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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-07-05, Page 9THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2012. PAGE 9. While some recipients of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee award, which is given to community- minded individuals who make great contributions in their community, are given to people who volunteer throughout their areas, other people are very dedicated to a single purpose. Jonathan Van Camp, for example, dedicates himself to the Belgrave Community Centre and is currently the President of the Belgrave Community Centre Board of Directors. He will be receiving the prestigious award during a ceremony on July 5 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Wingham. “I was a little surprised, I didn’t know anything about it,” he said. “The people who nominated me, and I still don’t know specifically who it was, kept it a secret since the process began six or seven months ago.” This isn’t the first time that the members of the board and volunteers who work at the centre have kept Van Camp in the dark, however, as, when he became president, he had no idea that he was the only person running for it. Van Camp started his work with the community centre through originally becoming part of the Belgrave Optimist Club. The club later folded and started as the fundraising club that is part of the Belgrave Community Centre board. “When the club folded, I was the president of it,” he said. “Then I became a founding member of the Belgrave Community Centre Board.” In 2008 the board approached North Huron about being in charge of the facilities in Belgrave and, through work in 2009, the community centre was under a 20- year lease and joint use agreement by January of 2010. Van Camp says that his role as a leader both in the committee and in helping to run the community centre are a good fit because of his hours at work. “I work from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., so I can usually make a point of being at the community centre during the day when people need to get in or out,” he said. That role has taken on new responsibilities in the past year as Van Camp has started to spearhead a project designed to see the community centre compliant with the fire code. “I’ve been in charge mostly due to my availability,” he said. “I meet with contractors and engineers and deal with that stuff.” Through his seat on the board with the charity club, which is comprised of many former Optimist Club members, Van Camp has helped to keep the focus of the group on the kids. “We handle the Grade 8 graduation awards, hand out treat bags at Christmas and do that kind of stuff,” he said. There’s also a rumour that Van Camp has often been spied donning a certain red suit at Christmas and looking like a fabled rabbit near Easter. His dedication to his community comes from two distinct things; a love for his community and the love that the people of the community have for each other. “Nine years ago I was asked to join the local Optimist Club,” he said. “We used to do soup and salad lunches at the Women’s Institute Hall and we did fish fries at the community centre,” he said. “What it came down to was that I’ve lived here for 48 years, I enjoyed giving back and decided I wanted to continue. I got on the board and progressed through.” He said that, since he grew up in Belgrave playing hockey, skating, going to the school fair and having fun he wanted to help make sure those opportunities were still there. The love the community has for itself, however, became apparent to Van Camp when the first wing night was held at the community centre. “This community really takes care of the Community Centre, they show a lot of support for it,” he said. “The first wing night we ever had the roads were closed due to a bad storm and we figured it was pretty much done, but we still had 180 people show up. Ever since then it’s become more and more popular.” He said that he loves helping in Belgrave because everyone pulls together and volunteers their time. “We’re seeing more use of the arena in the last couple of years because of that,” he said. “People in this community really like to give.” Walton’s Jo-Ann McDonald was a little startled to receive a letter informing her that she would be receiving the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee award, which is presented to individuals who lead and volunteer within their community. “It was quite a surprise,” she said. “It’s nice to be recognized like that.” The award, however, isn’t something that’s given to an individual, she said. “No one really earns something like this on their own,” she said. “There are a multitude of people who make things happen with me and those multitudes deserve it.” McDonald said that helping people out has always been something she’s been interested in, ever since she was a child. “Since I was young, I’ve always been a good helper,” she said. “My grandparents had a market garden and I helped them there and my other grandmother was caretaker at a church and I helped there.” Helping out is just something that needs to be done and McDonald said she’s more than happy to do it. Her experiences have taught her of its necessity, she says. “There was a big winter storm in the 1970s,” she said. “I picked stuff up from stores to take to people in the retirement home because I was young and could manage it, the people in the home might not have been able to do it. It started with me getting things for my grandparents and then snowballed from there.” Being involved in the Walton and Brussels area was originally a way to become involved in a new community for McDonald. “I came here from Mitchell,” she said. “I first got involved with Walton Sports Club as a way to meet people and help out.” She said that through those original attempts to help she eventually became involved in many different things because people kept asking her. “I guess the old saying is right; if you ask a busy person to help out, they’ll never say no,” she said. McDonald has been involved in many different local experiences including fundraising through the Walton TransCan, working with Duff’s United Church and the UCW, the Brussels Agricultural Society, working at the Brussels Fall Fair, co- ordinating volunteers for the Grey Township Heart and Stroke Foundation annual canvasing, helping with homecoming in both Grey Township and Brussels and curling. She is also usually to be found helping out with events at the Brussels Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 218. Her previous offices include past president, sports, bursaries and honours and awards and she is currently in charge of training and development, public relations, catering and fish frying functions, Legion-sponsored events and has taken on a leading role in the upcoming accessibility renovations for the Legion. She is also a member of the Walton Hall Board, has been a convenor for local sports associations and writes two weekly columns for The Citizen detailing events in Walton and at the Brussels Legion. It became evident, at the June 19 meeting of Morris-Turnberry Council that several members do not share Mayor Paul Gowing’s enthusiasm to turning the old CPR rail bed into a trail. Gowing had come away impressed from an April meeting in Blyth where the Advanced Planning Practice Trail Group of students from the University of Guelph had presented a study on using the old railway line to link the 45 km Kissing Bridge Trail, which goes from Guelph to Millbank to the Goderich to Auburn Rail Trail. The mayor told council he was intrigued by the idea. “We have to work with what we’ve got,” in finding economic development in the municipality. Gowing said he had committed to walking the old rail bed between Walton and Blyth to see what would be need to be done to bring it up to trail standards. The right-of-way is currently owned by the province which took it over when the railway abandoned the line in 1988, reserving the land in case it was needed for a water pipeline from Lake Huron to Guelph. There’s a suggestion for Huron County and Perth County to each set up a working group, Gowing said. But two councillors were opposed to a trail. “Twenty years ago I would have been in favour but today with the riff-raff we have we don’t need to give them access to the backs of private property,” said Councillor David Baker. Police can’t even patrol the roads without having a Van Camp honoured for his contributionsto Belgrave Community Centre Board Walton’s McDonald honoured with Queen’s award Council concerned over trail Well done Looking around Brussels and Walton, it is tough to find something Jo-Ann McDonald doesn’t have a hand in. She volunteers with many organizations in the area and was awarded thusly for her efforts with a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee award. (Denny Scott photo) Awarded Jonathan Van Camp has given himself to the Belgrave Community Centre completely, dedicating hundreds of hours to the centre over the years. (Denny Scott photo) By Denny Scott The Citizen By Denny Scott The Citizen By Keith Roulston The Citizen Continued on page 21