One of the biggest attractions each year at Canada Day in the Park is the announcement of the Prince George Citizen of the Year shortlist. The finalists are always an elite handful of fine volunteers and community heroes and this year there are five.

The Prince George Community Foundation is pleased to recognize the good work done by volunteers in our community. The Foundation works with the community members to raise funds held in an endowment fund for Prince George. The income from the fund goes back to the community each year as grants to volunteer organizations that do good work in our community. The Citizen of the Year nominees are representatives of the unselfish people who do so much for the greater good of our Prince George citizens. Congratulations to the nominees for the Citizen of the Year 2009.

Ron Christian

Chef Ron Christian knows better than anyone how extra effort is the only way to make things happen, whether it’s in the kitchen or in the community. Providing the residents of Prince George nourishment, literally and figuratively, has earned Ron a nomination as the Prince George 2009 Citizen of the Year.

An instructor with the Culinary Arts program at the College of New Caledonia for the past six years, Ron devotes far more hours than his job requires, teaching the next generation of working chefs and showing by example that being a great cook means having a big heart. For the past three years, Ron has worked with St. Vincent de Paul. With help from his students, he has prepared the Thanksgiving dinner for the less fortunate at Sacred Heart Cathedral, feeding more than 700 people. He and his students also cook the turkeys and hams for the Easter and Christmas dinners at St. Vincent de Paul. During National Community Action Week, Ron cooked a barbecue picnic on the City Hall lawn, feeding 150 needy residents. He has also coordinated the last-minute preparation of picnic lunches for 200 homeless taking part in a Connect Day with social agencies.

The Prince George Community Foundation has raised thousands of dollars by auctioning catered dinners by Chef Ron, Chef Ralph Graham and the culinary arts class at fundraising events. During the B.C. Senior Games, Ron co-ordinated two lunches and one hot dinner for the 2,700 participants, starting work at 1 a.m. on the day of the event and working through the night to make the meal a success. Other recipients of Ron’s generosity include the Child Development Centre and the Prince George Black History Society. In 2007, he organized a kitchen team to prepare delicacies for three wine-tasting fundraising events, with $39,000 eventually raised to help fight breast cancer. In the local media, Ron has become the face of fine cooking, through his weekly column in the Prince George Citizen, as well as his spots on TV and radio, offering advice and education on good eating.

After completing his professional training and apprenticeship through the B.C. Institute of Technology, Ron worked as a professional chef for more than 30 years around the world before coming to Prince George to teach at CNC. He previously taught at BCIT and Vancouver Community College. He has been a fierce promoter of the culinary arts program, its students and the college as a whole. To raise money for the college and its programs, Ron has been the driving force behind the Global Gourmet Dinner, which sells out every year and allows his students to expand their food knowledge to include the delicacies from other countries. The college’s recent community appreciation dinner raised more than $10,000 worth of equipment and supplies for students, including $1,200 for the culinary arts program.

Ray Gerow

Ray Gerow’s tireless efforts on numerous fronts, including local sports, education, business, aboriginal initiatives and health make the community a better place and make Ray one of this year’s nominees for the Prince George 2009 Citizen of the Year.

Ray’s work doesn’t end with his duties with the Aboriginal Business and Community Development Centre, the winner of the 2002 Business/Community Economic Developer of the Year award from the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers. Since 2006, he has been on the board of governors at the College of New Caledonia, where he is currently the vice-chair, as well as a member of the college’s aboriginal advisory committee. For the past three years, he has also been a board member with the B.C. Society for Non-Profit Sustainability and the B.C. Rural Network. After a five-year hiatus from a previous five-year term, Ray is also back on the aboriginal education board with School District 57. He has been a member of Progress Prince George since its formation.

Previously, Ray served as a board member of the Northern Sport Centre, the vice-chair of the Aboriginal Business Service Network Society and the Saik’uz Development Corporation. He worked on bioenergy initiatives, was a member of the Spirit of B.C. committee and was a founding member of 16/97, the All Nations Sports Federation and the Council on B.C. Aboriginal Economic Development. He has also taken part as a committee or board member in the past with the Native Economic Development Advisory Board, the B.C. Business Advisory Council, the Canada B.C. Business Service Centre, the Working Group on Accountability and Government, the Log Home Builders Association of B.C., the B.C. Native Contractors Association, the United Native Nations, Wood Works! and the B.C. Yukon Aboriginal Financial Institutions. Ray has previously held a spot at the table for the First Nations Advisory Board at both Royal Roads University and Simon Fraser University.

