And the winners of the 2022 Volunteer Recognition Evening are…

Last Friday, April 22nd, the Sutton Volunteer Recognition Evening was held. After an absence of two years, the event was a chance to thank in person the volunteers who contribute so much to the well-being of our community. Nearly sixty people were present at the inn Le Montagnard where this festive and warm evening took place.

Mayor Robert Benoît
General Director Pascal Smith
The hosts
Musée des communications et d’histoire – Richard Leclerc
Le Tour des arts – Almut Ellinghaus, absent (given to Maryse Chartrand)
La société d’histoire Héritage Sutton – Gilles Gauthier
Le SPOT, Maison des jeunes – Jazmyn Delorme
La corporation de développement économique de Sutton – Jeremy Fontana
Le Jardin d’Enfants – Chantale Dion, absent (given to Lynda Hoyt)
L’Église anglicane Grace Church – Vincent Royea
Centre d’action bénévole – Allan Whitford
La FADOQ des Deux-Monts – Denise Potvin
Comité d’organisation de la salle Sutton Junction – Guy Carignan
La Coop Gym Santé – Liane Bruneau, absent (given to Denyse Vallières)
Parc d’environnement naturel de Sutton – Antoine Pinsonneault et Paul Martin
Mayor’s tribute award – Pauline Paul
Mayor’s tribute award – Pauline Paul
Mayor’s tribute award – Gilles Lavoie
Mayor’s tribute award – Gilles Lavoie
Comité organisateur

A special thanks to the photographer Mikaël Theimer who volunteered to take all the pictures of the evening!

The certificates and prizes were presented by one of the representatives of the Town of Sutton: Mayor Robert Benoît, Councillor Thérèse Leclerc, Councillor Marie-José Auclair, Councillor Carole Lebel, Councillor Marc-André Blain, Director General Pascal Smith and Deputy Director General Jonathan Fortin.

A nice mark of recognition

Last March, the Town issued a call to recognized organizations to nominate one of their volunteers who has been particularly outstanding over the past two years. A total of 12 organizations nominated 13 volunteers (one organization nominated two). The evaluation committee chose the winners in the four award categories: culture, sports and recreation, community life, and youth under 30.

To these four categories, Mayor Robert Benoît wished to add, for the first time, a “Mayor’s Tribute” award which aims to recognize an individual for his or her overall volunteer achievements over a long period of time. The Mayor honoured two citizen who have done outstanding volunteer work for our community: Pauline Paul, who managed our thriving baseball activities for over 25 years, and Gilles Lavoie, who managed the Forum des citoyens de Sutton, a platform for citizen information on municipal decisions, for 15 years.

The list of all the volunteers honoured during the evening

  • Recreation and sports
    • Parc d’environnement naturel de Sutton: Antoine Pinsonneault and Paul Martin
    • La Coop Gym Santé: Liane Bruneau – WINNER
  • Arts and Culture
    • Museum of Communications and History: Richard Leclerc
    • Héritage Sutton Historical Society: Gilles Gauthier
    • Tour des arts: Almut Ellinghaus – WINNER
  • Community life
    • Le Jardin d’enfants: Chantale Dion
    • The Sutton Economic Development Corporation: Jeremy Fontana
    • FADOQ des Deux-Monts: Denise Potvin
    • Grace Anglican Church: Vincent Royea
    • Sutton Junction Hall Organizing Committee: Jérémy Fontana
    • The Sutton Volunteer Centre: Allan Whitford – WINNER
  • Emerging volunteer award
    • SPOT Youth Centre: Jazmyn Delorme – WINNER
  • Mayor’s Tribute Awards
    • Pauline Paul, for her involvement in baseball in Sutton
    • Gilles Lavoie, for his involvement in the Forum citoyen de Sutton

During this National Volunteer Week (April 24-30), we would like to thank all the volunteers who work in our organizations and for the Town of Sutton. Thanks to their countless hours of volunteer work, they allow our organizations and associations to live and sometimes to survive. Their dedication and generosity must be recognized! Thank you to all of them!

Nicole Charest’s poem on volunteering (free translation)

In a world where time is running out
In a world where money imposes its culture
In a world where sometimes, indifference isolates
Angels still exist: they are the volunteers.

These people who, out of concern for the fate of their fellow man
take their time to lend a hand
These generous beings, who forget themselves and devote themselves
Don’t look for them far away. They are among us.

Being very discreet, they ask for nothing
Neither thanks, nor money, nor any good.
Yet what they give is priceless.
Nothing can buy it: it is a part of their life.

And it is thanks to them that life, for some people, is more joyful
is filled with joy rather than sorrow!
With all our heart, we wish to thank you:
“May you receive as much as you give!”


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