MONCTON—Staff sergeant Steve Gourdeau, district NCO Southeast District of the RCMP, is the 2014 recipient of the IODE Police Community Relations Award for outstanding service.

S/Sgt Gourdeau, a 32-year member of the RCMP, “has provided the highest quality of service to Canadians through dedication to his duties and devotion to his country and its people,” states the citation.

During his career, S/Sgt Gourdeau has served in Manitoba, in northern isolated posts and as a front line officer in New Brunswick.  He also served an eight-month tour of duty in the former Yugoslavia as a member of UNPROFOR.

He is a member of the executive committee of the Kingston Ambulance Association, is vice-president of Branch 62 of The Royal Canadian Legion, is an active worker with Crime Stoppers, and he has been active with organizations such as minor hockey and the farmers’ market.

He and his wife, Brenda, live in Hampton.

IODE Canada is a national women’s charitable organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for individuals through educational support, community service and citizenship programs. 
 
Due to family illness, the Citation to S/Sgt. Gourdeau was presented to S/Sgt. Denise Vautour of Dieppe, during opening ceremonies for the 114th annual meeting held in Moncton April 25, 2014, to be forwarded to him.
 

Submitted by:
Pat MacNeill
Assistant Communications Officer
IODE New Brunswick

Rose Carolyn Smith, President of IODE New Brunswick and IODE members throughout the province, welcomed His Honor Lt. Gov. Graydon Nicholas and his wife, Elizabeth Nicholas, Honorary Patron of IODE New Brunswick to the opening ceremonies of the 2014 annual meeting, along with E. Anne Mason, IODE National President, Ontario. 

Presentations were made throughout the evening and the 2014 recipient of the IODE Community Relations Award was S/Sgt. Steve Gourdeau, NCO Southeast district of the RCMP.  

Denise Vautour of Dieppe Moncton's Sir Charles G. D. Roberts Chapter was the winner of the Campbell membership bowl with 5 new members out of 10 province-wide and a Provincial Life Membership was presented to Sheila Hicks, Katie Hazen MacKay Chapter, Saint John, for outstanding service to IODE.

The two day meeting took place recently at Moncton's Crowne Plaza where IODE members were entertained at a noon luncheon by four members of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra and were addressed by IODE Canada President, E. Anne Mason. 

Shown left to right in the picture are: IODE New Brunswick President, Rose Carolyn Smith; His Honor Lt. Gov. Graydon Nicholas and Elizabeth Nicholas, Hon. Patron of IODE New Brunswick. along with IODE Canada President, E. Anne Mason.
 

Submitted by:  
Pat MacNeill
Assistant Communications Officer
IODE New Brunswick

IODE Katie Hazen Mackay Chapter is located in Saint John,New Brunswick. Our chapter was formed in December, 1975.
 
We are an active, fun group of ladies devoted to service in our community. In fact our motto is ( Service to Others)  We support Hestia House( a shelter for battered women). We provide extras such as snacks for movie nights and dessert for Easter and Thanksgiving dinners as well as flowers for the women on Mother's Day.We also regularly provide healthy snacks and muffins to the needy children at our assisted school.Our chapter shops for and delivers food,clothing and toys for two families at Christmas.We buy turkeys for the local soup kitchen and deliver the extra food from our fund raisers there as well.We also support the inner city hot lunch program.
 
We have three major fundraisers a year including a Fall Card Party Luncheon,an Italian Dinner in May and supervise the Home Economic exhibits at the Saint John Exhibition in August.  

Some of our members get together once a month for 'fiber therapy'. We share ideas,do crafts or just enjoy the company of each another.
 
We consider Katie Hazen Mackay a very welcoming chapter and our friendly atmosphere encourages new members to join us. If you have a couple of hours a month to donate to community service ,we would love to have you join our chapter. We meet once a month (except July and August) in the members' homes at 7:00 pm .In December and June we go out to one of our local resturants for an enjoyable time with our members.
 
 You can check us out on Facebook at Katie Hazen Mackay IODE Chapter.