staged photo by Connie Campbell
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CONNIE CAMPBELLTaymouth Community Association
Burgess Volunteerism Award recipient March 1, 2008 As we gather today to review another year of achievement in community growth and fellowship, we celebrate the milestone of our first five years as an thriving organization. Remembering our humble beginnings, it is amazing to see just how far we have come. It would be appropriate to have a look at the neighbours gathered here today and gratefully acknowledge that it does indeed take a village to raise, and maintain, a community center. The support we have enjoyed for our projects and programs has grown each year and as we look forward, new ideas are already under development. The most valuable element in this organization of ours, without a doubt, is the volunteerism which makes everything happen. If there is an event or activity, be it an evening of entertainment, a potluck supper, a barbeque, a Day Camp, a weekly market, a well maintained ball field, or a building expansion, just to name a few, it happened because people generously gave the time required to make it happen. This community is rich in volunteers. We greatly appreciate every minute given by each person over the past year. The purpose of this award is to briefly shine a light on one particular volunteer who we feel deserves a special thank you from the community. Some volunteer work is very visible, but a great deal of it takes place behind the scenes. It involves hours and hours of time at home, on the phone, in emails and face to face contact with others. I would not begin to guess at the number of hours this volunteer has given, but I know it is exceptional. Let me give you some idea of her involvement. It begins with being the Chair of the Market Committee. This is a short title for a huge undertaking! Long term planning is necessary for this position, designation of special markets, arranging entertainment and in general making our Market the success it has become. Oh, did I mention she and her husband are also vendors? In addition to regular media promotion in newspapers, the newsletter, posters and on radio, she brought us into the 21st century by establishing and maintaining a website. The TCA Blog has become a “go to” site if you want to know what is going on in our community. It is well designed, full of great information and puts our best foot forward to the world. There have been as many as 200 “hits” on this site in a week. Another of her creative talents is recording the TCA’s history and activities in Photo Story format in our beautifully crafted scrapbooks. You often catch this gal behind the lens of her camera, then later you can view a moment in time artfully presented on a page of our scrapbook. We can only imagine the hours that have gone into this project alone. And yet she has taken her love of this activity and formed the Hometown Scrappers scrap booking group. They meet once a month to work on projects and share techniques. This year the group hosted a regional Scrapbooker’s Workshop, a full day of activities for those interested in the art. She shares this interest with her equally enthusiastic daughter. I am sure you have heard of the Annual Community Yard Sale held at the beginning of May. This was her idea. She developed the concept including the Community Map, the Yard Signs, “Yard Sale Central” activities, the registration, promotion and even distributed tips for successfully running a yard sale at your home. Serving on the Newsletter committee is another aspect of her contribution. She is responsible for keeping us informed on market activities and many other items you see posted there. The article featuring our Seniors was her suggestion and is widely enjoyed and anticipated with each issue. With this concept she helps us remember the importance of the people who have built this community as well as the wonderful gift of family. This year she also picked up the threads when one of our members had to step back from some responsibilities. Supervision of the Work Ability Program is now on her list. Job planning, submitting reports and coordinating events and work time are a few of the related tasks. She also accepted secretarial duties for the building committee meetings. There is always a lot of discussion at these meetings and it amazes me to attend a meeting and see the minutes of that meeting in my inbox the next day. I am beginning to wonder if she sleeps. With all of this volunteer commitment you would wonder if she has time for anything else. But if you spend any time at all with her you will come to understand that nothing is more important to her than her family. She always has a story about a grandchild or a sibling, her daughter or son, her hubby or a mixture. The stories she shares will make you smile or laugh or touch your heart. Hers is a family that gathers often, celebrates with flare and carries that spirit into the community. We want to say thank you to her family today, for allowing her to share so much of her time and talents with us. It would be impossible to manage all of these tasks without considerable organizational skills, and dedication to the task. Those things are skillfully blended with a lovely creative side and a playful imagination. I am sure you have all guessed by now that this year’s recipient of the Burgess Volunteerism Award is Connie Campbell. We present the award with our gratitude and appreciation for the positive impact you have had and continue to have on our community. The Taymouth Community Association March 1, 2008 |