The Heritage Canada Achievement Award was presented to the Manitoba Genealogical Society in 1995. The following is the article published in our journal Generations in the December, 1995 issue. Today, Heritage Canada has been restructured, and the National Trust for Canada handles all award administration for Canadian heritage.
1995 HERITAGE CANADA ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
by Daryl Dumanski, MGS#1031, Past President
I was excited and a little nervous. Coincidentally I had been seated next to the Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, the Honourable Yvon Dumont. He calmly awaited making his presentation for the award given in his name. I was waiting to accept a special award on behalf of MGS. Various members of MGS were in attendance, by special invitation from Heritage Canada to this annual awards ceremony. It took place in the chapel of St. Boniface College, October 14,1995, at 4:30pm.
I had been attending planning meetings to offer input for the Association of Manitoba Museums/Heritage Canada Conference 1995. Our organization was given meeting space at St. Boniface College for our AGM during their weekend conference. During the course of several meetings we were encouraged to suggest possible candidates for the Achievement Award applications.
We were nominated by the Manitoba Heritage Federation and were the successful recipient of the Heritage Canada Achievement Award from the Heritage Canada Foundation. The St. Boniface Museum also received an Achievement Award for their restoration and renovations of their building.
This honour was for the Special Projects Committee of the Manitoba Genealogical Society, Inc. for its outstanding work in the transcribing and transliteration of Ukrainian and Polish cemeteries in Manitoba. The main criterion was that it represented a significant contribution to heritage and conservation. The Special Projects Chair, Kathy Stokes, was away on vacation and I represented the Society in accepting the inscribed gold medallion.
Proud and thrilled to be given this honour, my acceptance was short, but sincere in thanking the many volunteers who, under the guidance of Kathy Stokes and Lorne Harris, have managed to complete this undertaking. The value of this conservation project has already proven valuable as time renders some monuments illegible, or gone altogether, since the inception of this project. The dedication of all cemetery transcription volunteers on behalf of MGS is truly remarkable and this award recognized that fact. Congratulatlons! to all Special Projects Committee volunteers.
The following is the article published in our journal Generations in the June, 2019 issue. This year, we were given a Certificate of Appreciation for our ongoing support of this event.
MGS and the Red River Heritage Fair
Submitted by Janice Butcher, #4499, Chair, Social Media Committee
Each year, MGS has a presence at the Red River Heritage Fair (RRHF), held this year on May 2, 2019, at the University of Winnipeg.
The RRHF is similar to the format of the school system’s Science Fairs. Students from Grade 4 – 9 research and prepare a poster and a verbal presentation on a history topic. Students may present an individual project or a project in conjunction with a partner. All the posters are set up in the gymnasium by 9:30 am on the day of the Fair, for viewing and judging. Judging occurs in four different sessions (2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon), of about 50 projects each.
MGS has sponsored and presented a “Family History” award for the several years throughout the course of the RRHF. This year MGS was well represented by Janice Butcher, Chair of MGS Social Media committee, who served as judge for this award. The criteria for the MGS award is that a project must focus on the history of a personal family member. (Interestingly, few projects of all the projects, meet this simple criteria, greatly reducing the number of eligible candidates). The judging consists of listening to the student’s prepared presentation, reviewing the visual display (posters and/or artifacts), browsing through a notebook which outlines the process/steps the students took.
All of the projects judged were excellent.
The winner of the 2019 MGS Family History Award was Addie Neill, a Grade 7 student from McIsaac School in Flin
Flon, Manitoba! Her topic was “My Great Grandfather: Hardships and Love in the Second World War”. He met his wife during the war and she came to Canada as a ‘war bride’. Addie had some impressive genealogical records – army records, a completed family tree, family photos and even her great grandmother’s wedding dress. Addie was presented with the $50 award at the evening awards ceremony.
MGS President Kathy Stokes being presented the Lieutenant Governor’s prestigious Make a Difference Community Awards by the Honourable Philip S. Lee, C.M. O.M.
Congratulations to MGS President Kathy Stokes for winning one of the Lieutenant Governor’s prestigious Make a Difference Community Awards. The award was presented by the Honourable Philip S. Lee, C.M. O.M. to Kathleen Stokes “in recognition of her volunteer efforts at The Manitoba Genealogical Society, Fort Garry Historical Society and Manitoba Heritage Federation and her dedication to preserving history”. The presentation took place at Volunteer Manitoba’s gala Awards Dinner at the Convention Centre on April 24, 2013. A contingent from MGS attended to offer congratulations and cheer her on.