Two local people who have provided exemplary service to the area will be honoured with Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medals next week.
Jacquie Gordon and Chief Robert Joseph will receive medals at ceremonies in Campbell River on Dec. 3.
MLA Claire Trevena, along with MLAs and MPs across the country, was invited to recognize the hard work of people who volunteer their time to make Canada a better place. MLAs were tasked with selecting just four people per constituency, a challenge in rural communities where volunteerism is a key social driver. Trevena appointed a committee to recommend her appointments and she’s pleased with their choices, which honour the hard work of people who champion the causes of First Nations arts, and community arts and culture.
Jacquie Gordon and Chief Robert Joseph will receive their medals on December 3 from 5:30 - 7 p.m. at the Museum at Campbell River, an award winning facility both played a role in developing.
Chief Joseph spent much of his early career in Campbell River, where he served on the boards of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs and the Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council, to name a few. His recent work as Director of the Indian Residential School Survivors Society and Special Advisor to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission continues to have a powerful net impact. Chief Joseph was presented with an honorary law degree at UBC in 2003 in recognition of his outstanding work on behalf of the First Nations.
Jacquie Gordon has dedicated much of her adult life to the arts, giving her time and creative energy to many of Campbell River’s arts organizations, from the Tidemark Theatre to the Shoreline Musical Theatre Society. Her most recent role was as chair of the City’s Cultural Commission, advising council on the arts. Her greatest source of pride, aside from her family, remains the conversion of the old Van Isle Theatre into the Tidemark as a venue for the performing arts.