Three volunteers with Brazeau Regional Search and Rescue were recognized for their service just before Christmas.
Matt MacDonald, the sitting president of the group, Jewel Reierson, and Sean MacIntyre all received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal for outstanding service in their community. Another 15 area residents also received a medal last year.
MLA Mark Smith handed out the medals to the three search and rescue volunteers on December 23 in his office.
“This is a medal coming straight from the Queen to you,” said Smith. “This is not just a pin. This is a medal. Just like you see medals in the military or for police service.”
MacDonald, Reierson, and MacIntyre all received certifications for the medals, as well as instructions for when it is appropriate to wear the medals and how to wear them.
MacDonald says he was surprised to be receiving a medal. “I didn’t even know they existed until about two days before I was receiving one,” he says.
He says that for the team, most aren’t thinking about the potential recognition they’ll get. Instead, they just want to contribute to their community. “People need to step up and do the things that need to be done,” he says.
MacDonald says everyone on the BRSR team is an unpaid volunteer. The time commitment varies, but they get together for training on a regular basis as well as to respond to any calls. There are also specific courses members can attend, such as tracking courses or search manager courses.
“We’re a ground search and rescue team,” he says. They are usually involved in missing people searches, such as hikers who’ve gotten lost. Many of the callouts in the summer are for people who are doing a recreational river float on tubes.
The team comes in only if the RCMP requests help with a search. MacDonald said the team was only called out a few times in 2022. The year before that, he says they were out six or seven times.
“We’re probably one of the underutilized teams in the province,” he says. This is a good thing, says MacDonald. If they aren’t needed as often, it means there are not as many people who go missing or are in need of help.
There were 7,000 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medals minted in Alberta. Each electoral region of the province was given medals to hand out to community members that had been nominated by their peers.
The other 15 recipients of the medal were Dale Babiuk, Audrey Brousseau, Katie Connor, Ariel Delaney, Tanya Hines, Phyllis Madiuk, H. Jean McCulloch, Shawna Ofstie, Barry Rasch, Richard Skermer, Jeanette Vatter, Don Yez, and Grant David Little. Lorne Clemens and Denis Preece will be receiving their medals posthumously.
