Black Diamond selects citizen of the year

A Turner Valley woman who devoted the past year to combatting crime in her community is receiving a high honour by a neighbouring town.

Diamond Valley Citizens on Patrol (COP) Society president Yvonne Machan was named Black Diamond’s Citizen of the Year for 2017 in recognition of her work implementing the program in Black Diamond and Turner Valley last year.

“I got a round of applause at our last Citizens on Patrol meeting,” Machan said. “It’s nice to be recognized. I’m kind of a shy person. I don’t like to be acknowledged in that kind of way.”

Four residents were nominated to receive the award.

Machan, who was born and raised in the Foothills, spent hours registering the Citizens on Patrol program with the Alberta Citizens on Patrol Association, as well as organizing meetings, patrolling and working with the RCMP liaison.

She volunteered with the community’s previous COP program in the 1990s and early 2000s before it folded due to lack of interest.

Machan felt compelled to get it going again after reading complaints on social media about vehicle thefts in the community.

She wanted to help reduce crime in Black Diamond and Turner Valley by bringing more eyes and ears to the streets for RCMP.

Machan said volunteering in one’s community should be a high priority for people.

“I’ve always tried to give back to the community as much as I can,” she said. “If you’re going to live in a small town, you get the privileged of knowing your neighbours and being able to give back more than you would in the city. In the city you’re kind of anonymous. Out here it’s easier to volunteer and have an impact on residents.”

COP member Betty MacKinnon got to know Machan through COP and nominated her for the award.

“I think she is doing a good job,” MacKinnon said. “I like the fact that she is addressing the crime situation and she’s got the get up and go to do that instead of just sitting back and complaining about it.”

Despite Machan’s quiet and private demeanor, MacKinnon says she’s an ambitious society president and she couldn’t think of anyone more deserving of the award.

“I didn’t have anybody else in mind,” she said. “I liked what she was doing and how she was doing it. I was impressed.”

MacKinnon said she joined Citizens on Patrol last year because of her concerns about crime in her town.

“I’m the generation where you didn’t lock your doors at night,” she said. “Now you can’t do that, you can’t leave your car unlocked. You’re in trouble if you do.”

For Machan, getting recognition as the Volunteer of the Year is another opportunity to promote the program in her communities.

“It’s really good for Citizens on Patrol,” she said. “It gets the word out there. All of the exposure we can get is a good thing.”

Machan is working to bolster the membership beyond its current 23 patrollers.

“The membership of Citizens on Patrol is growing,” she said. “There is a lot of interest in it right now. That makes me feel good that not only am I interested in giving back, it seems other people are too.”

Posters went out in mailboxes in Black Diamond and Turner Valley last week, inviting more volunteers to patrol the streets.

“The phone has been ringing off the hook,” she said.

Machan will be treated to a volunteer appreciation supper this spring and will have a plaque with her name on it at the Black Diamond municipal building.