By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on September 8, 2021.
https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews This year’s list of honourees for Community Spirit Awards has been finalized. City council on Tuesday evening endorsed the list, which was decided by a three-person panel on the City of Medicine Hat’s “community vibrancy committee.” Nine individuals or organizations will be officially honoured at a ceremony and mixer on Oct. 20. Martha Munz Gue will receive the award of excellence for her contributions since the mid-1970s to a variety of causes, including current commitments to the Grasslands Naturalists and Southeast Alberta Watershed Alliance. Other award winners are: – Derek Whitson (community inclusion), a volunteer coach with the adaptive sports program; – Helen Snortland (compassion), for a long and varied fundraising and volunteer career; – Medicine Hat Curling Club (compassion), for offering the emergency day-time homeless shelter on an emergency basis for several months this spring; – Gerry Ehlert (environment), the former rangeland agronomist and professor has spearheaded work on invasive species with the Grasslands Naturalists; – Medicine Hat Interpretive Program (environment), for longstanding commitment to education and local programming about the natural world; – Medicine Hat College Rattlers (sports/recreation), which received the Canadian College Athletics award recognizing female participation and activities, and hosting national championship tournaments; – Nicholas Samuelson (volunteerism), the valedictorian for the recent graduating class at McCoy High School has volunteered at the city, provincial and national level; – Prairie Gleaners (volunteerism), the group that provides dehydrated meal packs as food aid is celebrating its 15th year in operation and recorded 20,000 volunteer hours in the 2020 year. 15