A longtime Leduc city and county volunteer was recently awarded the Recreation Volunteer Recognition Award.
The award looks to honour individuals in communities across the province who have dedicated their time to volunteer to make outstanding contributions to recreation development.
“It’s a tremendous honour. I didn’t realize how big an award this was , it felt really good to get this award,” said Terry Volsky.
Volsky says receiving the award made him reflect back on his years of volunteering. “At my age I’m getting up there and getting on. I hope to still do volunteering.”
However, Volsky says Leduc itself has a “tremendous” volunteer base and one he is proud to consider himself a part of. He is looking forward to younger volunteers stepping up to the plate and carrying on the culture.
Volsky moved to Leduc in 1980 but already had immersed himself in the world of volunteering while living in Calmar.
When his son and daughter got involved in minor sports Volsky got into coaching. “I did that out of Calmar.”
Volsky says in communities volunteers are an essential part of most projects and without their support many would not come to fruition, including the arena front, of which 50 per cent was built by volunteers. “If you don’t get help doing these things they don’t get done.”
“When my son and daughter got away from minor sports I didn’t get away from volunteering,” said Volsky.
Over the years Volsky has been involved in the Leduc Minor Hockey Association Board, the Calmar Minor Hockey Association and the Leduc Ball Federation.Volsky has also been a committee member for many hockey events, including the Alberta Cup of Hockey, Telus Cup of Hockey, the Junior B Provincial Championships and the 2015 World Sledge Hockey Championship.
He already has more volunteering plans on his plate for next year. “I’m going to be working as a volunteer for the Alberta Summer Games in 2016.”
Volsky mentioned the success of the 2015 World Sledge Hockey Championship, which was also brought up in a previous City of Leduc council meeting, where the board members were thanked and awarded with Leduc Achievement Awards.
“They were rated by Hockey Canada as the best tournament in Canada so far. I’m proud to be part of this base,” said Volsky.
“Our winter games are one of the top too. That just goes to show you the volunteer base in Alberta,” he added.
Volsky says he has had the privilege of seeing some of the young children he coached grow up and become volunteers and he feels one of the greatest personal benefits has been creating friendships with many different people.
The Recreation Volunteer Recognition Awards have been awarded to four Alberta recreation volunteers every year since 1977. To date, 209 individuals across the province have been recognized.