By Jack Brittle, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
On May 30, the Aldershot Community Honour Roll (ACHR) held their 15th annual reception, celebrating important members of the neighbourhood and their contributions to it.
The event was held at the Burlington Golf and Country Club and emceed by Don Thorpe, chairperson for the Burlington Cycling Committee and a team leader at the Ron Edwards YMCA.
According to the slides on display during the event, the criteria to be given an award by ACHR is to be “a person whose leadership, vision, creativity, innovation or initiative positively impacted in and/or beyond Aldershot.”
Margret Sweetlove, the chair of the ACHR’s 2024 Steering Committee, explained how the event runs before it began.
“Aldershot, as you know, is a unique and vibrant community with an interesting history,” Sweetlove said. “Each year, the honourees are announced, and each one is introduced with their own story of why that person was nominated. The stories are truly wonderful and paint a beautiful picture of why we all think Aldershot is such a warm and fabulous place in which to live.”
In order to be eligible, nominees have to have lived in Aldershot for at least a year and nominations can be made posthumously.
ACHR also has a partnership with the Aldershot Business Improvement Area (ABIA) and presents an award every year “in recognition of a business that has supported and fostered community engagement in Aldershot,” according to Thorpe.
This year’s business award went to Melanie Bianco from Aldershot Dental Hygiene. Miriam Mulkewich, daughter of former mayor of Burlington, Walter Mulkewich, presented the award.
Mulkewich explained that Bianco offers custom mouthguards at a heavily discounted rate for youth athletes because she believes they are “not only a vital part of dental care, but concussion prevention, and everyone should be able to protect their heads and their smiles.”
Mulkewich also said that Bianco has hosted a day each June since 2019 where she provides free dental cleanings to those who could not otherwise access them.
Bianco’s office also participates in a charity drive every year and donates essential dental supplies to local organizations and residents in need.
Bianco’s acceptance speech mentioned that there are still spots available for her free dental cleaning day, which takes place on June 24 this year.
Thorpe then took time to thank all of the sponsors for the event, which included the Aldershot Lions Club, the Aldershot branches of TD and RBC, and Ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith, who was in attendance at the event.
Galbraith has been involved with ACHR for 15 years and has previously served on their committee.
“This is one of the premier events in Aldershot,” Galbraith said. “It brings the whole community together and honours some people that have contributed to the community. Some alive, some dead, but we bring their honour here.”
“No other community does this,” Galbraith said.
Thorpe then invited Rick Craven, the president of the Aldershot Lions Club, to say a few words.
Craven commented on the humble beginnings of ACHR.
“What a wonderful turnout tonight,” Craven said. “You know, we started this thing in 2008, in a funeral home with 30 people.”
Karen Phelps, a 2012 inductee, introduced the first award winner of the night, Judith Genis.
Genis is a full-time high-school teacher and also volunteers on many Burlington committees, and took over as editor of Partnering Aldershot Press after the former editor retired.
Phelps also mentioned the “Christmas Progressive Dinner,” which Genis has organized for the past 34 years.
“Folks down the street receive an invitation from Judith, outlining the evening’s events,” Phelps said. “This involves most of the residents going on the street from one house to the other, enjoying various courses of food.”
Phelps said that one of Genis’ references said emphasized her volunteer work with the Burlington Apeldoorn Committee, which organizes events that celebrate one of Burlington’s twin cities, Apeldoorn, in the Netherlands.
Genis serves on the student exchange subcommittee for the group and according to Phelps, “led the team that recruited high school students and designed the schedule of activities when Burlington’s families hosted students from Apeldoorn.”
In her acceptance speech, Genis highlighted the importance of volunteer work.
“It is especially important to nurture volunteerism and the next generation of parents, kids, and citizens if we want this community to remain strong, vibrant, and a place that cares,” Genis said.
Megan Haley, a youth award winner in 2015, introduced the next recipient, Brendan Hamill.
“Brendan is a gentleman of endless energy and generosity,” Haley said. “He is the personification of the Lions’ motto, ‘We serve.’ He has brought honour to Aldershot through his quiet dignity and endless helping hands.”
Haley quoted former Compassion Society executive director, Aliya Khawari when talking about Hamill’s importance to the organization.
“’Brendan helped connect the Lions Club to the fledgling Compassion Society years ago,’” Haley said. “’Without the Lions and Brendan, the Compassion Society would have struggled even more than it did in its early years.’”
Hamill also helped fund things like plumbing and shelving for the group, and when the labour became too expensive, he would do the work himself.
