By Adam Brazeau
CORNWALL, Ontario – The 10th edition of the South Glengarry annual Business & Community Awards banquet was the talk of Williamstown Saturday night.
Here are this year’s winners:
Youth Merit Award of the Year – Gavin Dancause
Organizers said the Grade 8 student at Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary school plays a significant role in student and community life.
Dancause is known for working with students who have academic difficulties or require extra help.
He is an altar server at St. Williams Catholic Church in Martintown and is the youth representative on the church committee.
Dancause is also one of the youngest Chief Scouts in Ontario.
With four more years to go to graduation, he has already accumulated over 300 volunteer hours doing whatever it takes to make his community a better place to live.
Excellence in Agriculture Award – Ferme Jean-Guy Bériault Ltée
Located on County Road 18 east of the Brown House, Ferme Jean-Guy Bériault Ltée has been in the family since 1938 when Omer Bériault purchased the farm.
The farm is run by Jean-Guy and his wife Lise and their son Stéphane who came on full time after graduating from Kemptville College in 2002. They also have a daughter Émilie who is studying medicine at Ottawa University.
The Bériaults market and handle over 10,000 tons of soybean in Ontario and Quebec.
The family is very active in the community through different farm organizations, such as the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and as a former director of the Ontario Egg Marketing Board.
Jean-Guy and Lise worked for ten years as Crop Insurance Agents for the County of Glengarry. The family are also active members of the St. Margaret of Scotland church in Glen Nevis.
Business Award of the Year – Cornwall Aviation Limited
Owners Gordon Small, his wife Kathryn along with their sons Steve and David celebrated 36 years of operations this month.
Smalls purchased the business in 1979 from Kathryn’s mother Lilian Toczyski to continue the dream of creating an aviation gateway for the community both for businesses and private individuals.
The Smalls ran the business and operated the airport for the public, fully funding the operation on their own until 1983. In that year, the land and runway was sold to what is now the Township of South Glengarry with the City of Cornwall agreeing to provide financial support for a portion of the cost of operations. Subsequently federal monies were obtained to upgrade the airport including lengthening and paving the runway.
The company has been a strong supporter of local fundraisers and charities over the years including minor hockey, local Air Cadet Squadrons, Big Brothers and Sisters and the United Way. In addition, they host the annual Father’s Day Fly-in Breakfast dedicated to the promotion of aviation and the support of community initiatives.
Community Service Award of the Year – Martintown and District Horticultural Society
Founded in 1965, this year marks the Society’s fiftieth anniversary of working to make Martintown a better and more beautiful place to live.
As a part of the Horticultural Association of Eastern Ontario this group works tirelessly to foster the community spirit. Led by President Ginny Blair the Society’s activities include planting and maintaining the always beautiful flower boxes on the Martintown Bridge, as well as the numerous flower boxes that can be seen throughout the village.
The Society keeps busy all year long helping to sponsor the annual Christmas parade providing judges and prizes; members also install lights on the bridge and a large wreath on the old Martintown Mill.
Citizen of the Year Award – David Anderson
David Anderson and his wife Delande arrived in Glengarry in 1990 and a few years later took up residence in Williamstown in Ontario’s oldest continuous dwelling – the historic Bethune-Thompson House which dates back to 1784.
Over the years, Anderson has served on the boards of directors of numerous volunteer organizations, including: the Glengarry Historical Society; the Nor’westers & Loyalist Museum, the Glengarry Pioneer Museum; Sir John Johnson Manor House Committee; United Empire Loyalist Association, and at least a half-dozen more historical societies and associations.
He is particularly active at the Nor’westers & Loyalist Museum sustaining the memory of the company’s wintering partners and their descendants of the Western fur trade from two hundred years past.
