Long-time Canmore councillor André Gareau was remembered Monday (April 21) on Earth Day when a globe of the Earth was presented in his memory to the Canmore Public Library.
Following his death in October 2010, Gareau’s wife, Mary Dumka, asked that instead of flowers, friends and family make a donation to the Bow Valley Naturalists (BVN), an organization Gareau had been active in prior to his first bid for council.
BVN board member Colleen Campbell said Monday during an informal presentation at the library that those donations helped the non-profit organization.
“I really want to thank André,” Campbell said. “As a member of BVN, he was really active and when he left BVN it was to run for council. He subsequently won a seat and was a really active, ethical member of council. When André died we were all shocked and saddened and Mary in her wonderful foresight asked people to remember him by making donations to BVN.”
BVN took those donations and used them to secure matching grants, she said. With money raised through the donations and the grants, the organization offered a series of presentations focusing on high-altitude animals.
“We had some amazing presenters for BVN, but we still wanted to do something (more),” she said, adding they decided donating a globe to each public library in Banff, Canmore and Exshaw would be a fitting tribute to Gareau, who had a PhD in social psychology.
“We hope that people of all ages will rediscover why the Earth is such an amazing place and maybe find new ways to show how much they treasure it,” she said.
Dumka said a globe in a library is the perfect metaphor for Gareau as he often referred to a globe he had at home and a globe also encompassed his favourite things.
“He could see the big picture the globe gives you. He wasn’t narrowly focused in his compassion and caring, it was really all encompassing and so the globe is a good metaphor for André because you get to see everything all at once, the Earth, the stars, the vast skies that he loved,” Dumka said.
“He loved the Earth with hiking, the water with our canoeing and kayaking and then all the sky for watching the stars.”
Canmore Mayor John Borrowman said Gareau, who served on council for 10 years over 3 terms was a dedicated councillor who always strove to do what was best for the community.
“As a councillor, he was dedicated to finding the best answers for the community in every issue and, more meaningful for myself, I continue to think about André while on council. He had an ability to get into very difficult and emotional issues, but I never once heard him say anything negative about anyone.”
Similar globes, mounted on wooden tripods, will be donated to the Banff and Exshaw public libraries next.
