Donaldson Debbie Smith |
| Distinguished Civic Awards for the Environment | Emma Zoldy |
| Distinguished Civic Awards for the Arts | Cobourg Art Club Cobourg Poetry Workshop Oriana Singers of Northumberland Myrtle Wardman Sheila McCoy |
Major Civic Award winners
| Major Civic Award | Winner |
| Environmental | Margaret Bain and Gudrun Ludorf-Weaver |
| Heritage | Robert Washburn (Rob Franklin as James Cockburn assisted) |
| Sportsmanship Award | Chris Bell (Family Members Accepted) |
| Layton Dodge Athlete of the Year Award | Lawson Williams |
| Bravery Award | Paul Anderson |
| Outstanding Youth Award | Andrew Atanasoff |
| Outstanding Senior Award | Diana Storen |
| Arts & Culture Award | Duane Schermerhorn (Bob Stanley Accepted) |
| Lloyd C. Stinson Memorial Award for Community Service | Nancy Dalgarno |
| Angus and Bernice Read Volunteer Award | Stewart Richardson |
| Mayor’s Award of Distinction | Trisha Essery |
If you want to see the whole two hour event, Cogeco’s Your TV made an excellent recording which they will replay several times over the next while. But here is a slide show in video format (on Vimeo) that runs only 3 minutes. Full screen gives a bigger image and the controls allow you to pause on a specific photo.
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It was interesting that Ted Amsden was the Poet Laureate reading his charming original poem about a family of deer outside his home. For the last few years it has been traditional that the new Cobourg Poet Laureate was selected by this time and they were the one to read the poem at the civic awards. Not this year.
October 11, 2018, the Town posted a call for applications for the Poet Laureate Ad Hoc Committee in Northumberland News. So here we are, half-a-year later and no committee has called for poet laureate nominations. A half-year later, and not even a committee has been formed.
The Oct 11, 2018 Northumberland News ad called for committee members to apply no later than October 31, 2018. That did not happen. The ad said that more info can be found at https://bit.ly/2OwTnGT. There is no committee information on that site.
What a pathetic performance of this Town Council.
I’ll bite, did anyone apply to be on this committee? Did this committee ever get formed? If formed, did they make a recommendation for a new poet laureate? Did they indeed make a recommendation and council just didn’t act on it?
If you have 4 yes’s to those questions, then I agree, a poor performance by council. Not sure if it’s pathetic but definitely could be better.
Has the poet laureate ever been selected past the “civic awards” time? Is that a “hard” date for some reason?
Congratulations to all recipients.
The Arts and Culture Award is a fitting tribute to the tireless Duane Schermerhorn, who gave unsparingly of himself in many endeavours.
If they haven’t already, they will have to create a special Civic award. If anyone deserves such recognition, it is you, John!
I agree with Anne, you are a great ambassador for Cobourg. I enjoy your posts immensely.
Ditto here