Joyce Megson, of Sylvan Lake Rotary Club, presented the Sylvan Lake and District Citizen of the Year award to Steve Dills during the nautical costume themed Mermaid Ball, Oct 24. The award was a laser etched glass sailboat sculpture.

Recognized as a tireless volunteer in the community, Sylvan Lake (Alberta) News editor Steve Dills was honoured as citizen of the year for Sylvan Lake and district, during the 30th annual Mermaid Ball, Oct. 24th.
The citation added Dills is, “Always generous with his time and talent in contributing to various events.” It also recognized his, “Outstanding knowledge and diligence in all municipal matters.”
The honour was bestowed by Sylvan Lake & District Chamber of Commerce which calls for nominations each fall for various business awards and citizen of the year. Then it publishes the list of nominees in nine categories soliciting votes. Signed ballots are accepted from people 18 years of age and older. This year there were 2,452 votes cast in this process.
There were four other nominees for citizen of the year award which was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Sylvan Lake.
“I grew up in a newspaper family where volunteerism was part of the balance of life. After embarking on my own career in newspapers I continued to be an active volunteer always trying to balance work and family with volunteer efforts. Quite frequently they all overlapped,” wrote Dills in his column the following week.
“I’ve enjoyed my volunteer activities in the many communities in which I’ve lived, as well as provincially and nationally with industry associations.
“I believe I’ve learned a tremendous amount through volunteering, gained many friends, and that I’ve been able to spread ideas around and give back to those communities.
“I was surprised to hear that I’d been nominated and truly overwhelmed to actually win the award.”
Dills is currently a member of the Rotary Club, Ducks Unlimited committee and the local Royal Canadian Legion branch. As well, through his work, he’s helped many other volunteer organizations in the area.
He’s a past president of the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association (AWNA), a Bill Draayer Award recipient from that group, and a member of several AWNA committees. While in Sylvan Lake he’s won provincial, national and international awards for his editorial writing.

Posted by Maurizia