COBDEN — Eight people were presented with a MP Commendation Medal on Saturday afternoon at the Cobden Agriculture hall.
The medals were presented by Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MP Cheryl Gallant in front of a large crowd of family and friends of the recipients.
“Last year we began the tradition of presenting commendations to people in our community who do outstanding work on behalf of others,” she said. “We’re always reading in the papers the nasty things that people do, but we felt that a special point should be made for those who rise above everyone else, who put themselves out and work on behalf of the community.”
This is why the MP commendation awards were created, she said.
On Saturday, the eight recipients presented with the commendations were David Marshall Bennett of Renfrew, Clay Dawdy of Calabogie, Blanche Ducey of Pembroke, Gwen Greenstock of Petawawa, Kathy Haycock of Eganville, Jean Maves of Pembroke, Stuart Nicholson of Horton Township (Renfrew) and Judy Ritchie of Pembroke.
MP Gallant knows there are many more people in the riding who should be nominated for these commendations. There is a committee who reviews the nominations and presents the names to MP Gallant.
She suggested, “Keep your eye out on the community and see that somebody who’s doing something special and make sure our office hears about it and submit a little paragraph about what they’ve done.”
After the presentations, MP Gallant said, “This year, there seemed to be special concentration on those who worked with the soldiers as well as para-Olympics.
“These are very often unsung heroes who are now being sung for the first time,” she added.
MP Gallant noted the commendations follow the Queen’s Jubilee Award. The award was created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the Throne as Queen of Canada. The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal was a tangible way for Canada to honour Her Majesty for her service to this country. At the same time, this commemorative medal served to honour significant contributions and achievements by Canadians. During the year of celebrations, 60 000 deserving Canadians were recognized.
“There just were never enough awards available from the Queen and we feel that every year someone should have the opportunity to be recognized for their very good deeds,” she said.
MP Gallant said other MPs do something similar and after seeing how many people were not nominated for the Jubilee medals, she decided to take on this undertaking.
To nominate someone for the 2015 commendations, the deadline is Nov. 30. There is no need for a lengthy write-up, she said, just a paragraph or two, which will be read aloud when the commendations are presented. The nominations should be sent to MP Gallant’s office either by e-mail or through Canada Post.
Editor’s Note: To see the write-ups for the recipients, please go online at www.whitewaternews.ca
