The results are official. Five area service organizations have cast their votes to name Barriere’s newest Citizen of the Year.

When Chu Chua resident Tina Donald received the call that she had been chosen as the 2009 Citizen of the Year for the Barriere area, there was a brief silence on the line and then her first words were “Wow, this makes my day even better than it was.”

Tina was surprised, excited and says she feels that being chosen as Citizen of the Year is “really a great honour.”

Tina started working with the Simpcw First Nation in Chu Chua when she was still a high school student; she has since broadened her sphere of community involvement to encompass most areas within the North Thompson Valley.

Working at a full time job as Fisheries Contracts Coordinator for Simpcw is what occupies much of her time today. Fisheries is an area she feels very passionate about, and the bringing of education in this regard to young people.

Tina has just completed another Fisheries Education Program for primarily elementary students; a program which will be offered to schools from North Kamloops to Clearwater.

Recieving the prestigious Fraser Salmon Hero Award in 2007, Tina was one of four recipients so honoured. The award is given in the area of Collaborative Governance, of which she has been a major player within the Simpcw fisheries for 15 years. Under her guidance, the communal fishing program in the North Thompson and Upper Fraser drainages has expanded into a sustainable harvest program in co-operation with DFO and other First Nations organizations.

At this time Tina is busy working on the program for Coho Day at the Dunn Lake Hatchery, which will take place this Monday, Oct. 19.

As one person recently commented, “She is a mover and shaker, she gets things done.”

Young people have benefited from Tina’s care and fondness for them in many capacities. She attends youth conferences whenever possible, and also branches out into supporting youth sporting events.

Her public contributions do not stop there; she served and officiated on numerous community committees and boards, such as the McLure Wildfire Monument Society, where her input and perspective as a representative of the Simpcw First Nation was welcomed.

It seems that Tina gives so much of herself in so many ways, that it is astonishing that she finds even brief snatches of time for herself.

When asked what she does just for herself, she answered, “Hardly anything that does not involve my family.”

She did, however, make time to take part in a course on basket weaving, a skill she says can be used for making Christmas presents.

Last year Tina made very special gifts for special people – beaded eagle feathers. It takes a lot of patience and perseverance to create these beautiful items, but that is just one more side of Tina that makes her the person she is.

What are her plans for the future?

“I will carry on as I always have,” says this energetic lady, “I can see the benefits of positive energy going back into communities; and that this will have a domino effect, not only with our community, but with the surrounding areas. I truly believe that what goes around comes around – point taken - I have been named Citizen of the Year.”

A date for the dinner in honour of the Barriere 2009 Citizen of the Year will be set within the next few weeks and notification will be placed in this newspaper when the tickets go on sale.

The Barriere Citizen of the Year Award is sponsored by the North Thompson Star/Journal, and supported by the North Thompson Volunteer and Information Centre.