A Millarville man has been recognized for his life of volunteerism and service.
During an event on April 23, volunteer and former Royal Canadian Air Force pilot Don Ward was surprised with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Foothills Search and Rescue, a volunteer-based organization he helped found, and has served as a volunteer with for nearly 30 years.
“It’s great to be recognized with friends who I enjoyed working with and having fun with,” said Ward, who said he draws an immense satisfaction and joy from the work he does. “Fun is the big thing—if you don’t have fun you might as well go home.”
Ward has been the backbone of the team since its inception, said FSAR President Kim Varey.
“He’s the heart of this organization, he really is,” said Varey. “Don’s there, just finding what needs to be done and getting it done.
“It’s his wisdom and his history and his ability to strategize during searches, that we really need.”
The primary mandate of FSAR, founded by Ward and others in 1993, is to respond and conduct searches for missing people in wild, rural, and urban areas when tasked by RCMP or other agencies—or in some cases even conduct evidence searches for law enforcement.
The organization also has a history of assisting in disaster relief in incidents such as the 2013 floods that devastated the Foothills region.
While they are volunteers, the organization’s members undergo extensive training in wilderness and search skills, lost person behaviour, and first aid, with specialized teams such as equine and ATV squads.
Mark Garbutt was a member of FSAR when the 2013 floods struck, where he said Ward was essential to their relief efforts.
“Don and I were the first ones there,” Garbutt said. “It was just him and I organizing things on each side of the river, and when Don was around it just went really smooth.”
The second president of FSAR, Guy Kerr, is now with Search and Rescue Alberta and the Alberta director for Search and Rescue Volunteers Association of Canada.
“Don was just the epitome of search and rescue volunteers,” Kerr said. “Don was almost always one of the ones responding; he was reliable, dependable, all of those kinds of things.”
Ward is an exemplar of SAR volunteerism in Canada to Kerr, which he said is an underrecognized sector.
“I don’t think there’s enough recognition for search and rescue members in the community generally,” Kerr said. “So I think the fact we can recognize a member, recognize Don Ward for all his time and effort over the years, I would suggest it also helps recognize search and rescue volunteers in general."
Before his time combing the Foothills, Ward was a pilot for the RCAF, flying various aircraft for the air force from 1957 to 1987, including the Hercules transport and CP-107 Argus maritime patrol aircraft, which served to hunt submarines.
The organization, like many, faced some challenges during the pandemic with restrictions hampering training and meetings, as well as members moving away, but Varey said that didn’t dissuade Ward.
“When things are looking bleak, Don’s just being Don. He’s showing up at the command post … he maintains the equipment and he’s never lost hope,” Varey said, adding the team has remained fully operational through the pandemic, and is expanding their training in disaster relief training.
“We’ve got such a good team working together in whatever they’re doing.”
Disclosure: Brent Calver is an inactive member of Foothills Search and Rescue.
