Robert Fisher
Staff Reporter
PEMBROKE – Two Warden’s Community Service Award-winners are from western Renfrew County for 2024. The county announced the winners at the Nov. 27 council meeting.
Paddler Co-op from Palmer Rapids won for Non-profit Business, Dan Poole from the Township of Whitewater Region won the Individual category and The Valley Gazette won in the For-profit Business category.
Ryan O’Connor who accepted the award for the co-op told the Gazette, “it provides quite a fair amount of validation and recognition and support for the passion that I have within,” and the skills and competencies he has developed over the dozen years he has been with the co-op, the last five as executive director. He said it’s very “validating” to have the county recongize the work the organization does to, “reduce barriers and access to physical activity and mental health supports,” along with recreational activities for residents and visitors to the community.
Paddler Co-op faced an uncertain future earlier this year. The land they have been leasing was put up for sale. O’Connor and his team had a short time to come up with a down payment to buy the property and keep the facility running. “We are in a tremendously more stable position,” he said. They raised just over $300,000 in four months to meet the deadline.
O’Connor wanted to note the help of his team, both to win the award and complete the fundraising. Kerrie Voldock, Sam Snyder, Mel Lindsay, Ian Purvis and “countless volunteers” were, he said, “instrumental.”
Poole has worked for years to track water levels along the Ottawa River and its watershed and educate people about the water flows in the watershed to help residents, “broaden their knowledge about water management (by) making timely water management information available to residents,” in Whitewater Region and the larger community throughout the Ottawa River watershed, according to information included with the nomination.
Poole said, during his acceptance, that the work was not done only by him but a team of people. “What we’re trying to do is balance the flows and levels,” on the Ottawa River. “It’s over 1,200 kilometres long, it’s not an easy job, we’re doing as much research as we can and we’ll just keep going as quick as we can.”
Warden Peter Emon acknowledged the work Poole and his group do and said it isn’t “flashy” though very important and likely underappreciated by most.
Asked how he got into the field, Poole said his grandfather worked in the hydro industry and built hydro stations, “so it’s in our blood.”
Publisher Michel Lavigne travelled last Wednesday morning to Pembroke to accept the award for The Valley Gazette while he was busy out delivering newspapers like he usually does on Wednesdays. Lavigne thanked all the people involved in the nomination process and thanked the many advertisers, the townships, readers and the community as a whole who make it possible for the Valley Gazette to continue on in the digital world that we live in.
robert@thevalleygazette.ca
