ATHABASCA – A former Athabasca County reeve, school teacher, super-volunteer and all around advocate for Athabasca’s many community organizations received the King Charles III coronation medal for a lifetime of hard work and significant contribution.
Lorraine Gislason, 93, made the trip out to St. Paul for the ceremony, where she was presented the medal by Lakeland MP Shannon Stubbs alongside other Albertans receiving the honour.
“I always think there were far more other people, hundreds of other people, out there that deserved it better, but I was very pleased to see that I had been recognized for some of the work that I’ve done over the years,” said Gislason in a post-ceremony interview.
Her medal was sponsored by Shirley Dubie and Anne Wolanuk, which Gislason didn’t know until she reached St. Paul for the ceremony.
“When I got home after, I was very pleased to receive it.
Throughout her life, Gislason said she’s always enjoyed working with people. An initial career as a nurse was foiled by her age — Gislason started Grade 10 as a 12-year-old — so she got a job with the county as a school teacher.
“Supervising a one-room school north of the river, that was my first job. It was my first experience with the county and the school board.”
During her time at Richmond Park School, Gislason started a swimming programming and helped arrange bussing from Calling Lake and Baptiste Lake.
After she moved to a farm with her husband and started her family, Gislason got involved with a variety of rural-focused initiatives. She worked with the now-defunct home economist in Athabasca before broadening it out into the county (an initiative that later grew into the Rural Women’s Conference) and she put a lot of time into rural electrification efforts.
“I also got really involved with the Athabasca Fair we had. In the ‘80s, we had a tremendous fair going on here in town. We had people coming from all over up to the high school hill.”
After the school closed down, Gislason decided she didn’t want to make the long drive into Athabasca twice a day to continue teaching, so she started to look for other things to do. Someone suggested she step into municipal politics and she figured, “why not?”
“Time was heavy on my hand, and I figured I have nothing to lose. My husband agreed with me,” she said.
“I enjoyed people. I still do. But I think that’s the one thing that spurred me on, and I felt like I was contributing to their well-being.”
Over her 18 years as a councillor, Gislason said she enjoyed the strong relationship the county had with the town and the Village of Boyle, and the strong inter-council connections she developed.
“We worked together as a team; we had our ups and downs during that time, but we were a very strong team the three of us together, and I think that is the difference,” she said.
“Now I sense some disagreement between the three of them, and I’m not saying anyone is at fault, but they’re not as tight.”
The later third of her time on council was spent in the reeve’s chair. Gislason was the first woman to hold the position, spending six years in the role at a time when the region’s major infrastructure was being built.
“I had a wonderful council, they treated me as an equal. I wasn’t put on a pedestal. I was just part of the team.”
One of Gislason’s proudest accomplishments from her time as a councillor was the recycling centre. The county was looking for a new home for the landfill, and Gislason and then Athabasca mayor Colleen Powell were adamant it should include recycling.
“Council at the time said we can’t, it doesn’t pay, but we both said, “of course it doesn’t pay, but look what it does for the land itself and the environment.”
Gislason left her mark on the county — a full recounting of her volunteer efforts would take all day — but there’s always more work to be done. Her message to the next generation is simple: if you feel you have something to offer, go for it.
“I see it at the senior centre, I see it at my church, I see it wherever I go; the population is aging and your generation are not volunteering. I blame my generation for probably taking over and not emphasizing the volunteering as much as we should have,” she said.
“I encourage everyone, anyone, even if they think they have nothing to offer, to get involved.”
