Weyburn resident April Sampson received a double-honour as a volunteer and member of the community in the last week.
She was the 2010 recipient of the Golden Spike Award, presented by the Weyburn Chamber of Commerce "for outstanding service to the community". The presentation was made Mar. 30 at the President's Dinner and annual meeting, held at the El Rancho Banquet Room.
The following day, Lieutenant Governor Gordon Barnhart announced 10 recipients of the Saskatchewan Volunteer Medal for 2009, and the list includes April Sampson.
She will receive this award on Wednesday, Apr. 28, at Government House in Regina, following National Volunteer Week.
Recipients of this medal are nominated by the public, and are selected by the Saskatchewan Honours Advisory Council.
In an interview after receiving the Golden Spike, April was overcome with emotion and was "speechless" when asked to describe her reaction to receiving the honour.
"I'm really thrilled and I was so surprised when they phoned me a week ago. It just hadn't occurred to me" that she would be nominated, she said.
Asked if this award is a kind of reward for the many hours she has volunteered for many, many community groups and organizations, she replied, "When you're volunteering, you don't think of that. I'm always having so much fun when I'm volunteering with people. It's always been great."
She added there have always been other things she could have been doing, but she's found great fulfillment and made good friends by being a volunteer.
Earlier, she told the audience that receiving the Golden Spike means "a very great deal" to her, and thanked her nominators, Brent Allin and CJ Mainil.
"To all the volunteers I've worked with, you all have a part in this. It's always been fun, and Weyburn's been so nice," she said.
Brent Allin, the past-president of the Chamber of Commerce, announced and presented the award to April, and noted there were two runners-up for the award, Ron Wormsbecker and Stan Runne.
He explained the nominating process for the award, and for the Golden Sheaf (presented annually at the Farmer Appreciation Banquet), has been streamlined to make it easier, but at the same time, "the judging is really tough to do."
With the three nominees for the Golden Spike, he said they were all "very close" when considering the criteria for the award.
In announcing the Saskatchewan Volunteer Medal, Lt.-Gov. Barnhart said, "Volunteers are the foundation of our democracy. The astonishingly generous individuals who have been selected to receive the Saskatchewan Volunteer Medal have made service a priority, and through the gift of their time, they have had an extraordinary impact."
He also noted that Saskatchewan has the highest rate of volunteerism in Canada.
In describing why April was selected for the medal, it was noted that the retired teacher "is a promoter of community enrichment and a cultural ambassador for Saskatchewan and Canada. She is a patron of the arts and has a love of beauty, nature, music, theatre and books. Her efforts know no boundaries and she enthusiastically participates in life in her community and province."
Born and raised in Saskatoon, she graduated from the Saskatchewan Teachers College in 1955, and came to Weyburn in 1961, starting at Souris School.
During her teaching career, she travelled from school to school instructing other teachers how to teach music. She has been married to her husband Stan for 30 years, and she has two children, Sally and Alicyn, and two step-children, Michelle and Colin, along with four grandchildren.
The longevity of her involvement with a wide variety of community groups gives a picture of how involved she has been as a volunteer: she's been with the Soo Line Historical Society for over 40 years; Nature Saskatchewan, 50 years; Crocus 80 Community Theatre, 25 years; Weyburn and District United Way, 28 years; Weyburn Humane Society, 25 years; Rotary International, nine years; Weyburn Concert Series, over 30 years; Heritage Village, 20 years; The Family Place, 20 years; Signal Hill Arts Centre, 25 years; and the Saskatchewan Abilities Council, 55 years.
April was a founding member of the Weyburn Committee Against Family Violence, now known as Envision Counselling; a founding member of the Weyburn and Area Council on Child Abuse, now known as the Family Place; a past chair and co-founder of the Humane Society; Chair of the 2010 Souris School Centennial committee; a director and accompanist for the Weyburn Men's Chorus, as well as organist at Knox Presbyterian and Grace United churches; and singer for more than 20 years with the group Octavius Singers.
Among past awards given to April are a lifetime member of the Superannuated Teachers of Saskatchewan, Weyburn Chapter; the Quota Clubwoman of the Year for Community Service; a volunteer award from the Southeast Saskatchewan Association for Culture, Recreation and Sport; the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan Celebration of the Arts Award; the Wheatland-Souris Regional Recreation Association Volunteer Award; and was the focus of the "April Sampson Appreciation Night".
