Rotary Club recognizes citizens
CITIZENS OF THE YEAR — Don (left) and Julie McIntosh (centre) receive the Citizen of the Year award from Rotary Club of Invermere President, Jeanette Riches (right), at a special luncheon to honour the contributions of both Julie and her late husband Bill to the community over the years. Sadly,, Bill passed away this spring. Photo By Joshua Estabrooks
The Rotary Club of Invermere has honoured longtime valley residents, Julie McIntosh and her late husband Bill, as the Citizens of the Year.
A special luncheon took place upstairs at the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena, on Thursday, May 26th, and included members of the Rotary Club, local politicians and members of the McIntosh family.
Milt Deck, Chair of the Citizen of the Year Committee, spoke of Bill and Julie’s unwavering support of the community over the years, specifically the Columbia Valley Rockies hockey team, which Bill helped establish and kept mobile by driving the bus for close to a decade.
District of Invermere Mayor, Gerry Taft, said that the award is playing a bit of catch up for the many years of service both Julie and Bill gave in various volunteering capacities, and thanked them both for their dedication to the community.
Julie was joined by her son Don to accept the award, and said after the ceremony that the honour came as a complete surprise.
“I had no idea this was coming. All I knew was that I was going out for lunch,” she said.
She added that the award is bittersweet, as she wished that Bill — who passed away on March 29th — was here to receive it with her, but she believes he would be very pleased.
“I know Bill would be honoured to receive this. We never did anything for the recognition, though, we just did what needed to be done.”
