On Saturday, February the 9th, thirty deserving constituents were awarded Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medals at a Yorkton gathering of nearly two hundred, held at the New Horizons Seniors Centre. Though I had anticipated that event with pleasure, the storm that battered the East cancelled my flight home, preventing me from attending.

I’m grateful for those who ably took my place, including Bob Maloney, Mayor of Yorkton, Greg Ottenbreit, MLA, Yorkton, and Colonel Kevin Bryski, a chief of staff from DND in Ottawa.

Nine days after the event, at an informal gathering held in my constituency office. I had the joy of congratulating some of these thirty recipients in person:

From Yorkton and nearby: Jean Bryski, for her outstanding volunteering and leadership in the local community; Vanessa Buchan, for 47 years of foster parenting; Kathleen Connors, for founding Yorkton’s Soup Haven, which serves 300 schoolchildren each school day; Margaret Cugnet, for her 42-year leadership on the Yorkton Arts Council and particular legacy of the Stars for Saskatchewan Series; Dr. Ivan Daunt, for long medical service to patients and community; Jack Dawes (Saltcoats), for agricultural journalism and other services to the agricultural community; Rev. Richard Gibson (Ebenezer) for increasing international understanding of West Nile Neurological Disease; Father Methodius Kushko, for his long advocacy of faith and heritage; Terra Lorenz, for providing education and health care to vulnerable children and women in Uganda; Glenda Nischuk, for active promotion of health through the Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP); Leone Ottenbreit, for dedicated fund-raising efforts for cancer research; Norman Hinrikson, Lillie Crotenko, (formerly Canora) and Sandra Kerr, (Saltcoats), all for their outstanding community service.

From Melville: Barry Dilts, for volunteer youth and coaching work, and his long career in protective services; Veterans Steven Guliak, Mike Kozakevich and Wayne Reinson, for distinguished services to veterans as well as volunteer community involvement.

From Esterhazy: Sister Cecile Richard, for compassionate care of recuperating and dying patients; Theresa Robert, for spearheading the transformation of 14 acres of abandoned CPR land into Esterhazy Historical Park; Robert Unchulenko, for his dedication to preserving the town’s historic flour mill as a National Historic Site of Canada.

From Kamsack: Veteran Robert "Jim" Woodward, for significant community contributions and for championing veterans' causes, Edward Yurkiw, for long and excellent service to the Kamsack Power House Museum.

Elsewhere: Joan Eyolfson Cadham, Foam Lake, for championing history and heritage through journalism; Lionel and Michelle Hughes, Norquay, for significant contributions to the province through their magazine, Prairies North;  Mike Kaminski, Invermay, for outstanding community service; Scott Mackie, Hudson Bay, for multiple-pronged volunteerism, including UN service in Angola; Neil Mehrer, Reeve of the RM of Churchbridge, for long and selfless community service; Edward Tetelowski, Kelvington, for his long service as mayor and firefighter.

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medals, in reflection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s sixty years on the throne, are all about serving those around us. Each recipient lives well the words of John Wesley, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

Congratulations, recipients, and thank you.

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The audio version of Garry's Feb. 25, 2013 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here