Ray has been called on frequently to share in his expertise with aboriginal business. He has written numerous reports on how to generate community support to allow business to flourish in First Nations communities. His consultation contributed to the establishment of Aboriginal economic development offices being established in Fort St. John and Cranbrook. The North Central Municipal Association has also worked with Ray on helping elected leaders worth together with First Nations communities.

Ray doesn’t just work hard, he plays hard, too. He helped put together a B.C. team in 2003 to play in the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships and then was president of the organizing committee for Prince George to host the event the following year. A well-known hockey referee, Ray was the chief referee for Prince George Minor Hockey for three years and was a committee member of the referee rules committee for North Central District for two years. He also completed several years of service on the organizing committee and supervised officiating for the United Native Nations youth hockey tournament. Finally, Ray helped found the Spirit Keepers team for the B.C. Cancer Society’s annual cancer walk. A member of the Burns Lake First Nation, Ray is a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces who served as a soldier in the first Gulf War.

Bruce Sutherland

Bruce Sutherland’s prominent role in Prince George’s business community, as well as his leadership in numerous volunteer initiatives, has earned a nomination for the Prince George 2009 Citizen of the Year.

Depending on where and when you bump into Bruce, he’ll be handing out one of his three business cards. He is president and owner of WolfTek Industries, a local company that provides mechanical installation, maintenance, parts and service for forestry, mining and petroleum operations across Northern B.C. The company began in 1985 as PG Mill Supplies with Gerry Bergeron as his partner. Before that, Bruce’s first business involved selling sawmill equipment and supplies, drawing on his experience working at sawmills in Castlegar, Sicamous, Squamish and the Upper Fraser.

His second business card identifies Bruce as the chairman of the board of governors at the College of New Caledonia, a post he has held for three years. Bruce has been active in both the business community and in government relations at the local, provincial and federal levels to secure the college’s continued growth and success. In January, he was part of a Prince George delegation that met with federal finance minister Jim Flaherty in Vancouver. As a result, the federal government awarded $50 million in funding for job training programs at the college.

His third business card names Bruce as chairman of the Northern Development Initiative Trust. The founding chairman of the NDI Trust, Bruce was appointed by Premier Gordon Campbell in 2005 to lead the effort to invest $2 billion into the regional economy over 10 years. Sutherland’s efforts helped the Prince George Airport Authority received an $11 million loan from the NDI Trust for the extension of the airport runway. The loan helped the airport receive matching funds of $11 million each from the provincial and federal governments.

Bruce’s volunteer duties are equally impressive. He served a rare two consecutive terms as president of the Prince George Chamber of Commerce in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, Bruce was appointed to the Provincial Small Business Roundtable. He has also served as an ex-officio member, representing the Prince George Chamber on the board for Initiatives Prince George that same year. Some of his other volunteer duties over the years has ranged from the baseball diamond and the ice rink, coaching minor hockey and Little League baseball. He has also been found in the past on the advisory committee for CNC’s wood processing and engineering technology program and serving as a mentor for the college’s Business: The Next Generation program.

Bruce has been recognized on several occasions for his efforts. The Prince George Chamber of Commerce presented Bruce with a Leadership Award in 2004. The following year, he was named Business Person of the Year at the 2005 Prince George Chamber of Commerce Awards, along with business partner Gerry Bergeron. Wolftek Industries went on to win the Innovation Technology Award and the Business Person of the Year Award at the 2007 Chamber of Commerce Awards. Bruce was also recognized in 2005 with a Forestry Innovation Award from the provincial government in 2005 and a Community Leader Award from the Prince George Free Press and MLAs Pat Bell, Shirley Bond and John Rustad.

Not bad for an ambitious young man who once travelled the small-town rodeo circuit across Southern B.C. as a working cowboy.

Renee Trepanier

Commitment to community and hard work transcends any language, which makes Renee Trepanier a nominee for the Prince George 2009 Citizen of the Year.

Renee, the executive director of the Cercle des Canadiens Francais de Prince George since January 2005, has toiled tirelessly to promote events and activities for the French-speaking residents of the city. She has helped out extensively with the B.C. French Women Network, the Francophone Winter Festival and for the provincial Francophone Crisis Line for Women’s Issues. Renee has also been the secretary-treasurer for the Reseau Femmes British Columbia, the president of the French Canadian Association, a school trustee for Francophone School District 93 (Prince George), representative for the northern region of the Francophone Federation of B.C. and president of the parent advisory council for Ecole Franco-Nord. Renee has also been active assisting immigrants, international students and other new residents orient themselves with the city and the community services available.

