Pipestone Flyer
Annual ceremony hosted during Leduc’s Volunteer Appreciation Banquet.
The City of Leduc is pleased to announce the following recipients of the 2013 Citizens of Distinction Awards:
Brianna Day
Athletic Achievement Award
Marvin May
Community Spirit Award
Arlene Klonteig
Culture and Heritage Recognition Award
TD Friends of the Environment Foundation
Environmental Achievement Award
Norman Hartfelder
Mayor’s Special Award
Catherine Lamer
Youth Award of Merit
The Citizens of Distinction Awards Program is designed to recognize, on an annual basis, six outstanding citizens, groups or businesses from the City of Leduc that have made a tremendous contribution to our community.
Community nominations are solicited annually in five of the six categories. The Mayor’s Special Award is at the discretion of mayor and council recognizing outstanding efforts and/or achievements of an individual, group or business.
Catherine Lamer
Youth Award of Merit
Catherine Lamer, a 2013 graduate of Christ the King Junior/Senior High School, is the recipient of the 2013 Youth Award of Merit.
Already known as a natural leader, Catherine loves being part of a team-setting and getting involved in the community. She regularly volunteers for organizations, such as Youth Empowerment and Support Services, the Marian Centre, the Sundance Canine Rescue Society and Santa’s Helpers.
She’s been instrumental in the founding and operations of the Christ the King Rotary Interact Club, participating in community work, such as highway cleanup and delivering Christmas gifts to seniors. In the summer of 2012 she travelled with the Interact Club to Costa Rica to assist with renovations at an orphanage.
Catherine is also very involved in school athletics, volunteering her time for and participating in a variety of sports. She’s been named Female Athlete of the Year twice, and in senior year she was captain of both the volleyball and basketball teams.
In 2012, Catherine received the Mayor’s Leadership Award in recognition of her leadership skills. She has received numerous other awards both in school and in the community, including the Sunflower Award, the Mother Theresa Award and the Leduc Lions Club Father Damien Award.
Catherine says her parents and teachers have been her role models. She’s motivated by the opportunity to help people and to work with others towards making the world a better place. She hopes to continue her volunteer work and always be an active part of her community.
Brianna Daly
Athletic Achievement Award
Brianna Daly is the recipient of the 2013 Athletic Award. At 15-years-old, Brianna has been cross-country skiing for just over a year and already has athletic achievements to be proud of.
Brianna has been a member of the 831 Black Knights Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron for four years and her participation in the cadets introduced her to their biathlon program, which allowed her to pursue her dual interests in marksmanship and athletics.
Brianna has a Cadet Level 4 Distinguished Marksmanship Qualification and received the award for fitness excellence in 2012. She placed first overall in her cadet zone biathlon in 2012, qualifying her for the 2013 cadet provincial biathlon where she placed fifth overall.
Brianna entered the club team biathlon program in 2013 with Edmonton Nordic and won the silver medal in the provincial Calforex Cup races in December. She qualified to represent Leduc in biathlon at the 2014 Alberta Winter Games.
Known by her coaches as being exceptionally focused and a joy to coach, Brianna loves the team atmosphere in athletics and the thrill of competition — not to mention the joy of success. She finds motivation in the results she gets and the improvements she sees in her performance when she trains and works hard.
She hopes to continue her biathlon athletics at the university level when she goes to the University of Alberta Augustana Faculty to study medical sciences.
Brianna’s athletic aspirations include making the national team and representing Canada in the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Norman
Hartfelder
Mayor’s Special Award
Norman Hartfelder, posthumously awarded the 2013 Mayor’s Special Award, is remembered as a family man, an enthusiastic volunteer and a dedicated member of the community.
He was born in the Calmar area in 1931 and graduated from high school in Leduc in 1950. He married his high school sweetheart in 1952, and together they had five children. He worked for Imperial Oil and later Esso, and enjoyed performing with a dance band called the Country Gents.
Norman loved Leduc, and always valued volunteering as an important part of being in the community. For 15 years he sat as alderman on city council, and he volunteered numerous hours as a member of his church council. He enjoyed a long relationship with the Nisku-Leduc Rotary Club and received the club’s first-ever Integrity Award in 1992-93. He was a longtime member of the Leduc Elks club, recently receiving its 60-year service award.
