Service award created in honour of late Jim Hodgins

Nominations are now open for a new annual award meant to recognize individuals who have shown outstanding leadership, volunteerism, and participation in the Shawville community. The award has been created by the children of the late Jim (James) Hodgins, who passed away in Dec. 2025, to honour his lifelong commitment to building and supporting his [...] The post Service award created in honour of late Jim Hodgins appeared first on The Equity .

Nominations are now open for a new annual award meant to recognize individuals who have shown outstanding leadership, volunteerism, and participation in the Shawville community. The award has been created by the children of the late Jim (James) Hodgins, who passed away in Dec. 2025, to honour his lifelong commitment to building and supporting his community. When Nancy Hodgins-Poirier was growing up, she knew her father Jim was involved in various groups and projects around town, but didn’t fully grasp the extent of his community service until she and her siblings were writing his obituary last December.

“He was always busy, always on the go, but until my sister sat down and wrote the obituary, and we read it, I don’t think any of us fully realized all that he did,” she said. Over the years, between the hours he spent on his family farm, managing the pool business he started, driving a school bus, and tending to the ice at the Shawville Curling Club, he was also president/general manager of the Pontiac Junior Bs, the Shawville and District Minor Hockey Association, the Shawville Recreation Association, and a councillor in Shawville for several terms.

“There’s so many things he was involved with, it was hard to find something he wasn’t involved with,” said Shawville mayor Bill McCleary, also a friend of Jim’s. “Any time there was a need for an emcee, or an announcer at the fair demolition derby for example, or any event like that, he would always step up. Time meant nothing to him.”

Hodgins-Poirier said when THE EQUITY started sharing archival photos on Facebook earlier this year, she and her siblings were reminded of how present their father was in every corner of community life. “My siblings and I were constantly taking screenshots of Dad in these pictures from the ‘70s, the ‘80s, the ‘90s, the 2000s, all these old pictures. And then we realized just how much he was involved and doing everything.”

She said her father was most proud of his role in getting the RA hall built in the late ‘80s. “He was just there day and night, every moment he had, he was up there working on that building,” Hodgins-Poirier said, noting her sister was planning to get married at the RA once it was complete. “He had a little extra incentive to get it ready but it was an important building to him because he was part of the RA for so long.”

She said she and her siblings decided to create the award, with support from the Municipality of Shawville, to honour their father’s legacy and recognize individuals in the community who continue to show up in these ways. “Small towns rely heavily on their volunteers. [ . . .

] People love their hometown. I wrote about that in the preamble for Dad’s award.

It was more than just a place he was born and raised,” she said. “I think Shawville and all the communities around are more than that to us. It’s our roots, it’s our blood, it’s our people, and I think it’s so important to honour the people in town who work tirelessly, because often it’s a thankless job.”

The first recipient of this annual award will have their name engraved on a plaque that will be displayed outside town hall, where names of future recipients will be added for years to come. To nominate somebody you believe to be deserving of this award, the family is asking for a “fulsome description” of why the person in mind would be an excellent candidate. Poirier-Hodgins said in this first year of the award, the committee will consider all nominations, not only those from Shawville.

Application forms can be picked up at town hall. Nominations are due at Shawville town hall by Friday, Aug. 14. Nominations will be reviewed over the following week and the recipient will be announced over Labour Day weekend.

Jim Hodgins was remembered by his family as an active member of the Shawville community. Photo: Submitted by Nancy Hodgins-Poirier The post Service award created in honour of late Jim Hodgins appeared first on The Equity .