Three Pender Harbour residents were honoured at Sunday’s advisory council town hall for their community volunteer work.
“It’s the sense of community and giving back a little bit that makes this such a special place to live,” advisory council president Alan Stewart said when he opened the meeting.
Mike Price, Pender Harbour Rotary president, said the service club saw the need to recognize outstanding community volunteers and offered to sponsor the awards, but asked the Pender Harbour Advisory Council to choose the recipients.
“The awards build on the legacy and spirit of Pender Harbour caring,” he said.
Three people were honoured: Doreen Lee and Barrie Wilbee received lifetime achievement awards, and Bill Gilkes was chosen as 2017 volunteer of the year.
Gilkes is the deputy chief of the Pender Harbour Fire Department and was one of the first on the scene of a serious accident on Nov. 23, 2016. A woman from Surrey, driving on Highway 101 near Madeira Park, lost control of her SUV on a corner. It plunged into a ravine, trapping the woman. Gilkes led the effort to get her to safety.
Reading the award citation, Stewart said, “As the deputy fire chief, Bill is a leader in our community… He is an excellent mentor to the younger members of the department and promotes the values of self-respect and professionalism.” Stewart went on to say the award is also meant to recognize all the department’s volunteers as the Pender Harbour Fire Protection District marks its 50th anniversary.
Price summarized Doreen Lee’s lifetime of dedication to the community by referring to The Women of Pender Harbour, a book by local authors Dorothy Faulkner, Kathy Jenks and Elaine Park.
“Thanks to the vision of Doreen and Ray Lee, community groups that got underway in the ’60s matured into the Harbour’s key cultural institutions,” he read, also noting Lee’s founding role in the Business and Professional Women’s Club in 1963, Pender Harbour’s first community library, the Pender Harbour Health Centre Board in the 1970s and the Bargain Barn thrift store, which raises money for the Health Centre.
Barrie Wilbee’s connection with Pender Harbour started in the early ’70s when he became one of the co-owners of Lowe’s Resort. Price said he soon joined the ranks of the volunteer fire department and went on to participate in local government through various boards and committees, local economic development through organizations such as Community Futures, and the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation. Wilbee has also been active in efforts to preserve and enhance local salmon populations.
Wilbee and his wife Bev also set up an endowment that funds a scholarship to be awarded annually to Sunshine Coast residents who require funding to further their education and knowledge in community economic development, entrepreneurship and business skills development.
Wilbee, Lee and Gilkes were presented with framed certificates and will receive engraved plaques at an upcoming Rotary luncheon.
