The City of Merritt honoured a former councillor and firefighter in a ceremony Monday at city hall.
“We’re recognizing one of the long-time councillors of the City of Merritt, Ron Sherwood,” said Mayor Susan Roline. “(We’re) acknowledging his 16 years of service for council and his numerous years as a firefighter in the City of Merritt. We just wanted to show our appreciation. We gave him a musical note, which we present to people to recognize them for different things.”
A strong turnout of current and former city councillors and city staff members, as well as family and friends of Sherwood’s attended the event. Fraser-Nicola MLA Harry Lali was also on hand and presented Sherwood with a certificate of appreciation.
“It was very unexpected,” said Sherwood. “It’s such an honour to have this done for me. Most of what I did, I was involved in groups. You can’t do anything individually. At the same time, I did enjoy working with the community. I’ve been in business; I’ve been in the fire department; I’ve been in Rotary for 35 years. I love Merritt. It will always be my home. It’s great for the city to do this. It’s very nice.”
Sherwood said one of the keys to his long running success on council was listening to people.
“You have to listen,” he said. “I don’t think I ever talked to anyone where I didn’t get back to them, whether it was good news or bad news. You can’t leave people hanging. It’s hard enough for politicians to get respect. But if you don’t communicate with people, you bring it on yourself.”
