Community Recognition Awards

When Shawn moved to West Lincoln, he brought with him an indoor floor hockey program for children aged 6-9, which is attracting more and more kids each session. The program is run single handedly by Shawn and is held in the gym of the West Lincoln Community Centre.

Shawn books the space, gets jerseys for each participant, sets up and cleans up twice a week and even created the website for enrollment. At the end of each session, he provides a celebration banquet, including food, entertainment, awards, ribbons, etc.

Shawn welcomes each child with a smile, creates a fun and inviting environment and helps to instill true sportsmanship values in the kids. His program allows kids to develop personally, physically and socially. He is extremely inclusive of all children recognizing the strengths and weaknesses that different children possess.

A major value to Shawn's program is also that it helps kids and parents involved in his program meet other kids and parents in our municipality. It is evident that Shawn has created a great sports and recreation socialization opportunity for kids and of equal importance their parents.

Nicole served as president or chairperson of the West Lincoln Santa Claus
Parade Committee for the past 4 seasons. She readily stepped up to champion the parade so it did not falter after the passing of the former parade chair.

Months of preparation for each parade includes leading a team of volunteers to pick a theme, discuss a route, prepare a budget, plan and secure permits for road closures, recruit participants, secure sponsors, advertise, deal with post-parade clean-up and finances. As membership on the Committee changed over the years, Nicole herself needed to step in to do several jobs herself to ensure gaps in positions were filled appropriately. 

After the parade was forced to be cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID, Nicole adapted and got creative in 2022. Rather than cancelling again, a reverse parade was held at the Agricultural Fairgrounds whereby viewers remained in their vehicles and drove by the various stationery floats and exhibitors. Nicole and her committee also pioneered the evening version of the parade.

Holding down a full-time job and being the mother of two very young and active daughters while organizing a multi-faceted event such as the Santa Claus Parade required a lot of dedication, hard work, and preparation as there are always a great many moving parts that must come together for it to be successful.

Ken’s presence and contributions to his community are greatly missed by those who knew him or knew of his many contributions. Ken was extremely involved with the Smithville Legion Branch 393 for more than 8 years. His participation included but was not exclusive to: public relations, membership, serving as second Vice-President and Co-chair of the annual poppy program, ordering and setting up of the numerous wreaths for
Remembrance Day over the years.

When Kiwanis West Lincoln had the opportunity to join St. Catharines for fundraising through Cogeco TV Bingo, it was Ken who facilitated their use of the Smithville Legion on Sunday evenings, whether or not the Legion was actually open.

Ken was one of several people who organized the Bridge Club held at the Smithville Legion. He was also among the members of that group who took this love of bridge one step further by attending area schools to teach bridge to students.

Ken also committed a great deal of time to being Co-chair of the Safety/Evacuation Committee for the annual RBC Canadian Open Golf Tournament, a volunteer position that he truly loved!

Between 2013 and 2020, Ken and his wife Kitty hosted a Canada Day neighbourhood barbecue at their home, promoting good will and bonding between neighbours. Ken also organized bi-weekly dinners at various restaurants in the area for his neighbours. He excelled at bringing
people together and created a real sense of community among his neighbours. Those who knew him well say they never lived in such a warm and supportive community before coming to Smithville, and that sense of belonging and community is thanks to Ken. He was a great ambassador for relationship building.

Lucien moved to Smithville approximately 11 years ago with his partner Dennis and immediately started volunteering and assisting with many
organizations, especially those that assisted children and animals.

Lucien was quickly recognized as being a friend and a ready volunteer to all of the churches in town. He was always available to help at any event churches were running, including but not limited to: making meat and shepherd’s pies, flipping pancakes and peeling peaches. Lucien raised everyone’s spirits with his kindness and welcoming smile. He enjoyed engaging with everyone, was never judgmental and was always encouraging to all. 

He became the central collector of bottles and cans, and the money collected the returns was distributed to many charities. He kept a detailed list of the money raised and in recent years the total was in the range of $10,000. One of Luciens’s favourite charities was West Lincoln Community Care and he was also a huge supporter of Kiwanis, 4H, St. Luke’s Church and Smithville United Church among others. 

