Volunteer of the Year 2006 - Bernie Houle
In avril 2006, the kite club Sky-Lines wanted to highlight the exemplary work of one of its members by naming him volunteer of the year for the club Sky-Lines. Below is a copy of the speech presentation during the Tribute to Volunteer 2006 event of the town of Dieppe (April 27, 2006):
Bernie was the president of the kite club Sky-Lines during the last year until September 2005. He devoted his time to promote the kites in several ways:
He was present at the Rotary Park St-Anselme or the Dover Park almost every Sunday afternoon to fly his kites. He was always the first arrived at the park and most of the time, he had a new kite which he had just built during that week.
He is always ready to help the other kiteflyers and to answer their questions.
He developed relationship with kiteflyers around the world through forums like www.kitebuilder.com on the Internet. Thanks to him, several members of this forum came as participants in the last year international kite festival in Dieppe.
During his mandate as president of the club, he organized several kite demonstrations at various places in the maritime and also to the kite festival in St-Placid, during winter on a frozen lake. He did not miss his chance to promote the Dieppe kite festival during those events.
Him and his spouse Peggy McDonald, organized several kite workshops for kids. They also organized two workshops to build more complicated kites (with sewing machine) for the club members. The organization and preparation of a workshop can be a full-time job for more than two weeks.
During the International Kite Festival, here in Dieppe, he devoted his time to support the participating kiteflyers and guests. Bernie knew how to make the festival, an unforgettable experiment for many kiteflyers coming from everywhere around the world. He even repaired their kites until late at night during the festival. He told me that one night, he was sewing a kite at 2h00am.
Bernie is a very artistic man. We can see his talent through the kites that he built. He is an inspiration for all other kiteflyers. We owe recognition to this gentleman for his efforts and his energy out of ordinary in spite of his youth.
Cheer and thank you Bernie.
