NORTH PERTH – The Municipality of North Perth is seeking its 2021 Citizen of the Year, as well as nominations for the Celebrate North Perth Inspiration Award.
Nominations are now open for both and are being accepted until Friday, March 25 at 4:30 p.m.
The Norm Stirling Citizen of the Year Award has been given to residents who have made significant contributions to the welfare and betterment of our community for over 40 years.
The award was established in honour of Norm Stirling, a forestry foreman with Ontario Hydro who put forth great effort to save farmland when the hydro-line corridor was being proposed.
Stirling was one of the heroes of the Listowel Memorial Arena collapse in 1959. In the split second that the roof was falling in, Coach Stirling grabbed and carried two players to the ice and took cover at the north sideboards. All three survived.
In 1966, he was awarded the President’s Medal by the National Safety Council for saving a man’s life who was overcome by carbon monoxide. Stirling also served on the school board in the Town of Listowel and was chairman of the Listowel Memorial Hospital Board at the time of his death in 1973 at the age of 46.
Wallace Township initially set up a memorial award in his honour. The tradition of the annual awarding of an outstanding resident for their achievements and contributions has been carried on in North Perth since amalgamation in 1998.
The Inspiration Award is part of the Celebrate North Perth initiative. The Celebrate North Perth Inspiration Award recognizes an individual who inspires others through their outstanding accomplishment or service to the community within the preceding year.
Nominators can fill out online forms at northperth.ca.