Lucien helped his neighbours. If there was trouble, he was there to soothe and support. He befriended his neighbours, inviting them to dinner or to the Backyard Pub, making them part of his family and friends and giving them a sense of community and inclusion. Lucien lived in West Lincoln for a relatively short time but the impact of his contributions were grand.

He was always content to remain in the background, helping whenever and wherever he could. He was never boastful about his accomplishments and contributions. Lucien made an effort to get to know the various organizations in our community. He loved to meet new people and to help make connections between organizations so as to help them work together for the betterment of West Lincoln as a whole.

Lucien was a kind, generous person who with great humour and compassion made West Lincoln his home and greatly added to its collective fabric. He was a true gentleman and his kindness, humility and giving personality have made a significant contribution to our community and as such his is very deserving of our recognition.

Milton, or Milt as he is more commonly known in West Lincoln, has been involved in the community’s sports scene for the past 60 years or so. In the blue history book, "West Lincoln- Our Links with the Past,” published in 1985, you'll find Milt’s photo in the 1963 Ontario Rural Softball Association Juvenile Champs and also the Junior Champs of that same year, certainly indicating his early success in high level sporting events.

Milt has played baseball and hockey, has coached and has been the manager of many teams over decades of years. After a serious car accident on his way to work as a summer student at Dofasco, Milt lost the use of his one arm and was also left with two badly injured knees. This might have devastated some, but Milt, still wanting to be involved in some
way after his accident, got into score-keeping. That led to managing and
coaching both hockey and baseball. 

Milt’s great coaching skills allowed him to lead many teams to victorious
championships and earned him acknowledgement from his peers in the sporting community both locally and further afield. Milt has earned and held great respect from players, fans and parents in the Smithville and surrounding area for many years and still to this day is greatly respected for the awesome coach that he was.

Milt has never let his disability stop him from his full time career at Dofasco until his retirement, his dedicated volunteer work in his community and the raising of his four wonderful daughters.

Joanne grew up in Smithville and her family owned Howdgkin’s Hardware store in town. Many know her for living on a farm where she welcomes anyone who wants to look at goats, learn about goats, feed goats or chat about goats. Members of the 4H Goat Club often do not own a goat but want to be part of the club. It’s pretty hard to borrow a goat if you live in town, but Joanne makes sure that all can join by lending a goat and teaching all about its care.

Joanne is friendly, generous, kind and is always willing to help. She is dedicated to the youth of the community, letting kids come to her farm and helping them to be their best. 4H Goat Club leaders always know that members who went to her farm would be welcomed with open arms, a wealth of knowledge, patience and a sense of humour. 

Joanne is also a member of the Niagara 4H Board of Directors, serving as a director and screening committee member. This totally volunteer board would not exist without people like Joanne to make informed decisions. She has served on this board for at least 10 years.

She is also the Chair of the Goat Show at the West Niagara Fair. As such, she is responsible for spreading the word about the show, arranging the classes, finding a judge and recording all of the information on Show Day. Joanne and her son-in-law sponsor and provide the Champion 4H Show Person each year at the West Niagara Fair, a very coveted award.

Apart from her 4H involvement, Joanne is an elder at her Church and
volunteers at all church events. She is a member of their fundraising committee where she is known to be an excellent sandwich and dessert maker for their annual soup and sandwich lunch. Joanne has also been volunteering with Rose Cottage for many years, assisting and visiting with elderly people who need extra care. Joanne is known by her friends and associates to be willing to step in wherever needed.

As West Lincoln Mayor in 1988, Joan additionally became the volunteer Chair of the West Lincoln Library Board, and continued on to serve that Board as either Chair or Vice-Chair until the Fall of 2022. Yes, 34 years! She demonstrated amazing leadership during the building of the Smithville Branch, which was attached to the current Township Administration Building in the early 1990s, the building of the Caistorville Branch in 2005, the addition and renovation FedDev project related to the Wellandport Branch in 2017-2018, and the new Smithville Branch attached to our Community Centre, which opened in 2018.

