Nominations are now open for the Jim DeWolfe Community Spirit Award.
The prize celebrates a Riverview resident, group, organization or business owner for their valued contributions to creating and strengthening our vibrant community. Created in 2013, the award was named for Jim DeWolfe, a long-time resident whose generous contributions and volunteer efforts in Riverview stretched over six decades. He died in January at the age of 93.
Nominations for the 2021 Jim DeWolfe Community Spirit Award will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 9, 2021. An independent committee will review and select the recipient that best fits the award’s criteria. Riverview Mayor Ann Seamans will announce the recipients of the 2021 Riverview Volunteer Awards and the Jim DeWolfe Community Spirit Award on Thursday, April 22, at 7 p.m. via the Town’s Facebook page.
Courtesy Town of Riverview
The mayor of Riverview has decided not to re-offer again in the upcoming municipal election in May.
Ann Seamans says the pandemic has allowed everyone to reflect on their lives over the past year.
She plans to retire but will still make a contribution to the community in some way going forward.
Seamans has overseen tremendous growth in Riverview as mayor for 9 years and as a councillor for 14 years prior to that.
She fondly remembers her first big issue on town council.
“When we all lobbied to get together to promote the new Gunningsville Bridge. As you know, the old bridge was pretty rickety and it even stopped people from wanting to drive over to our town.”
It was an evolving and dynamic situation, and the areas that received the message were strategically chosen based on the investigational information we had at the time.
Taking the time to put out thoroughly checked information is crucial not only to public safety, she said, but also to keeping rumours and misinformation from spreading throughout the community.
Gallant said it was encouraging to see that the alert information was being widely shared on social media, because that ensured that credible and accurate information was circulating. That may seem like a small thing, but it went a long way during an incident like this, she said.