Making a difference in the community

Times Editor

 

Long-time UFA Bisons manager Neil Glionna has appropriately been nominated in the annual Small Town Heroes 2011, hosted by the United Farmers of Alberta.

The contest honours special people whose heroic efforts have made a real difference to their community.

“Normally I just stay behind the scenes, but it’s nice to be recognized,” said Glionna, a member of the Bisons family for 16 seasons. “The love of it (brings me back year after year). The day you don’t love doing it, you stop doing it, right? That is probably the ‘code’ for all volunteers.”

Glionna first joined the Bisons by helping out in the penalty box during home games, before being recruited by the team’s then-manager Larry Duthie, who brought on Glionna as an assistant manager. When Duthie stepped aside half a dozen years ago, Glionna became the Bisons general manager.

And now, despite being on the ice seven months of the year, Glionna says, the job has become a year-round gig.

“With me, when the season is over, you close it and you start (the next season) over,” said Glionna, who volunteers at least 30 hours a week with the club, on top of his regular job. “You have to (plan and look ahead to next year) because if you wait until the season to get everything done, it’s chaos. The more you can be ahead of the game, the better.

“As volunteers, it’s not a full-time job – you have your (real) full-time job and your family – to take care of.”

According to the UFA website, “the backbone of rural communities and small towns across Alberta is its people. In these communities, there are certain individuals that do all the right things to make their town a better place to live. And, they do it without any thought for themselves. They are our small town heroes.”

UFA will select two small town heroes, and each will receive a concert by Paul Brandt and $2,500 to go towards their community efforts. Eight runners-up will each receive $1,000 for their community. 

Voting is now open on the UFA website right now. Go to www.ufa.com and follow the Small Town Heroes link to cast your vote.

Here is Glionna’s profile featured on the contest’s website.

“Neil is a tireless volunteer who is the Manager of the UFA Bisons Midget AAA hockey team. Neil has been involved with the team for 15 years in various capacities. He started volunteering as an off-ice official, running the clock in the penalty box. He then took over the managers role of the team. The hours that it takes to run a AAA midget hockey team are astounding. On average, during the season, Neil will put in a 30 hours week dealing with team business, making sure that the coaches and players have everything they need to make them successful. During the off season, the work doesn’t end. It requires hours of work setting up the camp for the next season, getting staff and volunteers in place, etc. Neil does all this work tirelessly without ever a complaint. He does it for the love of the game and the community and fans of the team. Without volunteers like Neil, a team like this would not exist and certainly not have the success it has had.”