THE GLENGARRY NEWS – ALEXANDRIA, ONTARIO
WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2013 – PAGE B1
Heather McDonell, Green Valley:
I won an art award when I was in
Grade 8 at Iona Academy.
Lucie Seguin, Glen Robertson:
In Grade 7, I won an award for
writing a French essay. I wrote about
the history of golf. Now I haven’t
played golf in 20 years.
Sharon MacGregor, Williamstown:
I received an award for collecting for
the Canadian Cancer Society. They
sent me a certificate. I’ve been doing
it for over 30 years.
STR AIGHT TALK
Have you ever won an award?
Lorraine Cameron, Green Valley:
When I was a girl, I won a few
awards with 4H. I also won an award
for high jumping in high school.
Gordon MacPherson,
Glen Sandfield:
I’ve won a few soccer awards and
I’m in the Guinness Book of World
Records for being in the world’s
longest soccer game.
Doug MacPherson, Martintown:
I won the most valuable player award
when I was a midget hockey player 26
years ago.
Plenty of smiles
at SG awards night
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annual golf tournament, though perhaps nothing was more impressive than landing the late
songstress Rita MacNeil for a concert at St.
Finnan’s Cathedral in Alexandria.
Today, the ruins are a major tourist attraction
and, in 1999, was declared a national historic
site. The award was accepted by Friends members Msgr. Donald Bernard McDougall, David
Anderson, Colleen Kennedy, Bernie
MacCulloch, Glenda McDonell, Ian McLeod,
Diana Sturkenboom, and Eleanor McDonell.
Absent were Ed Allinott, Marcel Brunet, Hugh
Allan McDonald, Andrea Lauzon and Dave
Smith. Deceased: Duncan A McDonald, Mervin
McDonald, Joan P MacDonald and Joan Ryan.
Robyn Denis, owner of South Lancaster Auld
Kirktown, was singled out as the Entrepreneur
of the Year. Her business brings people in from
Ottawa and Montreal and CTV has even
dropped by her store to get tips on decorating
for spring.
She’s also a tireless volunteer who, when
asked by Hospice Cornwall to help decorate a
room, took it upon herself to decorate several
areas in order to make the hospice more homey.
“I’m so grateful for this award,” she said. “It
belongs to a much larger community of individuals.”
She also thanked her family, her staff and her
loyal customers for standing behind her.
Peter and Louise Sommers of Newbrabant
Farms on the 12th Concession in Lancaster
received the Agriculture Award. Mr. Sommers
moved to Glengarry from Cape Breton with his
parents and 11 siblings, where they worked a
farm with 45 cows. After his father passed away
in 1976, Peter took over and the farm has done
nothing but grow.
Today it has 1,300 animals and three new
machine sheds were built between 1999 and
2012. The farm includes 762 ha to grow crops to
feed the cows and boasts 12,000 tonnes of storage capacity. It also provides full-time employment to 10 Canadians and three off shore workers from Guatemala.
Three years ago, Newbrabent moved to production of Omega 3 milk to satisfy a niche market. Today, more than 18,000 litres of milk is
shipped from the farm every day.
Mr. Sommers is involved with the Knights of
Columbus while Mrs. Sommers is active with
the Children’s Treatment Centre and the St.
Raphael’s Galarama. They’re also involved with
the Heart & Stroke Foundation and sponsor
three kids in Africa through World Vision.
Finally, Bainsville’s Sangster’s Sons Merchants
received the Business of the Year Award. The
store was noted as being a premier gathering
place for people in that community to meet, a
reputation it’s enjoyed for almost a hundred
years. Not even a fire that devastated the business in 1993 could stop it from being so.
Today, Charlie Sangster is a mainstay at the
store and it’s said that he reads all the newspapers there everyday.
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Sangster, accompanied by his wife, Florence, thanked his community.
“Everyone in this room deserves credit for
supporting us,” he said.
AWARD WINNERS: 1. Anne Donkers receives the South Glengarry Citizen of the Year trophy from Scott Graham of Rozon Insurance. 2. Charlie Sangster and his wife Florence, winners of the Business of the Year Award for Sangster’s Sons Merchants, flank Alistair and
Katherine MacDonald of Munro & Morris Funeral Homes Ltd. 3. Roxanne Lauzon of Wilfrid
Major Ltd. presents the Entrepreneur of the Year Award to Robyn Denis of Auld Kirktown. 4.
Anne Donkers, this time representing the Lancaster Optimists Club, presents the Youth Merit
Award to Allister MacDonell. 5. Diana Sturkenboom, representing the Friends of the St.
Raphael’s Ruins, accepts the Community Service Award from Doug MacPherson of Munro
Agromart. 6. Tom Ayerst of the Bank of Montreal, Lancaster branch, presents the Excellence in
STEVEN WARBURTON PHOTOS
Agriculture Award to Peter and Louise Sommers.
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BY STEVEN WARBURTON
News Staff
Anne Donkers was flabbergasted when she
learned she’d been named Citizen of the Year at
the South Glengarry Business and Community
Awards, held Saturday evening at the Cornwall
Golf & Country Club in Glen Walter.
The longtime township resident who is known
for her long tenure with the Lancaster Optimists
Club was quick to downplay her own importance, insisting that South Glengarry is populated with many volunteers equally deserving of
being named Citizen of the Year.
“The best part of volunteering is that I get
more out of it than I put into it,” Mrs. Donkers
said in her brief acceptance speech. “I’ve met a
lot of fabulous people. South Glengarry is a
great place to live and I couldn’t imagine living
anywhere else.”
Mrs. Donkers loves South Glengarry so much
that she actually lived here twice. After moving
to the township from Paris, ON in 1971, she
graduated from Char-Lan District High School
and then moved away in 1982. The next year,
she married Bob Donkers and the couple lived
in Cambridge until 1998, when she moved back
to South Glengarry for good.
Today, much of her time is spent with the
Optimists, whom she helps organize
Charlottenburgh Park’s annual Canada Day festivities and Lancaster’s Santa Claus Parade. She
also helped rejuvenate Lancaster’s Christmas
lights display, promotes redevelopment of the
village’s Main Street, and coordinates the volunteers at the Williamstown Fair. Small wonder
her husband refers to her as a professional volunteer.
Typically, the Citizen of the Year winner tends
to suspect that something is up before their
name is called at the end of the evening. That’s
because, upon arrival at the venue, they notice
that a significant number of friends and family
members are in attendance. That wasn’t the case
for Mrs. Donkers for two reasons. One is that
she tends to go to the awards ceremony anyway. Second, she was asked to present the
Youth Merit Award on behalf of the Lancaster
Optimists Club.
This year, the award went to Allister
MacDonell, a Grade 8 student at Char-Lan
District High School. Allister has volunteered
hundreds of hours at the Williamstown Fair and
recently was asked if he’d mind helping with
the Char-Lan Rebels in exchange for the community hours needed to graduate high school.
Allister went ahead and did it anyway even
though, as a Grade 8 student, he was not yet
qualified to collect such hours.
His acceptance speech was short and sweet.
“I’m proud to be from South Glengarry.”
The Friends of the St. Raphael’s Ruins received
the Community Service Award for their hard
work in soliciting more than $1.4 million to help
keep the ruins standing. They did this in several phases, concentrating on tasks as menial as
capping the windows and as grand as restoring
the walls.
The Friends have solicited donations from
individuals and all levels of government. Its
mounted a number of fundraisers, including an
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