THUNDER BAY — The King Charles III Coronation Medal is a national honour that recognizes over 30,000 individuals for outstanding contributions to Canada.
On Saturday, 40 medals were presented to a diverse range of community leaders, volunteers, educators, veterans, healthcare workers and professionals from the region.
“This great day is about celebrating community members in the riding of Thunder Bay - Superior North who have contributed in many different ways to their own community's success, to the cohesion of our cities and our towns, to the future generation,” said Patty Hajdu, MP for Thunder Bay – Superior North.
Choosing the recipients was not an easy task, Hajdu said.
“There were nominations from all across the region and really excellent names of candidates that have contributed in small ways and large ways to their community.
“You can see the diversity in this room. There are folks that have worked on Indigenous issues who are Indigenous themselves, newcomers who have come to our country, our inventors, our doctors, our creators. There are folks that have lived here really their entire lives, who have spent time building up sports opportunities or theatre or recreation opportunities for youth and for other citizens.
“It just really affirms for me that we all have a way that we can make our communities better and even small acts of kindness build up over time and they actually do make our communities stronger and better places to live.”
Hajdu said she was feeling full of gratitude for the people who have served the communities, in ways that are known, and sometimes unknown.
“It was a real honour to be able to sift through the names of individuals all across the region who really have dedicated their lives and their energy to bettering their society, bettering their community, bettering the people of their community.
“That really inspires me as a politician to continue to do that kind of community service through the role of politics,” Hajdu said.
DouallMedia’s Al Cresswell of CNFO Radio was a King Charles III Coronation Medal recipient.
“I'm totally blown away. The diversification across the region is just unbelievable. We've got doctors, we've got unbelievable military men, we've got pipers. I feel very fortunate to be one of those that were selected to be a recipient on Saturday afternoon,” Cresswell said.
The end of March will mark Cresswell’s 21st year with CNFO in Marathon.
“It's just the fact that I love my job, I love my community, I love being part of a small town.
“I can talk to you as an individual, not just a number or a listener. I know you, your wife, your husband, your kids. It's just part of the job,” he said.
Cresswell is around the region all the time, attending events and helping raise money for great causes.
“We're based in the Marathon, but our listening area is huge. It's important that (listeners) see who I am because they wake up to me in the morning,” Cresswell said.
Greg Chomut, teacher at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School, also received a King Charles III Coronation Medal on Saturday.
“I work closely with Wake the Giant, and we have such a great team at Dennis Franklin Cromarty, and our main goal is we want to make the city a more welcoming place for our students or just make our students' experience here better, or as good as it can be,” Chomut said.
Chomut said he’s always loved Thunder Bay.
“It's a great place full of great people that do so many good things. It’s just about connecting our students with these great people and really elevating everybody and making our students experience awesome while they're here.”
MP Patty Hajdu thanked the families of recipients, and that really resonated with Chomut.
“That's the backbone, family. My family being able to get out and work on a lot of these projects that take a lot of time, I'm really thankful for and I think it's really important,” he said.
