Don Dodds, Linda Stewart, Dan Fritz named 2024 Citizen of the Year Award winners

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

Linda Stewart, Dan Fritz and Don Dodds are the winners of the 2024 Citizen of the Year Awards for their hard work, dedication and tireless efforts to improve their communities.

 

Linda Stewart is being honoured as the Blyth Citizen of the Year, while Dan Fritz has been named the Brussels Citizen of the Year and Don Dodds is the third-ever Huron County Citizen of the Year.

 

When contacted by The Citizen to inform her of her win, Stewart said that her supportive team is who should be recognized for their efforts and that she is merely working with them to make the community better. 

 

She has, over the years, worked hard as a member of Blyth Community Betterment, the group that has spearheaded popular events like the recently-resurrected Rutabaga Festival, New Year’s Eve fireworks and the Santa Claus parade. Furthermore, she volunteers extensively with the Blyth Lions Club, despite not being a member, though her husband Don “Barney” Stewart is. In fact, Barney won the award in 2005 and this makes Barney and Linda the only husband and wife, in the history of the award, to win the award independently of one another (several couples have been honoured together within the same year). 

 

Stewart also volunteers with the Blyth Festival and the Blyth Kids Club and spent many years helping with the Blyth Minor Hockey Association when her children were young.

 

In Brussels, Fritz, who is only in his twenties, is being recognized for his extensive work in recreation in Brussels.

 

First, Fritz has been involved with Lucknow’s Music in the Fields, a tremendously successful event, for a number of years. 
He has been a member of the Brussels Optimist Club for a number of years, remaining very active as a volunteer, the club’s treasurer and part of the organizing team that runs the spring auction, the men’s harvest stag, the recreational hockey tournament and more. 

 

He served, alongside Mike Thomas, as co-chair of Brussels’ 150th Homecoming in 2022, which was another tremendous success, while also serving as a divisional chair for the Inspiring our Futures campaign that raised millions of dollars to renovate and expand the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre.

 

He had served as a member of the Brussels Recreation Board before it was dissolved and with the Blyth Brussels Hockey Association on its executive, while also dedicating his time as a trainer and assistant coach behind the bench.

 

Following in the footsteps of Karen Webster and the late Wayne Clausius, Don Dodds will be honoured for his Huron County-wide work. For generations, Dodds and his family were based in the Seaforth area, but he now lives in Goderich.

 

Dodds has been volunteering with Huron County 4-H for more than 65 years, predominantly serving with the Swine and Sodbusters Clubs, but also leading other clubs over the years. 

 

In 2006, he won the 4-H Ontario Arbor Award, which is the highest honour that can be presented to a 4-H Ontario volunteer and yet, even at his advanced age, he continues to volunteer extensively to this day.

 

Furthermore, Dodds remains an active volunteer within the Huron County Plowmen’s Association, an organization with which he has served for over 70 years.

 

Dodds has been a plowing match judge for many, many years and was awarded the hallowed Golden Clipboard at the 2017 International Plowing Match in Walton. He has served as a plowing match judge in every level in Canada.

 

He has also volunteered his time with the Seaforth Agricultural Society and at his church, in past years serving as the Clerk of Session and a Sunday school teacher.

 

This year’s winners will be honoured at a special Citizen of the Year Awards night scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at the Brussels Legion.

 

Since The Citizen began publishing in 1985, the year the newspaper was founded, North Huron Publishing has been handing out Citizen of the Year Awards for outstanding volunteers from both the Blyth and Brussels communities. However, as the newspaper’s coverage area has continued to grow, the editorial department has received an increased number of nominations and inquiries about honouring volunteers who don’t live in Blyth, Brussels or the immediate surrounding communities. To honour one of these individuals each year, North Huron Publishing created a third Citizen of the Year Award to honour Huron County’s Citizen of the Year.

 

The annual Citizen of the Year Award winners are chosen from among reader nominations. Readers nominate residents who make a difference in their communities. Those nominations are then considered by a panel of past Citizen of the Year Award winners, who then choose the year’s winners.

 

Past winners of the award in the Brussels area are: Cal Krauter, 1985; Wayne Lowe, 1986; Jack Bryans, 1987; Ida Evans, 1989; Bessie Johnston, 1990; Betty Graber, 1991; George Langlois, 1992; Howard Bernard, 1993; Joanne King, 1994; Frank Thompson, 1995; Audrey Cardiff, 1996; Leona Armstrong, 1997; Neil McGavin, 1998; Beth Earl, 1999; Lyle and Alice Brothers, 2000; Nelva and Spence Scott, 2001; Jo-Ann McDonald, 2002; Kathy Bridge, 2003; Jeff and Cathy Cardiff, 2004; Clara Blake, 2005; Phyllis Mitchell, 2006; Doug McArter, 2007; Nora Stephenson and Fran Bremner, 2008; Rene Richmond, 2009; Jim Prior, 2010; Cathrine Campbell, 2011; Jim and Lois Lee, 2012; Yvonne Knight, 2013; Dave Stephenson, 2014; Sandra Cable, 2015; Jean Davidson, 2016; Elaine Armstrong, 2017; Doug Sholdice, 2018; Mary Douma, 2019; Bob Kellington (posthumous), 2020; Zoellyn Onn in 2021, Margaret McInroy in 2022 and Roxane Nicholson in 2023.

 

Past winners of the award in the Blyth area are: Evalena Webster, 1985; Frank and Cenetta Bainton, 1986; Winona McDougall, 1987; Margaret Whyte, 1989; Simon Hallahan, 1990; Dr. Richard Street, 1991; Bill and Maxine Seers, 1992; Margaret Caldwell, 1993; Helen Gowing, 1994; Don Scrimgeour, 1995; John Stewart, 1996; Janet Amos, 1997; Betty Battye, 1998; Robb Finch, Dave Cook, Brent Scrimgeour and Doug Walker, 1999; Murray Siertsema, 2000; Charlie Shaw, 2001; Lavern Clark, 2002; Bev Blair and Thelma Johnston, 2003; Steven Sparling, 2004; Don “Barney” Stewart, 2005; Lois van Vliet, 2006; Janice Henry, 2007; Joe Hallahan, 2008; Brock and Janis Vodden, 2009; Jean Nethery, 2010; Kay Hesselwood, 2011; Steve Howson, 2012; Barbara Bosman, 2013; Marian Hallahan, 2014; Nellie Mason, 2015; Ernie Phillips, 2016; Ric McBurney, 2017; Carl Nesbitt, 2018; Jane Smyth, 2019; Annie Sparling, 2020; David Cartwright (posthumous) in 2021, Lissa Kolkman in 2022 and Joe Gahan and Meaghan Lee-Gahan in 2023.

 

Karen Webster was the first Huron County Citizen of the Year Award winner, honoured in 2022, followed by the late Wayne Clausius, who won last year.

 

Stewart, Fritz and Dodds now join the ranks of the winners listed above.