Joan’s patience, determination, guidance and leadership were all demonstrated over and over again over those many years of growth in our Library system. Additionally, over this later time period from approximately 2014 to 2022, Joan also guided Library restructuring and the hiring of a dedicated Library CEO. The community is certainly better off due to her diligent work connected to our libraries. 

Joan has served as a member of the Legion Branch 393 Ladies Guild, taking an active part in Remembrance Day Services and preparing and serving various breakfasts, lunches and dinners as part of the Ladies' Auxiliary fundraising efforts. She continues to serve in this role.

Joan has over the decades been president of the Fulton United Church Ladies' Auxiliary and as such was deeply involved in their fundraising efforts. She remains a member of their broader Church Ministerial group, which allocates funding to churches in need of support.

For at least 15 years, Joan served as a volunteer at West Lincoln Community Care in the Food Bank area. She was recognized by the Ontario Government Volunteers Awards process for that long-time volunteer work.

When the Township's Age-Friendly Advisory Committee was first formed in 2017, Joan became an active member, providing resources and opportunities for older adults in West Lincoln. She assisted with various open houses for older adults, including a Seniors’ Forum in our Community Centre where approximately 175 older adult residents were in attendance. In many of those Open House scenarios, Joan took on the role of organizing the refreshments for everyone’s enjoyment.

Whether leading or simply being a committee member, Joan was always a steadying influence, a great decision-maker, a wonderful productive participant and most definitely, a team-player.

The Travis family has been living in West Lincoln since the 1790s era, an incredible 234 years. Cliff is very proud of his heritage in our community and rightly so. For the past 45 years, he has operated a sawmill on Sixteen Road, offering custom sawing to local farmers, businesses and residents. An avid carpenter, he has helped many people in the community with their home repairs. He has served on the Board of Stewards of Smithville United Church over the years freely providing his carpentry and gardening skills. This past summer of 2024, Cliff volunteered his time and supplied lumber and materials to install a new wheelchair accessible bathroom for the Church.

Cliff has been referred to as the “backbone” of West Lincoln’s history having been an avid contributor to the “Our Links with the Past” publication in 1984 and the “History of Smithville” book. He has always had a keen interest in the history of our municipality and is the keeper of a great many artifacts, newspapers and items of historical significance, including pieces of the first rail iron dated 1885 from the tracks in Smithville and many TH&B railway lanterns that will one day be donated to the Smithville Archives.

Cliff donated lumber to the Smithville Train Station from his sawmill when the railroad station was rebuilt many years ago. He delivered a Smoke Box cover from a 500 class steam locomotive, donated by Steve Fedoryshin, after having it sand-blasted, having poured the footings to hold it in place and having also welded it. Today, the steam locomotive monument sits out at the Smithville Train Station on the south side.

Serving on the Cemetery Board for a long time, Cliff has a great understanding and goal of protecting pieces of local history. He has quietly maintained an age-old tombstone in Merritt Settlement for years, using a wire brush to clean off the calcium build up. Once again preserving history and quietly giving back to his community. At another time, when a broken gravestone of a fellow Mason was discovered, Cliff refurbished and re-set the stone, which turned out to belong to a long past Smithville bailiff, postmaster and license issuer.

Cliff served on the Heritage Society of West Lincoln for many years. He was instrumental in having murals placed on the brick wall where the Murgatroyd Building once stood. He brought extensive and valuable information on heritage buildings, founding families, and events of our town to guide the work of the committee.

He was also a past master of the Coronation Masonic Lodge in Smithville in 1977 and ‘78 and as a 53 year Lodge member received in 2013 a prestigious award from the Grand Lodge of Ontario, making him a Grand Steward. During his years at the local Masonic Lodge, Cliff volunteered his carpentry skills to create the oak and wainscot walls of the anteroom, installing hardwood flooring and creating a one of a kind centerpiece medallion with the Masonic symbol made from various types of wood.

Cliff is also an enthusiastic old car restorer and has provided a replica cannon that he built along with various vehicles for our local Christmas parades throughout past years. Cliff recently arranged to donate this handmade replica cannon to our local Legion in time for this year’s Remembrance Day Ceremony. All in all Cliff has demonstrated outstanding character, volunteerism and extensive service to his community in various roles during his lifetime.