Top volunteer honours have gone to a Saugeen Shores resident for her years of service to the Bruce County Museum and Archives.
On April 24 in Toronto, Eleanor Edwards was presented with the June Callwood Outstanding Achievement Award for Volunteerism in Ontario, by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Michael Chan in Toronto.
Edwards has worked primarily as a fundraiser for the musuem over the past two decades.
As Honourary Fundraising Chair, she lead efforts to raise 1.2 million dollars for the capital campaign that led to renovations and an addition at the museum.
Edwards says she feels humbled and never expected to receive the award, which she found out she was getting just two weeks before the ceremony in Toronto.
Edwards says her interest in history goes back to her ancestors and the items they used in everyday life.
She says she often collected old items from family members when she was younger whenever she visited their rural homes in eastern Ontario, or in Grey-Bruce where her family’s roots date back to 1850.
Museum Curator Barbara Ribey says Eleanor Edwards has inspired staff, and brought more people on board through creating more awareness and appreciation for the museum.
Ribey says she doesn’t know where the Bruce County Museum would be without the support of Eleanor Edwards and her husband Bill.
The award is named after June Callwood, a late prominent Canadian journalist and social activist.
