On what was to be a regular meeting of council on December 15th, Mayor Patricia Matthews and other member of council took a moment before the meeting began to surprise one of their own with a 20 year service award.
Stu Hutchison was born, raised, and educated in the City of Calgary. Stu and his family moved to the then Summer Village of Chestermere in 1992. He has worked for the Calgary Board of Education since 1991. In 1993 Stu ran for the position of Councillor in a by-election and was a successful candidate.
“There has been a lot of positive things that I’ve seen take place in Chestermere over those twenty years. The parks – John Peake Park, Anniversary Park, Sunset Beach, and Founders Point. They’ve all had some work done on them through the parks committee. They’re going to be great, they’re going to be great for the people and we’ve promised to get access to the water for the people as much as we can. Those are some really high points over the last twenty years”, said Councillor Hutchison when asked to reflect on his two decades of service.
He also spoke to the twinning of the hockey arena, the building of the fire hall, implementing a full time fire department, new police station and the building of the new Town Hall building. With a giggle he added, “I’ve also been through two annexations – which is scary”.
When asked about looking forward to 2015, Councillor Hutchison replied, “It’s a bit of an ongoing question. When you’re getting to the end of a term and you start to think ‘shoot, I want to see that fire hall completed’ or ‘I want to see that park completed’, it seems like there is always something. I think the biggest thing I want to see is the Cove park. It is now in the budget to get started and we can now get people that are interested on the committee and get a design going. I’m really looking forward to that.”
Mayor Matthews, the fourth mayor that Councillor Hutchison has served with, had this to say, “Our community became a Town in 1993 and has really bloomed over the past two decades. Councillor Hutchison has been here for all of it and has played no small part in creating the Chestermere we know and love today. Being a Councillor is not a small responsibility; it wasn’t 20 years ago and it isn’t now. A lot of birthdays, anniversaries, school plays and family moments are missed in service to the community you love. For all the sacrifices, all the dedication and all the passion for building a great community to call home, we thank Stu Hutchison. We wouldn’t be who we are as Chestermere without him.”
