By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

The City of Côte St. Luc recently honoured its many volunteers at their annual recognition evening, held at the Quartier Cavendish Cineplex theatre.

Numerous awards were given out — among them:

• The Gerry Weinstein Ambassador of the Year award, “in recognition as the citizen best portraying charitable qualities and serving the community at large,” went to Marc Ezerzer.

“Marc plays and sponsors a team in the CSL Executive Softball League and he also sponsors the annual CSL Golf Classic,” Councillor Mike Cohen said. “He is a prominent real estate agent who lends his high profile to the good and welfare of CSL sports programs. I was proud to have nominated Marc.”

• Aquatics Volunteer of the Year Award: Michèle Castonguay for her great dedication to the City of Cote Saint-Luc and its competitive swimming program,” Cohen added

• The Community Special Events Award, presented to volunteers for their “exceptional contribution to the community special events programs,” went to Bryan Wolofsky for his involvement with the PeeWee National Outdoor Hockey Tournament; and CSL Men’s Club Chairmen of Programming Bernie Green, for his work organizing trips, the Hot Stove League and booking speakers.

• The Eco Award, “in recognition of leadership in the promotion of environmental advocacy and action within the community,” went to Kirwan Garden Coordinator Boyd Hamilton.

• The Edward J. Kirwan Award, “awarded annually to outstanding volunteers in the CSL programs for exceptional contribution,” went to Adriana Rico of the Figure Skating Club.

• The EMS (Emergency Medical Services) awards went to Scott Hunt for excellence in operations, Alizée Znaty for excellence in training and Kassandra Pinsonneault for Rookie of the Year.

•The Hazel Lipes Award, awarded “to the outstanding volunteer for exceptional contribution to the community service program,” went to Diane Liebling, chair of CSL’s Cats Committee.

“She has carried on these duties for the past six years, working virtually 24/7 physically trapping cats, giving up her family garage to feed strays, finding homes and foster homes for them, establishing a network of feeders of outdoor cats, organizing meetings and making repeated visits to the CSL Hospital for Animals,” Cohen said. “Quite simply, the committee would not function without her. I was proud to have nominated Diane.”

More details about the awards and recipients can be seen at Cohen’s website, mikecohen.ca