Pender Harbour’s Anne Clemence received a Caring Canadian award from Governor General David Johnston in Vancouver on March 4 in recognition of her years of volunteerism on boards and societies tasked with protecting nature.
Raised in England, Clemence moved to Pender Harbour to work as a nurse in 1961 where she met her partner of 29 years, Sam Lamont. He encouraged Clemence to put down roots in Pender and soon she became involved in volunteer projects that appealed to her passion of preserving natural spaces for the public to enjoy.
In 1979 she was among a group of volunteers who formed the Pender Harbour and District Wildlife Society, which was set up specifically to create John Daly Regional Park, and took on several other forest protection projects in the years that followed.
She was also a member of the Friends of Caren, which worked to preserve an old-growth forest, nearly five square kilometres in size, as the centrepiece of a new provincial park on the Sechelt Peninsula in 1994.
She became a member of the Francis Point Marine Park Society, helping preserve and create Francis Point Provincial Park in 2000, which she said was one of her proudest accomplishments as a volunteer.
Clemence also got involved with the Garbage Recycling in Pender Society (GRIPS) as soon as it was started, and nearly 25 years later she still holds her post as a director, at the age of 83.
In addition, she volunteers at the Ruby Lake Lagoon Society, offering her services to weed and garden a few times a month.
When asked why Clemence has dedicated nearly 40 years of her life to volunteerism, she said: “It just suited me to a T.”
“I’ve always felt that coming from Europe, where a lot of times people have left it too late to keep some natural beauty spot and somebody puts up concessions there and rents it out, that we need to preserve natural spaces for the public to enjoy,” Clemence said, noting her volunteerism has also helped keep her active and engaged in her community.
“I think the main thing is to enjoy it. To find something that you enjoy and dig in because enjoyment is essential, I think. If you’re unhappy, you feel 110.”
Clemence was nominated for the Caring Canadian award by the Ruby Lake Lagoon Society and she said she was “just absolutely blown away” when she found out she had won.
“I was going to turn it down because I said ‘for heaven’s sake, there are far more people who have spent far more time than I have ever spent,’ but my friends all said, ‘Don’t be silly, Anne,’” Clemence said.
“It’s just that there are so many worthy volunteers, they should be handing them out like confetti.”
Clemence received her award from Governor General David Johnston on March 4 during a celebration in Vancouver that honoured more than 150 Canadians for everything from long-standing volunteerism to acts of bravery.
The Caring Canadian award is meant to highlight unsung Canadian heroes who volunteer their time, their effort and a great deal of their lives, ultimately building a smarter and more caring nation.
