John Watson chose Haliburton County five years ago, to be close to nature and “a great community of people.”
He was embraced back Oct. 25, being named Highlander of the Year by the Haliburton Highlands Chamber of Commerce.
As Dysart’s environmental waste manager, and a trainer with Sweat Social Health and Fitness, Watson told The Highlander in an interview, “I just feel very lucky in both of my jobs that I get to help and contribute to our community.”
He admitted the award came as a “shock” saying he was honoured just to be nominated “and associated with all the other nominees, such powerhouses in our community. I am just feeling very blessed and honoured by this award.”
Some of the highlights of his day job this past year have included The Great Haliburton Clothing Swap in partnership with Haliburton School of Art + Design. He said it “was exciting and new for our community and a great way to divert textiles away from landfill.”
He is also proud of the outdoor battery recycling collection bin on York Street, only the second municipality in Ontario to have one. “It’s exciting and an innovative way to make recycling of household batteries more accessible to people.” Watson said.
Earlier this summer, the Municipal Waste Association, for which he is on the board, presented Dysart with a gold campaign award for its 2023 public awareness campaign “Recycling Is Easy!”, that encouraged the proper recycling of food and beverage cartons.
On a smaller scale, Watson says it’s important to preach the message early. Last week, he was at Stuart Baker Elementary School teaching Kindergarten to Grade 3 students about recycling, and encouraging them to take the message home.
He was delighted to see his other boss, Chelsea Adamson at Sweat Social, win businesswoman of the year.
“It’s awesome to be part of that team and help train people in our community in health and fitness,” Watson said.
“There’s lots of people who have success stories; improved resting heart rates, becoming much more stable and in a healthy range, people who have lost fat, people who have lost weight, people who have gained muscle and strength. We’re very goaloriented, thinking about individuals and what they are trying to achieve, so setting them up for success.”
Watson’s other fun community involvement this year was stage manager for the Burlesque Ball.
The not-for-profit award went to the Haliburton Highlands Health Services Foundation.
Executive-director Melanie Klodt Wong said it had been an “incredible” year.
“Almost exactly a year ago, the ball started rolling on what has become the biggest and fastest campaign the HHHS Foundation has ever seen. This community raised the funds to bring CT and mammography to the County as well as replace other vital equipment – raising over $5 million dollars in less than a year – incredible.”
Meanwhile, the warden’s award went to the Haliburton County Home Builders Association.
President Kevin Hodgkinson said it was “an honour.”
“The hard work of our executive officer, Aggie Tose, and our executive has shown that as an association we are willing to be an active part of our community,” he said.
In the last two years, they have started a high school committee which focuses on promoting the trades to students. This is done by having a bus trip that takes the students to multiple job sites and businesses that can shed some light on one of the biggest industries in the County. They also talk to students about different avenues in the trades, such as project management, design, mechanics, electrical and HVAC. “We have had a great response to this program and hope to build off the results.”
The association has also worked with municipalities to build a relationship to be better engaged in the building department process and pass information to members and the community about changes that happen with bylaws and the building code.” Hodgkinson said.
