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Summer Games volunteers run the gamut

From elementary students to retirees, community members stepping up to share their talents.
NEWS-Summer Games Volunteers BWC 3057 web
(Left to right) Wayne Madsen, Linda Guimond, Matthew Kohn and Dale Coutts, pictured on Aug. 24, are volunteers for the 2023 Alberta Summer Games.

The 2023 Alberta Summer Games needed some IT help, so it went looking for a volunteer with the requisite technical expertise.  

Games officials found one in Matthew Kohn, who might not have been exactly who they had in mind but is definitely someone with the computer proficiency required to refurbish their donated machines. You see, Matthew is only eight years old and just started Grade 4 at Tanbridge Academy last week. 

“We were wondering whether they (the donated computers) could be renewed and Matthew submitted his volunteer portfolio and said he could help us,” said Games manager Marica Borovich-Law. 

“He's letting us know if they’re viable. He talks a language that I really don’t understand." 

Staging the 2023 Alberta Summer Games next July in Okotoks and Black Diamond will require as many as 1,800 volunteers, so Borovich-Law said community members of all ages, and with varying skill sets, are needed to help with the bi-annual sporting spectacle. 

Matthew said he started playing with circuits at an early age, before graduating to programming at five years old and has since branched into building websites. Having already done website work for the Davisburg Community Association, he said he’s happy to help the Summer Games with its computer needs over the next year. 

The youngster sees his future, both in the short and long-term, in the high-tech sector. 

“I want to work at NASA and also program apps and stuff,” he said of career plans. 

Volunteers continue to sign up to assist the Games in a variety of capacities, including Wayne Madsen and his partner Linda Guimond who have been helping with construction of the Black Diamond mountain bike track. 

The couple was part of a volunteer work party earlier this month and will continue to help with the development of the track in preparation for the Games. 

“We're going to be working on it quite a bit, there’s quite a bit of work to do,” said Madsen, who is a mountain biker. “They'll go in with machines and do what they can, but then you’ve got to get in there with shovels and rakes and picks and do the hard labour to get it in shape for racing.

"That's where the help comes in.”  

He said they’re on a list of volunteers that can help whenever their services are needed and will also take part in scheduled volunteer work parties, the next of which is set for Thursday, Sept. 1 from 5 to 9 p.m. 

“A few of us who are semi-retired or retired have said that if you need us out there, we’re ready and willing,” Madsen said. 

“Linda and I enjoy gardening and this is basically gardening on steroids." 

Madsen is excited by the idea of creating another mountain biking trail in the region and the legacy the Games will leave behind for people of all ages to enjoy. 

Fresh off a four-decade career at CTV, Dale Coutts has signed up as the Games office handyman, although it’s a safe bet his talents will be put to work well beyond the South Railway Street building. 

“(I’m) recently retired and just about finished doing a renovation in our house, so I figured in order to keep active this might be a good continuation,” Coutts said. 

Having worked at three Olympics, including as manager of the International Broadcast Centre in Vancouver and London, he thought it was a natural extension in retirement to play a role with the Alberta Summer Games. 

Coutts said he has been all about volunteering in the community, having helped build sets for high school plays as well as displays at the Okotoks Museum and Archives, where his wife Kathy works as the curator. 

To find out about volunteer opportunities with the Summer Games, visit www.2023asg.com. 


Ted Murphy

About the Author: Ted Murphy

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