This past week, a very special friend of ours, Jo-Ann King, was honoured with the SMHA Merit Scroll award, which is Sault Major's highest and most prestigious award for lifetime service. Jo has been the go-to person in SMHA for the past 10 years and is truly deserving of this honour. Considering her recent health challenges and her decision to retire, it was great to have her at the banquets in person and an honour for me to present her the award.
JoAnn was unable to make a formal speech at the banquet. So instead she typed it up and asked me to post it in my blog. The message below is from JoAnn:
I was very emotional and overwhelmed when I received the Merit Scroll award at the recent awards night. I am very much an in the background type of person and have never been in front of a microphone in my life and was unable to thank everyone as I would have liked to.
Sault Major came along when I was looking for something to keep me busy and occupy my spare time. It did not disappoint, little did I know it would fill every waking moment I had. That said, I enjoyed every minute of it. When you volunteer, especially with our Association, it is not just about hockey; you meet the greatest people you will ever come across in your lifetime. They become your friends, as close to family as you can get.
To the many coaches, parents and players I have met over the years, thank you it has been a pleasure to get to know each and every one of you. A heartfelt thank you to my friends on the Executive, especially Wil “Bob the Builder” Campbell and his wife Margaret. The greatest joy in my 10 years with Sault Major, was the day Wil Campbell got email! A special thank you to Hans Geenen, Past President. who brought me on my board all those years ago. I guess I did a fairly good job, because a few years later he hired me as his office administrator. It has always been a joke with us “that if Hans Geenen stops you in the Mall and asks you step into his office, just ignore him and keep walking”!
I have seen many faces come and go, it is great to see Greg Vance and Marc Capancioni step forward to help out. Both of their ages combined don’t equal mine !! They are the future of Sault Major Hockey.
I cannot finish without mentioning Mike Murphy and the Root River Rangers, staff, parents and players. What you did this past Christmas touched me deeply, you should be so proud of yourselves. It is not just about hockey, but so much more.
If you are thinking about coming forward to volunteer, believe me when I tell you, try it, you won’t be sorry.
Thank you so very very much, I will truly miss you all.
We'll miss you too Jo-Ann. And I speak for quite a few people when I say that.
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