2019 Recipients
From Left: Mayor Shannon MacInnis, 2019 Volunteer of the Year Ken MacDonald & members of the Gouthro Family.
2019 Florence Gouthro Memorial Volunteer of the Year Recipient:
KEN MacDONALD
The annual Florence Gouthro Memorial Award is presented each year to a volunteer who exemplifies the true spirit of volunteerism. The Town is pleased to announce that Ken MacDonald has been chosen as the 2019 Volunteer of the Year!
Ken was chosen this year as one of the nominees from the Trenton FunFest committee. When the previous committee all retired, Ken was one of the new volunteers who stepped in to take on managing multiple events and behind the scenes planning ensuring the festival not only just carried on but did so successfully! He managed multiple events including the Friday Night Trivia, Harvey Dickson Ball Tournament bar tent, organizing the beverage servers during the rink dance, sorting prizes into packages from sponsors, and attending the planning and organization meetings. He will tell you that it was a group effort, but a huge part of that group was Ken!
Not one to toot his own horn, Ken has been volunteering his time for many years. He has been coaching since he was in high school and minor ball since 1991. He began his volunteering career assisting with coaching because he had a great love of sports and wanted to stay involved. Ken has always been a great sport enthusiast, and he passed this love onto his children. Throughout the years he has been involved with many of their school teams and groups. While some parents cheer from the sidelines, Ken stepped up to the plate whenever he could by coaching, assisting, and running programs for not only his own children but those in his community. At one time, he was coaching and/or assisting with three basketball teams between both the Trenton Elementary and Middle Schools! He was an integral part of the Trenton Steve Nash Youth Basketball program. Thanks to the expertise and dedication he offered the program, it continued to grow rapidly year after year reaching over 100 participants!
Ken has also volunteered his time with many other sports teams including many summers with the Stinger softball recreation league and managing different county hockey teams from 2009-2011. Ken was on the committees for the Subway Selects county hockey from 2009-present. He is currently on the provincials committee for the North Nova hockey teams, which is being hosted in Thorburn this year!
Ken is a devoted, yet humble volunteer who gives his all to every group that he has helped. He will be the first to acknowledge and thank other volunteers while downplaying the importance of his own role. He will tell you: “I’m just a worker bee”. Well this worker bee has continuously put his all into everything thrown at him and has done a fantastic job. Thank you, Ken, for all your hard-work in our community over the years!
Congratulations to all of our AMAZING nominees this year! Thank you for everything you do for our community!
2019 Volunteer Representatives
- 397 Royal Canadian Air Cadets - Gillian Atwood
- Albion Boxing Club - Shauna Fukes
- First United Church - Leonard Eaton
- Royal Canadian Legion Branch # 29 - Leanne Caverley & Marge Landry
- Trenton Fire Department - Justin MacCullouch
- Trenton FunFest Committee - Dan MacDonald & Ken MacDonald
- VON of Pictou County - Jim Aucoin