The woman who helped "relight the night" in the Battlefords has been named Citizen of the Year in the Battlefords for 2010.
Yvonne Nyholt, who chaired the Water Tower Lights fundraising project and whose volunteer efforts in the community span the decades, was chosen to receive the honour earlier in December. Nyholt will be formally recognized at the Citizen of the Year banquet in January.
"I was totally taken aback," said Nyholt about learning the news. She found out about her honour as a result of phone call from Glen Gantefoer of the Battlefords Co-op.
"I feel very privileged and at the same time really appreciative," said Nyholt. "I feel very appreciative and humble, and a very big thank you to those who have chosen me. I certainly will try to live up to the honour."
Nyholt's nomination was supported by letters from several Battlefords residents, who pointed to her extensive volunteer work with the Water Tower Lights Committee as well as with Battlefords Residential Services, Inc., among others.
Nyholt's stint as chair of the efforts to get the lights back up and running on North Battleford's water tower spanned two years. The lights had gone out following a winter windstorm in 2007, and Nyholt became involved in the committee formed to raise funds to put new lights on the tower.
"It's a historical landmark for North Battleford," said Nyholt. "The thought of it not 小蓝视频 lit bothered me."
So when the public meeting was called, she decided to attend and get involved.
She ended up acting as the main spokesperson for the dedicated group of volunteers, and was often seen throughout the community at photo opportunities recognizing donations from local individuals. She was often joined on those occasions by Reine Lessard, who was an original driving force behind the efforts to re-light the water tower and was named Citizen of the Year in 2009.
The volunteers had no trouble getting widespread support from throughout the community for their project.
"During the whole process I ran into only two people who disagreed with what we were doing," said Nyholt. "I thought that was pretty good."
The water tower committee's efforts proved successful, as the project came in under budget and the new lights were turned on Nov. 20, 2009.
"I was just beside myself the night we turned those lights on," said Nyholt. "Words could not express how happy I was."
But the water tower project was just one of the many efforts Nyholt has been active in during the past number of years.
For 25 years Nyholt has been a board member with Battlefords Residential Services Inc., which operates five residences and a day program in the community. The organization provides homes and provides a better life among the most vulnerable and challenged people in the community: those with physical and mental disabilities.
"We started with one home and now we have five," said Nyholt, who says the organization is looking to build two more homes.
She currently sits as chairperson for the organization and sits on a number of subcommittees: the Program Committee, the Admissions and Discharge Committee, the Human Resources Committee, the Negotiating Committee and the Battlefords Community Inclusion Association new home development committee. She also served several terms as the North Region Associate Member representative on the Saskatchewan Association of Rehabilitation Centres board of directors.
Prior to her involvement with BRSI she was active with one of its predecessor organizations, Battefords Developmental Centre and Residence Association.
She has served as a volunteer board member for the Battlefords Interval House, a transition home providing safe refuge for women fleeing domestic violence, for the past six years.
The organization had its 30th anniversary in October and Nyholt was on the committee. They had a sold out house for their anniversary event in the fall where Tanya Brown, sister of murder victim Nicole Brown Simpson, was the guest speaker.
She also served six years as a board member for the Saskatchewan Opthomolic Association's provincial board.
Nyholt has also been a volunteer for the Canadian Red Cross, the blood donor clinic, the Battlefords District Food and Resource Centre, the Diabetic Association, the hospital foundation and the Battlefords Wildlife Federation.
Her next challenge will be as the incoming president of the Good Sams RV Travel Club, a "fun" group, as she describes it, which has been involved in camping and RVing activities, but which also does some work in the community from time to time. She takes over as president in January.
In addition to her active volunteer pursuits, Nyholt has taken a strong interest in the community's heritage and has been a vocal supporter of efforts to preserve structures, bridges, and other important landmarks that are part of the history of the Battlefords. She remembers 小蓝视频 around when the water tower was first 小蓝视频 built, long before her water tower lights efforts came to fruition.
Born in Saskatoon, Nyholt has lived most of her life in the Battlefords, having moved here with her family in 1939. She is a past student of the Convent of the Child Jesus and of the Battlefords Community College, has spent 25 years working in the banking industry in the Battlefords.
Nyholt currently lives with her partner Spencer Hanson in Battleford, and has seven children, 13 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She also has six siblings.
Nyholt says she is motivated to get involved because of the "good feeling" she gets from the results of projects and efforts she has undertaken over the years.
"You're motivated because there's good results from it," Nyholt said. "The best thank you you have is when you accomplish a project that you've taken on. That is a big thanks right there."
She adds that often, when she gets involved in one project, another will evolve from it and "you just keep kind of going," she said.
It also helps pass the time. Nyholt may have been active with Battlefords Residential Services, Inc. for 25 years, "but it doesn't feel like ten," she says.
Nyholt says she continues to be motivated to complete several of the other outstanding projects on the go from her current volunteer activities in the Battlefords.
"We live in a great community and it doesn't hurt for anyone to volunteer and give of their time, when they can."
