County salutes community volunteers

Community-minded residents from the County of Stettler gathered in late January for the annual celebration of outstanding volunteers in agriculture, recreation and culture.

The county presented nine awards, including major awards to Eldon and Sharon McCrindle and Ed and Vivian Bennett.

The citations below detail the community efforts of the McCrindles and Bennetts. See this week’s issue of the Independent for more photos of all of this year’s award-winners.

Stettler Dodge Community Service Award

Sharon and Eldon McCrindle were both raised in the community. Sharon is a daughter of Cliff and Jean James of Endiang, and Eldon is a son of Bryce and Alice of Byemoor.

The couple married in 1969, made their home north of Byemoor, and raised three children, Vickie, Darleen and Heath. They have raised most forms of crops and livestock over the years, as well as each having off-farm employment.

Despite those demands, Sharon and Eldon have both volunteered tirelessly to all community projects. They have played ball and curled, and Eldon always enjoyed playing a good game of hockey.

As the kids grew up, they were involved in 4-H, skating club, curling, ball and hockey. Sharon and Eldon were always there to help out with coaching, driving, fundraising and whatever else was required.

Sharon and Eldon have both been active in the Byemoor Curling Club, and Eldon has spent years helping teach curling to the school kids. Sharon was the bench show co-ordinator for the SLW Ag Society Fair for more than 20 years, as well as the treasurer for the club.

Sharon is also on the catering committee for the Byemoor Hall Society and spends many hours in the hall kitchen helping prepare some amazing meals for a variety of functions. She also put together the cookbook for the Endiang 100-year celebration.

Wherever a helping hand is required in our community, Sharon and Eldon are always willing. Be it a wedding shower, funeral, casino or work bee, they can be counted on.

The Endmoor community is truly blessed to have this wonderful couple, who always go above and beyond the call of volunteer duty.

ATCO Electric Arts, Culture and Heritage Award

Ed and Vivian Bennett have been living in the community for the past 15 years and are enjoying retirement living on Buffalo Lake. Ed worked as a petroleum engineer and Vivian worked as a display artist for The Bay.

Five years ago, Vivian and Ed decided that instead of just donating money toward the Heartland Youth Centre, they would donate their time, treasure and talents to the centre. They took it upon themselves in the months of March and April to teach the youths ages six to 16 in the HYC cub/scout room the basics of painting once a week and then guide them in their projects.

They provide the kids with good quality paint and equipment and teach them how to respect and care for it. They take the kids’ art seriously and respect their work the same way they would an adult’s work, and expect children to treat the others and their projects the same way. They notice the older kids partnering and helping the younger ones and giving them tips. They teach the kids that no one can fail at art, as it is an expression of oneself.

The kids, usually a group of 10 to 15, voluntarily take the classes and Ed and Vivian say they can see the kids’ self-esteem change from when they start to when they finish their projects.

At the end of the classes each year, their projects are validated by having them framed, displayed and for sale at Designer Frames and for the Art Walk.

Vivian and Ed also do something for a special wind-up. One year, they took the children to the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery. It was a treat, as well as a lesson in how to behave in a public place, and the kids had to pick out a favourite piece and try to replicate it.

Ed and Vivian also each taught art to a student for a year through AADAC.

Vivian has loved art and, specifically, painting all her life. She went to university and got her education degree, but whenever possible she took art as an elective. She took a 30-year semi-hiatus while she raised her daughter. At age 50, Vivian decided to take it up again and convinced Ed that he should try it, too. They joined the Bashaw Art Group and have gone on painting retreats to various places. They have donated their paintings for fundraisers at the Festival of Trees and the women’s shelter in Red Deer, and donated paintings to the Rotary House in the children’s hospital in Calgary, the Stettler hospital, the Stettler library and the Bashaw nursing home, only to name a few.

Vivian has a collection of 21 paintings called “Kitchen Talk,” which was displayed in the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery and is presently on display at the Telus World of Science in Calgary and will go on to the Okotoks Gallery, then the Galt Museum and Archives in Lethbridge, and then back to Red Deer.

It depicts kitchens from the early 1900s until present as places where life and growing up happened. She used her friends and family as live subjects for fun.

Unfortunately, at the end of October, Vivian took a fall and broke her painting arm and shoulder, so she will be out of commission for a few months, but she’s expected to get back into it. We wish her a speedy recuperation.