2006-07-09
Author: Rae Hathaway
The City of Portage has named its Citizens of the Year. A ceremony was held Saturday night, at the official opening of the Portage Ex. 

The Citizen of the Year award went to the Portage Beautification Initiative. Co-chair Karl Gerrand notes it's appreciated after four years' work, but credit the people of Portage for making the idea work. He admits they were surprised at the level of support for the idea, and calls the initiative a great community effort.

Karen McLeod was named Sports Person of the Year for her coaching work at the Portage Figure Skating Club. She believes she's received more through volunteering than she's contributed, citing lasting friendships as a major benefit.

The Youth Volunteer of the Year is Anneliese Schoppe. She was surprised and grateful for the award, calling it a nice gesture from the City. 

The William Glesby Centre's Jerry Maksymyk took the Arts/Cultural Person of the Year award. He was surprised as well, but says it represents all the volunteers and staff working at the Glesby Centre.