Renee’s volunteer involvement goes far beyond the city’s Francophone community. She currently sits on the board of Shepherd’s Corner and is a committee member for the Olympic Torch Relay, Spirit of B.C., and Winter City and Winter Lights. She is also generous with her time to provide translation services for various local and national organizations, as well as singing the national anthem at numerous prominent events over the years, including the Royal Bank Cup and the 2008 North Central Municipal Association conference.

During her years working as a clerk with the City of Prince George, Renee has also been an active volunteer on numerous city committees including Communities In Bloom, the Special Needs Advisory Committee and the Community Heritage Commission. At this year’s volunteer appreciation dinner at the Civic Centre, the City of Prince George presented Renee with a community service award “for outstanding volunteer contributions towards the development of the Prince George community.”

As the part owner and operator of Extreme Pita restaurant in Prince George, Renee has made generous donations to various organizations in the city, most recently supporting the Healthy Kids 2009 program by the Family Y.

Gerda Wilson

She hears music in her heart. Her ability to share that music with others makes Gerda Blok-Wilson a nominee for the Prince George 2009 Citizen of the Year.

Gerda is best known across the arts community in Prince George as the artistic director of the Bel Canto Choirs, a post she has held for the last 19 years, making her the longest-serving youth choir director in the B.C. Interior. Under Gerda’s guidance, Bel Canto has achieved international recognition for excellence. In 2001, the choir performed at the Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill in Ottawa as the invited guest choir. Another invitation in 2004 brought the choir to Carnegie Hall in New York to sing Missa Brevis by composer Imant Raminsh, the founding conductor of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra. This year, the choir is making its second appearance (the first was in 2000) at the Harrogate International Youth Music Festival in England. The Bel Canto Choirs have also collaborated with the PGSO on several occasions, performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream, La Boheme and The Polar Express. Last Christmas, Gerda conducted the Bel Canto Choirs and other community singers for a performance with legendary country music singer Kenny Rogers at CN Centre.

Gerda’s musical work extends far into the community. Four years ago, Gerda assembled Northern Voices, an adult choir within the Bel Canto organization, to allow youth choir graduates and other singers more chances to perform in the region. She has conducted the Prince George Cantata Singers, the St. Michael’s and All Angels adult and children choirs, the PGSS Choral Ensemble, the D.P. Todd choir and several school district choirs. Besides serving as a member of the Prince George Singfest Committee, Gerda is also an active member of the B.C. Choral Federation, the Association of Canadian Conductors, the American Choral Conductors Association, the B.C. Music Educators Association and the B.C. Kodaly Association. Gerda was instrumental in the formation of the post-graduate music program at UNBC in 2008. She has also lent her support to the Blues Underground Festival and various concerts during Black History Month.

Besides her work as a conductor, Gerda is a well-known Canadian composer and arranger. In 2000, she won the Prince George Community Foundation’s Millennium Song Award for The Northern Sky Awakens. Another composition, Ah Si Mon Moine Voulait Danser, won best Canadian piece at the B.C. Festival of the Arts that same year. She has either collaborated or single-handedly composed eight musicals. A CD featuring 14 of her compositions and arrangements called Open The Stars To Me, featuring her beloved Bel Canto Choirs, was released last year. Prince George’s entry in the new CBC Hockey Night in Canada theme contest in 2008 was Gerda’s jazzy creation, Hot Ice.

Born and raised in Prince George, Gerda graduated from PGSS in 1973 before heading off to Vancouver to earn a bachelor’s degree in music from UBC. After further training at the Vancouver Academy of Music, Gerda received a teaching certificate from UBC. She has taught in School District 57 for 22 years and has been the school district’s fine arts co-ordinator for the past four years. In 2004, Gerda was awarded her master of education degree from the University of Calgary.

Currently, Gerda teaches music and drama at Spruceland Elementary. She is married to Dr. Galt Wilson and they have three daughters and two grandchildren.

This year's Citizen of the Year will be named at a Gala Banquet to be held Friday, October 16th at the Coast Inn of the North. It is one of the most prestigious evenings in Prince George . . . you won't want to miss it. Come out and cheer on the next Citizen of the Year.

Tickets are $50 each and available from the front desk of the Coast Inn of the North. Tickets will not be sold at the door.

For further information, please contact the Prince George Community Foundation Office.