Enderby Council was pleased to present a Lifetime Civic Merit Award to Melvin Slater. Councillor Raquel Knust and Councillor Brian Schreiner presented the award to Melvin during a small ceremony in Cenotaph Park on June 15, 2021. The Lifetime Civic Merit Award is bestowed upon volunteers who have given more than 25 years of service. The award is made only with a unanimous vote of Council.
Melvin has been a cornerstone of Enderby’s volunteer community for decades, serving with many different service organizations and championing a wide range of causes for the betterment of Enderby and its residents. Melvin has been involved in the Enderby Care Society, the Oddfellows Lodge, Enderby & District Lions Club, Enderby & District Seniors Complex, and the Enderby & District Legion, among other organizations, as well as being a former volunteer firefighter.
He was President of the Lions Club when the Lions Gazebo at Riverside Park was built. A project of this magnitude was daunting, but the vision and volunteers made it happen, and it continues to serve as a valued amenity to the community. He said, “That was an interesting project, to see how the Gazebo was built from the ground up.” Always one to roll up his sleeves, Melvin recalled in his soft-spoken way, with his gift for understatement, that there was “a lot of log peeling.”
“Once you got to know our volunteer community, and they got to know you, they would voice their needs and, if you followed through, then they would always come back to you. I always tried to please them. But I would also mention that we may not always be successful but we always need to chase after what we want rather than wait.”
He joined the Seniors Complex after an invitation from his partner, Bev Gale, to attend a meeting. Melvin again responded to a call for leadership, quickly becoming Vice President and then President of the Enderby & District Seniors Society, which operates the Seniors Complex. “Before I knew it, I was Vice [President]. The following term, I became President.”
For Melvin, he saw his leadership role as one of being proactive and pursuing a vision. “In my position with the Seniors Society, I saw that the seniors needed things to improve the Complex. I was always big on not waiting, but saying, ‘let’s do it now.’” During Melvin’s tenure, the Seniors Complex received numerous capital grants that enabled the Complex to maintain and grow its role as the “go to” place for Enderby’s vibrant seniors community.
Now approaching 80 years, Melvin has stepped back from many of his volunteer activities and “officially retired,” he said with a chuckle, but still remains involved in the community.
However, the memories of his contributions and the people whom he supported, and who supported him, remain cherished.
“For somebody who is young and thinking about contributing to Enderby, I would say ‘go for it’. You learn on your own journey through it. I learned a lot. You learn about people.”
Thank you, Melvin, for your contributions and lasting legacy to our community!
Last Updated on November 18, 2021.