HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-06-21, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 2012.Local woman honoured with OPP award
St. Helen’s reunion coming in July
Blyth’s Kendra Carter was
honoured on Sunday night in
London with an OPP Award of
Honour. She was one of six to
receive the award that night and she
was the only civilian.
Carter has been involved with the
Special Olympics and the OPP’s
Special Olympics Torch Run for
over 15 years, since she was in highschool. Over that time she has raisedover $17,000 for the SpecialOlympics, which Carter says is her
passion.
Her involvement in the Special
Olympics began when Blyth OPP
officer Brenda Carey asked Carter if
she’d like to participate and Carter
said she didn’t think twice and said
yes.
“I just wanted to help handicapped
kids to go to the Special Olympics,
raising the money in North Huron,”
Carter said on Monday in an
interview with The Citizen.
Carter says she has several
positive influences in her life and
they have all helped her to keep
going as the years have gone on. Not
only has she participated in the torch
run for well over a decade, but she
has no plans on terminating that
relationship.
She’s proud of the work she’s
done and she plans on continuing to
do it.
“I’ll continue,” she said. “There’s
no way I can stop the way I’m going
now.”
Carter says the torch run is always
one of the highlights of her year and
one of her favourite aspects of the
run is travelling down main streets
and hearing the encouragement from
everyone as she bikes down the
street.
“I feel very honoured and to go
down the main street in Blyth and
Wingham and Goderich,” she said.
Carter says there have been years
when the sun was shining for the run
and years where it has been raining,
but that the group has remained
committed and pressed on with the
run no matter what the weather
conditions.
As far as inspiration is concerned,
Carter says she hasn’t had to lookfurther than the local OPP officerswho have encouraged her toparticipate in the run every year for
17 years. She says she sees Brenda
Carey or Russ Nesbitt out raising
money and championing the Special
Olympics cause and it makes her
even more proud to be involved with
the cause.
“It’s worth it. I figure if they’re
worth it, then I’m worth it,” she said.
Carter says she loves raising
money for the Special Olympics, but
without the generosity of those inthe community, none of it wouldhave been possible.Carter says officers like Carey,
Nesbitt, Lincoln Dinning and the
departed Dave Mounsey have meant
so much to her over the past 17 years
that she could have never done it
without them.
She says she was “shocked” when
she heard she had won the award. It
was literally while she was walking
in the door after this year’s torch run
late last month.
THE EDITOR,
This summer the small village of
St. Helen’s will be celebrating its
155th anniversary. To honour this
milestone a small, but dedicated
group from the village and
surrounding area will be putting
together a reunion on July 7-8. We
have tried our best to get in touch
with as many past and present
families as possible, but this has
been a difficult task. If you did not
receive an invitation, please accept
this as your personal invitation to
join in the fun and festivities at St.
Helen’s. Come and gather with
friends and relatives who called St.
Helen’s and area home.
We are trying our best to gather
the history of St. Helen’s and this
will be viewed the weekend of the
reunion in the St. Helen’s Hall. Our
goal is to document all this
important history of our community.
We are looking for tales, memories,
old family recipes or remedies and
pictures, which we will later publish
and have for sale. Please e-mail
Margie MacPherson at
mmacpherson@tnt21.com with
your stories or tales, memories,
pictures and anything else you
would like to see in this book. Also,
picture boards of your relatives,
buildings or events that made St.
Helen’s dear to us all, would
be appreciated for display at the
hall for the weekend of the
reunion.
Saturday, July 7 begins with
registration at 9 a.m. followed by a
parade through the village. The
theme is families, so get your gang
together and join in the parade. All
activities for this exciting weekend
will be held at or around the St.
Helen’s Hall.
For more information about this
exciting weekend you can contact
Margie at the above e-mail address
or call 519-528-2627.
So mark July 7-8 on your calendar
and “Come to the village with the
Big Heart”. Let’s continue to make
history in St. Helen’s. We hope to
see you all there.
Margie MacPherson
Reunion Chairperson.
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Letters to the Editor
Well deserved
Kendra Carter, above, was honoured in London Sunday
night with an award from the Ontario Provincial Police for
her long-standing commitment to the Special Olympics and
the OPP’s annual torch run. Carter was able to meet OPP
commissioner Chris Lewis, right, on Sunday night, which
she called a great honour. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen