2021 A. Walter Turnbull Award Recipients
The A. Walter Turnbull Memorial Award was established in recognition of the exceptional volunteer community service provided by Mr. Walter Turnbull over the many years he lived in our community. The Award has been presented to outstanding volunteers 41 times previously, with the honourees appearing on a plaque proudly displayed at the De Winton Community Hall.
This year’s nomination was made by a long-time member of the DCA and previous recipient of the Walter Turnbull Award and was unanimously supported by the DCA Board.
This year’s worthy recipients are Edith and Larry Rabinovitch. Edith and Larry are long-time residents of De Winton and are passionate about doing more for the membership. Edith and Larry have volunteered for a variety of activities over the years and most recently have been key in many community initiatives including the “Welcome to De Winton” baskets for families that have recently moved to our community. However, the community member who nominated Edith and Larry specifically referenced the call outs that Edith did to all members, current and past, during the last year of the pandemic. Edith created and took on this initiative to make sure everyone was doing OK and did not require help or support during such an unprecedented time in our lives.
In addition to the nomination from the community another member also emailed the DCA saying: “The first call I received from Edith was shortly after the preschool (and world) were forced to close their doors due to the pandemic. A sweet voice on the other end of the line was simply reaching out to see how all the families were holding up. It was a day where all the news and our current reality seemed overwhelming, unknown and scary. I’ve never met Edith, but her kindness and concern meant the world in that moment. It truly made me feel like, whether we are strangers or friends, we are all in this together – the true meaning of community.”
Other comments from members included “that is why we live in this community, no one has ever done anything like this before for us,” and, “it is so nice that the community cares and called”. Others also shared their circumstances and all were appreciative of the effort.
The De Winton Community Association is so proud and honoured to recognize Edith and Larry for their outstanding volunteer contributions to our community.
Dunbow Recreation Board Grant
In April the De Winton Community Association applied for, and have been granted, financial assistance from the Dunbow Recreation Board. Congratulations and thank you to our Facilities Director Cindy Poole and all else who were involved in putting together these applications. Well done!
The Dunbow Recreation Board grant will provide financial assistance at the De Winton Hall for:
1) preparing an area for and assembling an outdoor sports equipment shed,
2) digging a 4 foot deep post hole and cementing in a basketball post, assembling the basketball system, mapping and painting the 3 point and foul lines,
3) cleaning and prepping the area for, mapping and painting the large modern version of hopscotch
4) prepare the area, build and install horseshoe pits
Lawn Maintenance
Now this is a wonderful story; In an effort to save costs we had to cancel our contract with our lawn maintenance company, DeWinton Maintenance, for the spring and ask volunteers to step up and cut grass. And our volunteers stepped up to fill the void.
Big thanks to our own councilor and Board Member Alan Algar who has done an amazing job keeping our grass short.
Meanwhile, (and this is the other wonderful part) we received the following email from our Lawn Maintenance Company – DeWinton Maintenance:
Hi Greg ,
Covid has been hard on our small business as well. We are thankful for the business that the Community Association has provided us with over the years.
We will continue to offer our services to Dewinton Hall, cutting the grass every 2 weeks. We will not have the ability to do trimming but will see what we can do if time allows. We will not be charging the Community Association for our services. We appreciate the opportunity to give back to our community when they need it the most and thank you for allowing us to move forward. We hope that when our economy has recovered and opens up again that the Community Association will once again select our services.
Tracy Sauve, Rob Atkinson, Dewinton Maintenance
What an amazing gift. Tracy and Rob of Dewinton Maintenance, we can’t thank you enough! AND we have had a number of volunteers to step up and do the in- between weeks. Thank you volunteers. This is what makes Dewinton a special community.
De Winton Community Preschool
The De Winton Community Preschool is currently accepting Registrations for the 2021-22 school year. We still have a few openings for 3 and 4 year old children. Don’t delay as our classes usually fill up quickly. Please visit dewintoncommunitypreschool.com for more information.
