Nancy Addison got a big surprise, Dec. 19, when she was awarded a certificate of volunteer appreciation from the MLA constituency office of Robin Campbell.
The Alberta finance minister was called away at the last minute, so he wasn’t able to present Addison the award, but his constituency manager, Gail Dunn, took on the task with pleasure.
The ceremony took place at the Alpine Summit Seniors Lodge annual seniors’ lunch, which Campbell and members of council traditionally attend every Christmas season. In a speech before the award, Dunn read a short letter from Campbell to the approximately 60 people in attendance.
“As your MLA I wish to say thank you for all the time and effort you spend volunteering. It is very much appreciated by your community,” she said to Addison.
Addison gives a significant amount of her time to volunteer work in Jasper, especially at the seniors lodge. She runs Jasper’s home concert series, giving up her house as a venue for musicians to play in Jasper, as part of a grassroots, nation-wide organization.
Part of her efforts with the series is to make them as accessible as possible to the town’s seniors, providing them a comfortable venue to hear great live music.She is also a church warden at the Anglican Church, and runs the church’s blue box recycling project.
After the presentation, Addison admitted that while the award was a nice surprise, she knew something was up when she was told in no uncertain terms that she had to be at the lunch.
“I was surprised, and delighted, and shocked actually, because there’s so many wonderful people in this community that do so many terrific things,” she said.
“I love volunteering, and this was such a nice surprise.”
Trevor Nichols
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