By Mark Squibb | Vol 7 No. 11 (June 6, 2019)
An employee of the City of Mount Pearl is a recipient of one of the Recreation Newfoundland and Labrador’s Annual Awards.
Sean McKenna, Manager of Community Services Programming, was awarded the Cy Hoskins Memorial Award of Merit.
“I’m humbled,” McKenna told The Pearl.
From left to right are Michael Cleland, Canadian Parks and Recreation President; Sean McKenna, City of Mount Pearl; Gerry Hall, Recreation NL President.
“I look at past winners, and it was very humbling, but very pleasing.”
He explained that community recreation is a profession that values cooperation, not competition, with others in the field.
“I could see a lot of people who deserve to have an award like award like that. In this field we all work together to help each other out,” he explained.
“It’s a real sense of community among our profession across the province, and indeed, throughout the country.”
McKenna is the past president of Recreation Newfoundland and Labrador, and served on the board 16 years, is the chair of the recreation inclusion committee for Recreation Newfoundland and Labrador, spent 11-years on the Provincial Wellness Advisory Council, and was also involved in national initiatives for the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association.
Mckenna is the point of contact for people who require information about the City’s inclusive programs or who want to request subsidiaries through P.E.A.R.L. – Participation for Everyone in Active Recreation and Leisure, a program which helps people participate in recreation even if they lack the financial resources.
He said that recreation is important for the physical and mental health of a community, and that thriving recreation programs are a drive for those thinking about making Mount Pearl home.
He’s worked with the City since 1991
Before that, he spent three years in therapeutic recreation sector at the Leonard A. Miller Centre, and the before that, three years with the what was then the Town of Goulds.
The award is presented to a full-time recreation practitioner who has made significant contributions to the growth and development of recreation.
The awards were doled out during the Recreation Newfoundland and Labrador Annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, May 25, 2019 at Grand Falls Golf Club in Grand Falls-Windsor, NL.