“When elderly neighbours can’t manage household repairs, Brendan is there,” Haley said. “He uses his many skills to fix, repair, and otherwise maintain the property of nearby friends who cannot manage on their own.”
Haley summed up Hamill by talking about his humble demeanour.
“If you’ve never heard of Brendan Hamill, that’s because he’s not a spotlight kind of guy,” Haley said. “He’s a quiet but effective leader, worker, volunteer, and cheerleader for all that is Aldershot.
Hamill stayed true to his reputation as a man of few words, with a short but sweet acceptance speech.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know what to say,” Hamill said. “I’ve been a member of the Aldershot Lions Club since the mid-1970s. And, we’ve been through a lot together, and I really enjoyed working, and I enjoy and love Aldershot. Thank you very much.”
Jim Sweetlove, a 2017 inductee, introduced the next award winner, Paul Wendling.
Sweetlove spoke about the time when the Hamilton District Health Council recommended closing St. Joseph’s Hospital in the 1990s. Wendling, the chair of the board of trustees for St. Joseph’s at the time, organized a campaign to keep the hospital open.
“Greatly aided by Paul’s leadership on the board and collaborative skills, not only was the threat to the hospital overcome but St. Joseph’s mandate was actually expanded to include managing the regional special mental health services,” Sweetlove said.
Wendling also served as the executive director of the Burlington Community Foundation and has had a long career as a parishioner at Holy Rosary Church.
“In his role as president of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, he advanced the widely effective Home Visit model, designed to foster better communications and targeted assistance for neighbours in need on a person-to-person level,” Sweetlove said. “He has distributed food, helped with rent and utilities, delivered Christmas baskets, and engaged in a host of other activities for those in need.”
In his acceptance speech, Wendling emphasized the rewarding nature of volunteer work.
“You certainly do receive more than you give,” Wendling said. “For example, [with] families who are really struggling, sometimes you can facilitate so that they actually not only survive, some of them thrive. Not all of them, but some of them. And it is extremely rewarding.”
Imran Kamal, legal counsel to the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, was the only non-award winner to introduce an honouree, presenting Judy Worsley with her award.
“Judy breathed new life into the now-famed Aldershot Christmas Tree Lighting, a family event,” Kamal said. “She established summer outdoor markets that supported local businesses and crafters, allowing them to showcase their wares. And for several years, the markets have been a mainstay for shoppers to browse, meet the local retailers, enjoy the gathering of friends, and neighbours, and to support local businesses.”
Worsley also warded off the threat of cutting down the Aldershot Christmas Tree, was the chair of Alderfest, a popular event that has not been held since the COVID-19 pandemic, and served as the ABIA executive director, where, according to Kamal, “during her tenure, the BIA grew tremendously.”
On top of this work, Worsley brought the Habitat for Humanity clinic to Aldershot, which led to three families being given a home in the neighbourhood.
Worsley spoke about her love of community work in her acceptance speech.
“I was very moved to hear what they [those who submitted Worsley’s testimonials] had to say, and it brought back some good memories for me,” Worsley said. “Nothing brings me more pleasure than working for the community to bring about a common good.”
Rick Craven then spoke about the sole posthumous inductees of the year, George and Albert Unsworth.
“George and Albert were the Unsworth and Son horticulturalists who operated one of the earliest commercial greenhouse businesses in Ontario for nearly a century,” Craven said. “Their Plains Road site, with its greenhouses, heating plant, and later, clock thermometer, stood as Aldershot landmarks.”
Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward was in attendance at the event and spoke about her enjoyment of ACHR.
“It’s really an opportunity to find out all the amazing people in our community,” Meed Ward said. “Even though I know a lot of people and I get to meet a lot of people as mayor, there’s so many people doing great things, just behind the scenes, just quietly. So, this is one of my favourite events, to come out and hear the stories of people, and meet new people, through the awards and the recognition, that are just doing incredible things, not only to make Aldershot incredible, but the spillover to our whole city and our province.”
Natalie Pierre, the MPP for Burlington, who was also at the event, echoed Meed Ward’s comments about the importance of the ACHR.
“I think that people who give their time and effort, those are things that you can never get back,” Pierre said. “And I think it’s important to honour and recognize people that give so generously time of their time and energy.”
Karina Gould, the MP for Burlington, was also present and spoke about the humility of the recipients.
“I think as you heard from them in their speeches, they were all kind of surprised to be recognized because they were just going about their day-to-day lives, but their day-to-day activities had such a huge impact on their community,” Gould said.
