Nominations are open for a 61-year tradition that marks the start of Silver City Days.
Since 1957 the Fraternal Order of the Knights of Columbus have recognized ongoing community service of a person or persons as Trail-Warfield Citizen of the Year, awarded in May to launch to the city’s annual celebration.
Brian Volpatti, says the accolade is important to the community because it recognizes those who give hours of their time without receiving anything in return.
“It’s all about the volunteers,” said committee member Volpatti. “There are so many volunteers in Trail and Warfield and some of them are visible, but many stay behind-the-scenes and do just as much work. They spend a lot of time helping others.”
Nomination packages can be picked up at several locations around Trail and Warfield, including Kootenay Savings Credit Union and the municipal officers as well as city churches.
Trail Warfield Citizen of the Year designation isn’t specific to an age group.
“We try to cover all of our bases,” Volpatti said. “They don’t have to be retirees or older people. It can be a young person as well, there a many young people who do a lot of good work in the area.”
The deadline for submissions is April 20 at noon. The public ceremony is slated for Tuesday May 8 in St. Michael’s school gym. For more information on the nomination process, contact Volpatti at 250.364.1445.
A large crowd turned up to celebrate last year’s recipient. After decades of entertaining the community and helping anyone who needed it, Ray Tenisci was chosen as the 2016 Trail-Warfield Citizen of the Year.
A look at the list of past recipients stirs memories of salt-of-the-earth locals. Domenic Daloise was the first Citizen of the Year, his contributions were lengthy and integral in bringing music to town back in the 1920s. Daloise and his friend Peter Lauriente, who was Citizen of the Year in 1965, were two in a group of Italian immigrants who encouraged young boys to learn a musical instrument. Those young musicians went on to play in the Maple Leaf Band, which was named Citizen of the Year in 1991, and celebrated its 100th anniversary last year.
Choosing the Trail-Warfield recipient in April coincides with National Volunteer Week in Canada, which runs April 15 to April 21 this year and will celebrate 12.7 million volunteers coast-to-coast. Since 1977, National Volunteer week has been a country-country voice that recognizes volunteers as essential for vibrant and resilient communities.