The City of St. Albert has dedicated five community recognition awards in honor of individuals and groups who have distinguished themselves in their community.
The COVID pandemic meant the 2020 ceremony was cancelled, leading the city to hold an “intimate ceremony” this past Aug. 18 in commemoration of both 2020 and 2022 award winners. There were no award recipients for 2021.
The community recognition award program recognizes and celebrates St. Albert groups and individuals who have made significant contributions to the city, as well as current and former residents with outstanding accomplishments.
Categories for nominations include but are not limited to: arts, music and culture, citizenship, sporting excellence, professional achievements, and other categories.
The two award winners for 2022 are Robert (Bob) Lane, and the St. Albert Nordic Ski Club grooming team, which includes Rob Campbell, Ken Ryniak, Pat Kelly, Ken Nielsen, Michael Kers, and Lionel Dumontier.
Lane, who co-founded the Big Lake Environment Support Society (BLESS) and helped create Lois Hole Park, passed away in May of 2021 at the age of 84.
Chris Lane, his son, attended the ceremony to accept the award on his late father’s behalf. Chris said his father would have been “very honored” to receive the award.
“Throughout his whole life, my dad was a naturalist,” Chris said. “That was what he called himself."
Nothing brought his father more joy than to go out into the prairies or forest, and birdwatch, Chris said.
“In his early days, he was a hunter, but my dad gave that up,” Chris said. Instead, Bob swapped a gun for a camera, becoming an avid bird photographer.
Beyond spending time as a nature photographer, Bob’s biggest hobby was working to conserve the wilderness.
Bob co-founded BLESS alongside fellow naturalist Fin Fairfield, and also found success in advocating to the provincial government in pursuit of designating Lois Hole a provincial park.
When asked about the legacy his father left behind, Chris said Bob’s work has helped ensure a healthy mixture of development and preservation around Big Lake.
“If that lake disappeared, it would certainly change the migration habits of a lot of birds, and jeopardize their welfare,” Chris said. “The fact that he was able to help preserve parts of the lake … he was very proud of that.”
The other 2022 award winners, the St. Albert Nordic Ski Club groomers, received a 2022 award in the “citizenship” category.
A volunteer-run organization, the club sets ski tracks through St. Albert, Riverlot 56, and more recently, Sturgeon County. The club also runs youth programs for young skiers, some of whom go on to compete in provincial and national events, and lessons for adult skiers who are new to the sport or looking to brush up on proper techniques.
Dedicated volunteers from the club — one of whom is Lionel Dumontier — work to maintain St. Albert’s cross-country ski trails, work that is high demand but also, Dumontier said, high reward.
Before the snow falls at the beginning of the year, the club prepares the ground by cutting the grass and removes anything in the way to get the smoothest ice-surface possible. Later, when the snow falls, they use snowmobiles to pack it down and create tracks.
“Through the season, depending on snowfall, we generally go out and redo the trails at least once a week,” Dumontier said.
Recent freeze/thaw cycles have created “a lot of havoc” for maintaining the trails and keeping them safe for skiers.
Despite challenges, the grooming club ramped up its efforts over the COVID pandemic when demand for outdoor recreation surged.
Dumontier said the whole club was “pretty excited” when they heard about the award.
“We do things behind the scenes so much, and we don’t do it for the recognition,” Dumontier said. “But I’ll tell you, the recognition makes it worthwhile.”
2020 winners
Three award winners were honored for 2020. One 2020 winner, Krista Monson, received the city’s first-ever distinguished achievement award.
Monson grew up in St. Albert, where she spent years learning to dance, and cultivated a love of performance and creativity. Now based in Las Vegas, Monson spent 13 years with Cirque du Soleil as an artistic director, casting director, writer, and creative director for shows worldwide.
In 2018, she became the first woman to serve as both writer and director at the Friedrichstadt-Palast theatre in Berlin, where she staged VIVID, a production that incorporated spectacle, high fashion, and video.
When notified about the distinguished achievement award in 2020, Monson said it was very meaningful, but noted returning to St. Albert to accept the award in person this August was even more of a highlight.
“My brother had said to me a while ago … we won the lottery by growing up and living in St. Albert,” Monson said, noting it was at the St. Albert Children’s Theatre that she got her first choreographic start.
“It’s still etched in my mind … it was just magical,” Monson said of receiving the honor.
One of the qualities that has given her drive throughout her illustrious career has been a love of movement.
“It was always ‘How can I move my body, my soul, even our belongings, to face new challenges and try new things,’” Monson said.
Another 2020 award winner, Dolores Andressen, was honored in the category of environmental stewardship.
Andressen — who worked as a teacher with St. Albert Catholic Schools before retiring in 2019 — helped form St. Albert’s environmental action committee in 1990, which went on to become the environmental advisory committee that still meets today.
In its early days, the action committee successfully introduced curbside recycling and organic collection programs before they were adopted city-wide around 20 years later.
“I’ve always been involved in nature and the environment,” Andressen said of her longstanding passion. “We need to look after our Earth — we only have one … we’re all looking after our resources and we know that climate change is a reality, so we have to do what we can.”
Andressen also helped create the St. Albert Parish Community Garden in 2011. She said she and her husband live near the church, and would often walk past what was then a large grassy area.
“We thought it would be so productive if there could be things growing there like vegetables,” Andressen said. “It just started small and then it grew.”
Since becoming involved with environmental initiatives, Andressen said she has seen a positive shift in recent years with increased awareness of the need for action and change.
“It’s always good to be a little frustrated because then that does drive you further,” Andressen said. “But we can be quite positive with what’s happening because the companies and businesses and governments, they’re all bringing forward things, and people are responding … this is moving.”
Nancy Watt, who recently retired from 25 years as a piano teacher, received a 2020 community recognition award in the category of arts, music, and culture.
Watt served on the St. Albert Piano Teachers’ Association for more than 21 years, and approached former mayor Nolan Crouse about starting up the Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts Gala in 2008.
She has also provided leadership to numerous organizations, including the Rotary Music Festival Board, Chamber Music Society, and the St. Albert Culture Master Plan Committee.
“Music is one of the only activities that really engages our whole being,” Watt said of the passion for music she has shared throughout the St. Albert community. “It’s intellectual, and it’s physical, but it also nourishes our soul. It touches all three of those parts of us, which really makes us more complete human beings.”
Watt initiated and coordinated the Keys for the City program, where pianos were stationed around the city in summer months for free public use.
“I feel very strongly that public art really improves our quality of life,” Watt said. “It makes people stop and open their eyes and begins conversations … I think it’s important for us to happen upon these moments, take notice, and think about life in different ways.”
Currently, Watt is involved in putting on the Chamber Music concert series, which just entered its 13th season.
She said receiving the award on Thursday was “lovely.”
“What I loved about the awards is all the categories were so different,” Watt said. “All these things are important for building our community.
“It was fun to meet those people and feel that we’re all part of making St. Albert such a great place.”
