Prince George BC- The Prince George Community Foundation has named its Citizens of the Year.

There  are six recipients this year, as the Prince George Community Foundation changed its format a year ago to allow for  more than one person to be honoured.  That change  made the  event more of a celebration of special people and  eliminated the  competition aspect of the event.

The 2016 Citizens of the  Year are:

Trelle Morrow: Honoured for his Dedication to Preserving History

A resident of Prince George for 62 years,  he  has been responsible for the design of many Prince George buildings.

He and his wife Allison were active members of Kiwanis International, contributing significantly to the goals of that organization. In the late 1980’s and 1990’s Trelle served on the City Heritage Committee and the Prince George Museum Association Board, assisting with two documents, the publication of Postscript (1990) and the Life in These Old Houses (1995).

In his work with the Heritage Commission he compiled “Statements of Significance” for the following heritage properties: the Monro/Moffat House, Knox United Church, Quinson Elementary School, the W.W.II Drill Hall on the Exhibition Grounds, the Roll-A-Dome (Prince George’s First Curling Club), and the neighbourhoods of Dogwood Street, Nechako, and Quinson.

He is a three-time recipient of the Jeanne Clarke Memorial Local History Award, the latest awarded in 2016 for his local history book: Living Legacies, 100 Years of Prince George Architecture.  Even at the fine age of 86 he continues to make local history presentations at the Prince George Public Library.

Trelle is being honoured for his deep and ongoing commitment to preserving the history of Prince George.

Ann Halikowsi. Karen Underhill and Lorrainne Hilland :  Honoured as Hidden Heroes

Since 1983 Ann Halikowski, Lorraine Hilland, and Karen Underhill have been dedicated and committed to working towards the prevention of violence against women, men, and children that they may feel safe and secure in their home and community.

These three women co-founded the Prince George Sexual Assault Centre in 1984, today known as the Surpassing Our Survival Society (2007), dedicated to counselling and support services in a safe and supportive environment for individuals, families and groups; and to sexual violence prevention and  though advocacy, public education.

In the first year of this organization, these women provided financial support to be able to have a meeting place, an answering service and on-call services 24/7.

Over the years since their initial work together, these three women have continued to volunteer in many Prince George organizations related to their initial vision and goal.

Ann, Lorraine, and Karen are being honoured together as one of Prince Georges’ 2016 Citizens of the Year for their leadership and vision in establishing an organization focussed on making home and community a safe place for women, children and men and for their years of volunteer activity with other organizations that support this vision.

Cindy Smith – An active role model for youth in the community  (photo not available)

Cindy Smith is an English and Leadership teacher at College Heights Secondary School.  Throughout her teaching career she has gone above and beyond her teaching job to provide opportunities for youth to make a real difference in the community locally, provincially, nationally and internationally. She has been a proactive role model, spending many week nights and weekends (literally thousands of out of school hours) working side by side her students.

Her activity working with her students has raised thousands of dollars for many worthwhile non-profit charitable organizations including Relay for Life, Cops for Cancer, Koryban Lodge, the Terry Fox Foundation, Northern Uganda Development Fund, Free the Children, and Camp Good News

She has consistently volunteered in the community at large throughout her adult life including being a leader within the Guiding movement (Girl Guides of Canada), acting as a soccer coach with the Prince George Youth Soccer Association, and co-chairing the Volunteer Recruitment committee (finding over 4500 volunteers) for the Canada Winter Games in 2015.

Nowell Senior : A volunteer of vision with hands-on commitment

Nowell Senior is an avid outdoorsman, a lover of hiking and snowshoeing. For the past 20 years has been a member of the Caledonia Ramblers Hiking Club.  Prior to Nowell joining the Ramblers, the club only ran a summer hiking/backpacking schedule starting in April and ending with the snow in the fall.  Nowell began organizing snowshoe trips and they became a hit.  This led to scheduled trips every week throughout the winter period.

In 2005 Nowell put in an application to the provincial government on behalf of the Ramblers for a trail up and over the Driscoll Ridge from Hwy 16. As it happened, residents of the Crescent Spur/Dome Creek area put in an application for an interpretive/nature trail into the old growth cedar forest starting for the same point on Hwy. 16. The government combined the two applications and in 2006 permits for the trail were given to the Ramblers and work began. Nowell provided a vision of how the trail could serve others and provided outstanding leadership throughout the building of the trails.  In 2009, Nowell proposed the addition of the universal boardwalk to the Ancient Forest Trail to make it more accessible to all visitors while protecting the plants and ecosystem generally.  He led the cause by successfully applying for grants to contribute to the cost of the project.

Nowell is being honoured as one of Prince George’s 2016 Citizens of the Year for his outstanding leadership and tireless efforts in bringing a new Provincial Park an hour’s drive away from Prince George and for his continued involvement in an initiative to have The Ancient Forest declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The gala event to celebrate the accomplishments of the new Citizens of the Year is set for October 14th.