The Rotary Club of Ashcroft-Cache Creek has announced its Citizens of the Year for 2024, honouring five people who go above and beyond for their communities.
The 2024 recipients are Rick Coulson (Ashcroft); Donna Middleton (Cache Creek); Mark Greenberg and Giri Fournier (TNRD Area “I”); and Austyn Harkness of Cache Creek (Youth).
The Rotary club award continues a tradition that was started by the Kinsmen Club of South Cariboo in 1973, when it began recognizing Citizens of the Year in Ashcroft and Cache Creek. The Ashcroft-Cache Creek club is one of the few Rotary clubs to honour Citizens of the Year, and club president Joris Ekering notes that the organization likes to acknowledge people who do things for the community.
“That’s one of Rotary’s focuses,” he notes. “We like to recognize that there are a lot of people who might not be Rotary members but who still work for the community.”
Coulson, whose Ashcroft residence near Home Hardware features a whimsically-decorated front yard, is being recognized for his dedication in cleaning up the downtown area.
“He gets out at 5 in the morning and cleans up stuff around town,” says Ekering. “No one knows, no one sees it, but he does it every morning. He picks up garbage, and takes some of the items people dump at the recycling depot and gets rid of them.
“Something we liked about this nomination is that it’s different. It’s an individual effort, not done as part of a group. The nomination came out of the blue, and that’s what we liked.”
Middleton was nominated for all the tings she does in Cache Creek and beyond, quietly and without fanfare.
“She helps everybody, and is one of the most helpful people I’ve ever met,” says Ekering. “The nomination was a general one, not for a specific thing, because she does so much for the community. [The award] is a public acknowledgement of what she does, even if she wants to stay in the background. She’s a very quiet, behind the scenes kind of person.”
Greenberg and Fournier, residents of the Saranagati community at Venables Valley, were nominated because of their work during and after last year’s Shetland Creek wildfire, which tore through the valley and destroyed homes, buildings, and infrastructure.
“Mark had one room for his whole family at a motel in Cache Creek, but still helped other people find rooms, and really took on a leadership role,” says Ekering. “Giri was a fantastic helper for everybody. Both took the S100/S185 wildland firefighting training, so it’s not just about how they reacted during the fire, but how they’re planning for future events.”
Harkness, now eight years old, was nominated for his work towards community safety in 2024. He often walks along Highway 1 east of Cache Creek from his home into town, and noted that motorists frequently ignored the speed limit signs along that stretch of highway and drove too fast.
He spoke with staff at the village of Cache Creek and then followed up with the Ministry of Transportation, explaining the need for signage to remind motorists to watch for pedestrians. Ministry staff surveyed the area and agreed, and a sign was installed in spring 2024.
“He took the initiative to get a pedestrian sign on Highway 1 in Cache Creek, showing a lot of initiative at a young age,” says Ekering. “That made him outstanding.”
All the recipients will be publicly acknowledged at an evening event featuring appetizers and beverages on Thursday, May 22 (venue to be determined). Tickets will be available from Rotary Club of Ashcroft-Cache Creek members and from other sources, which will be announced in the coming weeks.
