Town of Maple Creek wins National Heritage Award
Posted on October 16, 2019 by Maple Creek
The Town of Maple Creek has been named as the 2019 recipient of the Prince of Wales Prize for Municipal Heritage Leadership, the highest honour for heritage stewardship that can be awarded to a Canadian municipality.
The Prince of Wales Prize was created in 1999 by the National Trust for Canada, with the support of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and each year a single Canadian community is selected for the honour.
The prize recipients are typically municipalities with a long track record and demonstrated results in bringing heritage to life through a combination of political will, good policy-making and effective citizen engagement.
The Town of Maple Creek is the first community in Saskatchewan to have been awarded the Prince of Wales Prize, and the second smallest Canadian community to have received the honour.
Her Worship the Mayor of Maple Creek Ms. Michelle McKenzie reacted to news of the win in the following statement:
“Council is extremely proud to hear that the Town of Maple Creek has been awarded this tremendous national honour. It is so gratifying to receive recognition for all the good work that has been undertaken with regard to heritage conservation in our community over the course of the past decade. Special thanks must be given to the Maple Creek Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee whose establishment formalized Maple Creek’s commitment to heritage conservation. It was this committee that led the establishment of the Maple Creek Heritage District and that oversaw the implementation of the Maple Creek Main Street Program under leadership of our former Main Street Program Coordinator, Royce Pettyjohn. Council would like to dedicate this award to all the property owners, businesses, and community organizations whose commitment to the conservation and celebration of our local heritage has brought national recognition to our community. We are confident that Maple Creek has the community pride necessary to live up to this honour going forward, and that we as a community will continue to actively conserve our community’s unique heritage and distinctive sense of place for the benefit of this and future generations.”
The award presentation will take place at the 2019 National Trust for Canada conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Friday October 18th.
The prize consists of a framed certificate as well as a flag to be flown outside the Town Hall and/or placed on permanent display. The winning community is also able to display the Prince of Wales Prize logo on the homepage of their website.
The Maple Creek Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee consists of ten individuals appointed as a result of their interest and/or expertise in heritage conservation. The committee provides advisory services to Mayor & Council on all matters related to heritage conservation within the community. Since the committee’s inception, the following local residents have served as members: Anne Weisgerber, Betty Abbott, Royce Pettyjohn, Clay Yarshenko, Joy Anderson, Theresa Reesor, Jordan Elliott, Blaine Filthaut, Patricia Armstrong, Tina Cresswell, Kristi Yarshenko, Shawn Kramer, Ellaine Hawrylak, Darcy Dietrich, Adrienne Gradauer, Susan Siegle, & Robert Udal.
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