Some Foothills area youths received a royal congratulation for an accomplishment that will serve them the rest of their lives.
There were seven recipients from the Foothills who chatted with Prince Edward at the Duke of Edinburgh’s gold awards presentation at the Canada Sports Hall of Fame in Calgary on Friday.
“He mostly just asked what we did for our adventurous journey,” said Randi Thorbjornsen, who earned her Edinburgh gold in 2012 through Strathcona-Tweedsmuir High School. “He asked if any of us had done it on foot, which I hadn’t — I did canoeing and horseback riding. Following that he congratulated us on our achievement and in our future endeavours.”
To receive the gold recognition, the recipients had to do several hours of service work, go on an adventure, learn a new skill and are physically active. Those activities come after already putting in plenty of hours earning their silver and bronze.
Although Aisha Lillywhite of Okotoks put in plenty of work to earn her gold, she still wasn’t quite prepared to meet a Prince.
“I was nervous — we were meeting the Earl of Wessex, of course it was nerve-racking,” Lillywhite said.
She had a different view in getting her gold status, which she received in 2014. She didn’t go through Girl Guides or her school like her peers.
“I was independent — my optometrist recommended I try it,” said Lillywhite, whose adventure was camping, hiking, canoeing and other activities in Cypress Hills.
However, if heading out to the great outdoors was all that was needed, anybody with a pair of hiking boots would be chatting with the prince.
Community is a large part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
“We do everything,” said Casey Thorbjornsen, when asked what kind of volunteering the gold recipients did. “I did a lot of volunteering with the Girl Guides, the Okotoks River Clean-up, and a lot of volunteering with my school (STS) at the Calgary Drop-in Centre.”
She also donated her time working with youth at the Okotoks public library and the recreation centre.
They join an elite group of young people who have earned the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, which were established in 1956 in London, England and in Canada in 1963.
A member of that group is the Duke’s son, Prince Edward.
“I hope that you felt that the experience has been worthwhile,” Prince Edward told the 141 recipients as well as their parents and other dignitaries. “There were probably times when you were doing it, you weren’t wanting to do it — if it was anything like mine, in fact it was halfway through the expedition,” Prince Edward joked. “But it’s a great feeling when you get to the end. Most of you told me you would do it again, which I don’t believe for a minute.”
He said he was delighted that 75 per cent of all award recipients had a greater appreciation for the environment after completing the program. There are tentative plans to expand the program in the Foothills, so it is available to residents who may not have the opportunity to go through scouts or their schools.
Further details will be unveiled in the future.
