UNITY—The Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association (SPRA) announced the winners of the 2024 Sask Recreation Awards, with Unity’s Keith Wilson being awarded the newest award, the Volunteer Champion Award.
The Sask Recreation Awards were re-launched this year after a two-year hiatus.
“After the pandemic, we decided to pause our awards program, conduct a review, then relaunch the awards with new and exciting award categories that were intended to celebrate the outstanding people and organizations doing great things in recreation,” said Chris Chepil with SPRA.
Wilson is well-known throughout the community for many reasons. His biggest contribution to the community was his position as Recreation Director for the Town of Unity from June 1979 to June 2008. During this time, he saw the addition of two ball diamonds, a concession booth, bathrooms, flowerbeds and walking paths to the regional park along with upgrades to the diamonds that were already present. The work that went into the ballpark put Unity on the map for hosting many provincial and zone ball tournaments.
Wilson helped with Communities in Bloom while still employed with the town, but after his retirement, he was hopeful he could help other organizations. He was a part of the Communities in Bloom committee when his predecessor, Nicole Goldsworthy, got the program running again for another year. However, it is with the Lions Club that Wilson has shown his greatest accomplishment for the future of Unity.
Paving the Way
While Wilson was not a resident of Unity at the time of the first paved path through Memorial Park, he was instrumental in the expansion of the walking paths around the community. In a past interview with the Unity-Wilkie Press-Herald, Wilson said the walkway from the Memorial Park sign and around the cenotaph was paved in 1990 as a collaboration between the Unity Lions Club and the Unity Legion Branch No. 90. This addition included 260 metres of pathway to be used.
In 2003, Wilson was able to secure several grants and some town money for the next installment of 1.5 kilometres of paths that would run through the regional park ball diamonds. In 2007, Wilson oversaw the development of Orchard Park, a small triangular patch of grass and trees across the road from the museum grounds. With a fully funded grant to add another 200 metres of pathways, Wilson knew this was just the beginning.
In 2014, Parkview Place board of directors helped with the cost of the all-weather surface to be placed behind the building, allowing seniors the opportunity to stay in motion any time of year. The following year, the first section of pathways on the hospital grounds became a reality with donations from the Candace Heitt Memorial Run.
Prior to the pandemic, the regional park was given additional paths, connecting to the existing walkways to reach the concession booth, washrooms, the Elks diamond and the museum entrance. Another 100 metres was added to the hospital section of paths, all with funds raised through the Lions “Chase the Ace” fundraiser, the Candace Heitt Memorial Run and the 2016 Western Canadian junior fastpitch event that was held in Unity.
To continue the pathway momentum, Goldsworthy applied and was granted financial aide to create an unpaved pathway from 4th Avenue Close to the Paw Park, adding an additional 420 metres of walking paths.
Currently, there are three different loops of walking paths and sidewalks as seen here on the Town of Unity’s website, totalling more than 11.8 km. The latest pathway installations came in the summer and fall of 2023, when a gravel pathway was created from The Paw Park travelling east, meeting up to 11th Avenue West then going south to 8th Avenue West.
While there has been a lot of work already put into place for the paths at this point, Wilson is still hopeful he can help with putting the work into more.
“There are two sections I am particularly interested in doing, one is to finish off the pathway to the hospital and long-term care facility and the other is a section of gravel paths on the north end of Main Street. I’ve got many ideas that I would like to do, just depends on how long I’m around for,” laughed Wilson.
Wilson said many of the paths the community has were not just himself working on the project. Many contributions have come in over the years, as mentioned before, but there are other organizations that have put forth the helping hand.
“I’d like to recognize the people that provided the dollars, the Unity Credit Union, the Town of Unity, the Lions Club, the Unity Wildlife Federation and Richard Briggs. But more importantly, this wouldn’t have happened without the foresight of our past economic development person, Carey Baker. He designed and went out with the surveyor and laid this all out as part of the town plan,” added Wilson.
Just a bump in the path
While Wilson was ready to enjoy his retirement years, news hit hard for him and his family. Wilson was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, which created a hindrance to his volunteerism in the community.
“There’s a bunch of things I don’t do with the Lions Club anymore where it involves lots of crowds because my immune system has not recovered. And there are lots of times where I probably would have done more Lions Club activities, but I didn’t have the energy to do it,” said Wilson.
Although Wilson was unable to put his hands to good use in the traditional way, he was able to find a safe way for him to contribute from home. It was in 2017 when Wilson discovered his hidden gift for woodworking. He would build barns, corral pieces and all the accessories that go along with any toy farm setting, giving them away as gifts to his great-nieces and nephews throughout Canada. He then started building birdhouses as gifts, which many friends near and far have requested. He decided to donate a few of his birdhouses to the Unity Wildlife Federation, where one UWF member tucked a piece of paper with the words ‘patio set’ written on it into one of the birdhouses.
“They came up with the idea of auctioning off the birdhouses, one by one, and after they were all sold, the buyers were allowed to open their house to see who won the patio set. They have been doing that for a number of years now and they keep bringing in good donations,” said Wilson.
Once a mentor, always a mentor
Since the retirement of Wilson, the community has seen its fair share of recreation directors come and go. Wilson said that each director has played to their strengths, lending something more to the town.
“I think they have all really kept our town looking good and maintaining it well so that the people coming in feel welcome and it's an attractive town. I know Lisa Feser is working really hard on the south end of Main Street to develop a memorial for Si Campbell,” said Wilson.
Feser says she still has moments she needs an expert opinion.
“Since starting this position nearly three years ago, I’ve often turned to Keith for guidance. His 20-plus years of experience are incredibly valuable, and his insights are always helpful,” she said.
Without Wilson’s knowledge, Feser was the one who nominated him for the award.
“I learned about this award through SPRA emails. They regularly send updates on various topics, and this one immediately caught my attention because it reminded me of Keith. The description of the award fit him perfectly and it felt as though it was written with him in mind, which made the decision to nominate him an easy one,” said Feser.
“I was totally surprised, I didn’t even know this award existed. I then discovered it didn’t exist and I am the first recipient, so it caught me off guard,” said Wilson when asked about his reaction to the news.
He said he received an email from SPRA, which he thought was spam.
“I hadn’t had any contact with their office since I retired. I read it and my wife, Donna, was laughing because she was involved right from the start. She provided the biography to SPRA on my behalf,” laughed Wilson.
Once Wilson was notified of the award, he was involved in creating a small video, as seen here, showing off the town. While he admitted he enjoyed taking the production crew around town, he would have preferred he didn’t have to talk in front of the camera, letting Feser take those reins.
“She did an exceptional job. We got to advertise our town in Saskatchewan and every time that gets across Canada, people will see that. Friends from a different province may see that and say that’s a good town to move to,” said Wilson.
Now that Wilson has received this award along with a green space and beloved tobogganing hill named after him, there is only one thing that could top all of this for him.
“I guess the only thing that would top this is if I can be here for another number of years that I can contribute to the town in some way, whether it’s through the Lions Club or working together with other community groups to do projects. I’ve never done these projects for recognition. I just enjoy doing them.”
