Hello There, VivBounty here to share with you the story of my friend, Emma Cormier being awarded the Queen's Jubiliee Medal. Emma is one of the first friendly faces we encountered in the
community when we arrived here 5 years ago. As my husband was emigrating here, aside from the myriad of forms to fill in, medical
tests were a part of the process. In those early days we spent a lot of
time at the library printing forms and as much time between our local
clinic and hospitals. More often than not, we met Emma at one or more
of those places. As part of the same worshipping community, Emma, her sister,
Emerise and I often met at church where they were ever so welcoming with smiles and Emma giving the warmest, tightest hugs making us certain that we had picked the
right community to settle in. At the time, names were secondary and we
only knew each others' faces from the village.
At Mass one Saturday as we hugged Emma let me know about her impending
award. I was thrilled at the news, assuring her that she certainly
deserved it. She then invited us to attend the special ceremony, and to
say that it was an honour would be an understatement! We were 2 of 7
guests permitted to witness the ceremony for each of the 6 recipients
from our area, held at the
Marshland's Inn in Sackville, NB.
Emma's list of volunteer efforts within the village for many years
includes Treasurer of
PEDVAC, where I have the pleasure of serving on the board with her, Church
community work, local housing association, Scouts Canada and in our
case, a warm welcome to a lovely village in the Maritimes. We didn't know this lady from a bar
of blue soap and yet she has always treated us like family. It did not surprise us then that by command of
Her Majesty the Queen, the Diamond Jubilee Medal was presented to Emma in commemoration of the
60th anniversary of her Majesty's accession to the throne and in
recognition of her contribution to Canada.
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| The Ark, Safari Lodge, Aberdare Mountains, Kenya |
Incidentally, this is even more special to me as Her Majesty's
accession occurred while she was visiting my birthplace, Kenya. On
vacation at the Treetops Lodge in Aberdare National Park, she received the news of her father's passing. The affectionate phrase often used to describe the transition was that "She
was the young woman who went up a tree as a princess and came down a
Queen". My mother as a young woman remembers Her Majesty's visit to Kenya, standing amid the crowds along the parade route in Nairobi for this auspicious occasion, awaiting a glimpse
of the beautiful then-Princess Elizabeth in Kenya in 1952.
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Officiating were recently appointed Liberal House Leader,
Liberal Foregn Affairs citic, Beauséjour MP, Dominic Leblanc,
NB Senator Fernand Robichaud, and representing RCMP
was the dapper Constable Yoan Comeau
Photo credit: Joan LeBlanc, Writer / Journalist / Photographer |
The Queen has been an extraordinary servant of her country and likewise
has Emma of our small community. Small communities like ours all across
this great nation help to make Canada the wonderful country that it is and make me proud to call it my home.
Emma's fellow recipients of the medal this year were Shirley Buck,
Carolyn Carmichael, Doreen Richards, Francis Sweeney and Michael Dean. Without these hard working volunteers
and so many others like them, our communities simply would not have many services taken for granted in larger towns and cities.
Congratulations to all the recipients of the Queen's Jubilee medal and
thank you all for your selfless contribution to make the world a better
place.
Congratulations to my friend, Emma Cormier! We love you and thank you for including us in this celebration of Her Majesty the Queen and yourself, who are both such a large part of the fabric of our lives.
Article addendum:
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Bountiful blessings to you and yours,
VivBounty
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