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Nineteen who make a difference

Nineteen volunteers who have served the Coast for at least five years. Nineteen people who make a difference.

Nineteen volunteers who have served the Coast for at least five years. Nineteen people who make a difference. These were the criteria for the Celebration of Excellence, a community event to honour selected volunteers, held at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre last Saturday evening (April 17).

Two members of the Sechelt Nation drummed the honourees into the hall.

After describing the nomination process, Cathy Smider of the event's steering committee told the audience, "The movers and shakers in our community don't always get thanked."

When organizer Anne Titcomb profiled each candidate, it became obvious that each one had served hundreds of hours in many areas of involvement.

Finalists in the Arts and Culture category were: the Pender Harbour Chamber Music Festival's Lise Aylmer, Gibsons Landing Fibre Arts Festival's Noreen Tretick and Driftwood Players' president Bill Forst.

The Community Building category fielded the most candidates: Judy Spears, Kay Metcalf, Sechelt elder Barbara Higgins who gave the event a blessing, and Christine Chandler. Katharine Trueman was not present to accept her award.

Environmental Pro-tection and Enhancement category included two finalists, whose works are well known on the eco-conscious Coast: Lori Pickering and Robin Wheeler.

Brenda Rowe, Health and Wellness category, received an ovation for her many fundraising projects both on the Coast and in the schools of Nairobi.

The Non Profit/Public Sector category was represented by Randy Udahl for his work with parks and recreation and Vicki Dobbyn for her leadership in social services.

Gord Cudlipp's involvement with the Gibsons' Coast Guard and other organizations earned him the Safety finalist award.

The Under 21 category was taken by Quinn Runkle, described as a gifted community leader and a Grade 12 honours student.

Four finalists received a Citation of Outstanding Achievement. They included Barrie Wilbee, who could not be present; Betty Laidlaw of St. Mary's Hospital Auxiliary; Ed Hill, for his inspirational involvement with many diverse programs; and Kay Chapman, who has shown leadership in several community organizations over the past 20 years.