Norman was involved with many other organizations in the community, including the Leduc-Nisku Economic Development Association, the Leduc Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Leduc and District Senior Citizens Club, the Leduc Golf and Country Club and Leduc Funseekers.
He loved fixing things and spending time with his family. His favourite times were with his family in Leduc or at their cabin at Castle Island, where he served as councillor and then later as mayor.
Norman passed away on April 10, 2013. Remembered for his integrity and compassion, he loved his family and was committed to the Leduc
Arlene Klonteig
Culture and Heritage Recognition Award
Recipient of the 2013 Culture and Heritage Recognition Award, Arlene Klonteig has been an influential figure in Leduc’s cultural community for many years.
When she moved to Leduc in 1982, Arlene hoped to join a choir to keep up with her singing. Very little was available, so after singing in an Edmonton choir for a while and finishing her master’s degree, she started her own private studio in 1985.
At the same time she collaborated with the Leduc Just for Fun Theatre School (now the Stageworks Academy of the Performing Arts) to establish and direct several choirs for the community — first a girls’ choir called Bel Canto, then the Just for Fun Singers choir for children, and then Present Mood, a jazz/contemporary choir for adults.
She went on to establish the Leduc Community Choir in 1994, later renamed Piatta Forma. Under Arlene’s direction, Piatta Forma has become a staple of Leduc arts and culture, performing at the Rotary Leduc Music Festival and the Alberta Provincial Music Festival. The choir sings all genres of music and holds concerts twice a year. The choir’s Christmas concerts raise funds for local charities.
To Arlene, the most important part of her cultural work has been offering members of the community the opportunity to discover and develop their musical talent. She has always had high aspirations for the Leduc music scene, and she hopes the community will continue to develop its talent and go on to be recognized for it.
Marvin May
Community Spirit Award
Marvin May, recipient of the 2013 Community Spirit Award, is known for his dedication to his community.
Marvin has been in Leduc since 1985 and his involvement in community fundraisers, committees, clubs, and other organizations is extensive. He drove the Leduc Handi-bus for two years and then spent 13 years as a job coach with the Leduc Works Foundation and Leduc LINX Connect Centre. While he was with the Leduc Works Foundation, Marvin started a bottle recycling initiative that has become a successful fundraising and employment program for adults with disabilities. Over the years he would also assist LINX clients with collecting can tabs to help them purchase motorized scooters. Even though Marvin has officially retired, he continues as a LINX volunteer.
Other organizations he has been involved with include the Royal Canadian Legion, Leduc Elks, Stageworks Academy of the Performing Arts, Kanata Gymnastics Club, Leduc Special Olympics, and Second Glance Clothes Ltd.
Marvin served with the Canadian Forces for 33 years. He and his wife Geraldine have four children, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Following his diagnosis of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), he and his family are currently busy raising funds for ALS research.
Known for being committed to his family and his community, Marvin has always been an advocate for those in need. His vision for Leduc is to have its residents and businesses continue supporting non-profit organizations, people with special needs and the community at large.
TD Friends
of the
Environment Foundation
Environmental
Achievement Award
Recipient of the 2013 Environmental Achievement Award, the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (TD FEF) is a charitable organization that has supported environmental projects across Canada since 1990. Over the past six years, it has funded several projects in Leduc and offered environmental education programs to residents. The result is a lasting impact on the community and an increase in environmental awareness.
TD FEF donated over $38,000 to the City of Leduc over six years for supporting forestry projects, raising awareness and encouraging volunteerism. In 2010, a $15,000 grant through TD Green Streets went towards supporting a three-year naturalization project next to Deer Valley Creek and Grant MacEwan Boulevard. The park area is slated to host educational displays and will also be an entry point for the future Deer Valley Trail system.
TD FEF’s Tree Days, an employee volunteer program, engaged 60 volunteers to plant 125 trees and shrubs in Caledonia Park in 2012. Volunteers planted another 200 in Bridgeport in 2013. The mayor attended both events.
The educational programs of TD FEF focus on informing and engaging residents. Pitch-In Alberta promotes reducing and managing waste. The ‘Grow a Tree’ Project educates schoolchildren on environmental issues. The Safe Drinking Water Foundation programs teach members of the community about water safety.
TD FEF’s vision is to continue funding local projects and promoting an understanding of environmental issues. TD FEF hopes to help build a community that is focused on preserving and developing the natural environment of the City of Leduc.
community.