Lions select their Citizen of the Year

Above: Roddis family with Lions Club of Morinville President Tina Gougeon.

by Lucie Roy

The Morinville Citizen of the Year award was presented to Adam Roddis on Monday night.
The nomination was one of ten received for the award and a brief outline of some of his accomplishments are listed below.

Roddis became a leader for the Morinville 1st Scouts in 2012, and is still active to this day, where he took on the role as a mentor to children so they can grow into strong, independent and confident individuals.

Roddis went above and beyond his volunteer position to make sure kids experienced as much as they could in the Scouts program.

He organized and drove a group of kids to Victoria to participate in the Pacific Coast Jamboree- an experience of a lifetime for some of the kids.

Throughout the season, he organized various camps locally and led a group of scouts on a trip to England for two weeks to participate in an international scouting event.

In 2015, the Morinville Centennial Community Gardens Society required lawn maintenance and Roddis and the scouts cut grass from May to October as a way to help earn money to pay for jamborees and other camp experiences.

In 2016, he became Commissioner for the local chapter and lead the group to positively impact the Scouting Vision and Mission and became a role model for safety, program quality, health and growth of the group.

Outside of his major role in the Morinville 1st Scouts, he organizes the bread donation for the High School Breakfast program where he picks up and drops off donations for the program.

He also organizes a breakfast fundraiser during Rock’n August for Juvenile Diabetes Walk and whenever he can he volunteers his time for the local Morinville Sabretooth Basketball Club fundraiser events.

The award was presented by the Lions Club of Morinville President Tina Gougeon, 2018 award recipient Michelle Rheubottom, and dignitaries Mayor Barry Turner, who congratulated him on his award and Councillor Lawrence Giffin.

There were two recipients in 2018, Michelle Rheubottom and Paula Collins. The tradition is to pass on the award to the next. Collins was unable to attend.

The Lions Club of Morinville Citizen of the Year has been awarded annually since 1968, when the first recipient was Father G.H. Primeau.

The original presentation, with an estimated 100 in attendance, a full course meal and door prizes was to take place in April but was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Mayor Turner, Adam Roddis, Lions Club of Morinville Pres. Tina Gougeon, Coucillor Lawrence Giffin and 2018 recipient Michelle Rheubottom. She shared the award with Paula Collins.

2018 Citizen of the Year had two recipients, Michelle Rheubottom and Paula Collins. Rheubottom presented the award to the 2019 recipient Adam Roddis. Collins was unable to attend.

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