It was a ceremony fit for a king, and four queens from Cowichan Valley were honoured for their commitment to community in receiving the King Charles III Coronation Medal. The intimate ceremony was held locally at Alderlea Farm and Café on Sept. 6.
The event was hosted by former Cowichan Valley MLA Sonia Furstenau who nominated recipients Cindy Lise, Fatima da Silva and Lori Treloar. Much to her surprise, Furstenau was also bestowed the honour of receiving the royal recognition and all four ladies celebrated this astounding achievement with their families and colleagues in attendance.
The Coronation Medal is a Canadian honour that was first created to mark the Coronation of King Charles III. Launched by the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, this honour recognizes those who have made significant contributions to both their country and home province.
Treloar, who celebrates her 20th year of managing the Shawnigan Lake Museum next month, says that she was honestly quite shocked to be chosen.
"There are so many people worthy of this honour, I don’t think of what I've done in the community as accomplishments but rather work that needs to be done," she said. "I have been involved in many aspects of the community over the last 20 years, and I do it for the community I love. Having said that, this recognition is very special and I am honoured to be selected. Shawnigan is, and always has been my heart place."
Our Cowichan Communities Health Network (CCHN) regional facilitator Cindy Lise was also humbled by being nominated for the honour. Lise's role with CCHN involves bringing together community partners and agencies, both provincial and federal governments, First Nations, as well as community members with lived and living experience to work together on some of our regions most complex challenges such as seniors care, housing, the poisoned drug pandemic, climate challenges and homelessness as an example.
Lise noted she feels so blessed to have one of the most unique jobs on Vancouver Island. Some of the things she is most proud of to date is the role she played as a Cowichan School District Trustee, her involvement in the development of the Cowichan Sportsplex, the building the much-loved Wendy’s House (early learning centre), EPIC (Eldercare partnership), the Village housing project, and most recently the YES Pilot project for youth emergency shelter.
"My favourite part about working in this role is that I absolutely love what I do and I get up every day ready to take on another challenge, work with brilliant and creative people and know that we are making a difference," said Lise. "This honour means a lot to me as I have dedicated most of my adult life to making the Cowichan region a better place for our children and our families. I do not do this work alone and would like to acknowledge many community partners who have walked along beside me. It is only together that we can make a difference. If I can be a role model for my children and my community to step in and give back I am doing something right! I would like to say: 'Thank you for noticing and please come join me as there is much more to do'."
Another Cowichan Valley nurturer to receive this honour was Nourish Cowichan's co-founder and executive director Fatima Da Silva, who has been in her role since 2019, and prior to that was the board chair. Da Silva said that working to help build Nourish Cowichan from the ground up has been an absolute honour, with one of her favourite parts being getting to work alongside her board, all their amazing volunteers, the Cowichan Valley School District, as well as local businesses to help shape the future of their school food programs in the valley.
"Although we still have a ways to go, we get to witness the impact our work has had on our students," said Da Silva. "It is always uncomfortable for me to receive any type of personal accolades, especially for something that has been a collective effort of an entire community. I am so very humbled and honoured to be chosen, I am not sure that I have truly grasped its significance, it is a little overwhelming to think about it. I try to look back and take on how much we have accomplished but I feel that there is still so much work to be done."
