{"id":2930,"date":"2013-07-03T17:15:59","date_gmt":"2013-07-03T21:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=2930"},"modified":"2013-07-10T15:27:07","modified_gmt":"2013-07-10T19:27:07","slug":"citizen-of-the-year-wears-aurora-on-his-sleeve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/citizen-of-the-year-wears-aurora-on-his-sleeve\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizen of the Year “wears Aurora on his sleeve”"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Surrounded by family and friends, Auroran founder Ron Wallace was honoured as Aurora\u2019s Citizen of the Year in a ceremony last week. <\/p>\n

Hailing Mr. Wallace during last Tuesday\u2019s Council meeting for his service to the community, Mayor Geoffrey Dawe made the presentation.<\/p>\n

Mr. Wallace, known in many quarters as \u201cMr. Aurora\u201d for his dedication to the community, was saluted for his three terms on Aurora Council, serving as York Region District School Board Trustee, a volunteer firefighter, and director of the Aurora Historical Society, Aurora Chamber of Commerce, and Aurora Cemetery Board.<\/p>\n

His work as a Rotarian, support for the Aurora Optimist Club, Lions\u2019 Club, Royal Canadian Legion, Society of York Region Artists (SOYRA), the Aurora Farmers\u2019 Market, and driving force behind the Aurora Street Festival were just a handful of his many accomplishments highlighted by the Mayor.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a stranger to very few,\u201d said Mayor Dawe. \u201cHe has been an exceptionally visible and active member of our community. He came to Aurora in 1969 to work in the newspaper industry. His community involvement speaks volumes for his character and his commitment to our Town. He was a Rotarian for many years and recipient of the Paul Harris Award for Rotary International, which is a very prestigious award.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to the honour from Rotarians, our Citizen of the Year was recognized by the Aurora Heritage Advisory Committee in 2007 for the promotion of Aurora\u2019s Heritage. He was honoured by SOYRA in 2008, by the Ontario Heritage Trust in 2011 and was a recent recipient of the Queen\u2019s Diamond Jubilee medal. With a wealth of accolades and a lifetime commitment to his community, our Citizen of the Year\u2019s altruism can be summed up best by his own words: \u2018I love Aurora and that\u2019s all there is to it. I would do anything I could for this Town.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cChoosing one person as a glowing example of civic pride and a commitment to helping our community can be a difficult task, but when faced with an individual for whom giving back is a lifelong pursuit, the burden of decision-making is much easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Receiving an extended ovation from Councillors and the audience in the Council chamber, an emotional Mr. Wallace was a man of few words. He told The Auroran a few days after letting his recognition sink in, that he was very pleased. It\u2019s a welcome bit of news after a recent hospital stint, during which time 2012\u2019s Citizen of the Year came to visit him. <\/p>\n

\u201cBrian North came up to see me in the hospital and he knew about it at the time, but I didn\u2019t know anything about it!\u201d says Mr. Wallace. \u201cI was asking him questions like, \u2018So, what is it like to be the Citizen of the Year?\u2019 not having any idea I was going to get it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ron added that not only was it an honour to be named Citizen of the Year, but in 2013 as Aurora celebrates its 150th anniversary. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was probably Dick Illingworth who called me by name [at a Council meeting], instead of \u2018Hey, you with the pencil!\u2019\u201d Ron says of his first positive impression of Aurora, the first seed of a love affair which grew over time, even naming his daughter Aurora, now an associate professor at NYU, in its honour. \u201cI wore Aurora on my sleeve, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ron started out his career as an office boy at The Toronto Star, but after bouncing to the Canadian Press, and other stints, a chance letter back home which wound up in their local paper gave him a taste for bylines. <\/p>\n

He then had a five year term at the Stouffville Tribune, followed by a time studying journalism at Ryerson University, and eventually becoming editor of the Aurora Banner and the Etobicoke Guardian. <\/p>\n

Amongst his personal favourite projects were Operation Puckshy, which he founded to install protective glass at the Aurora Community Centre after one spectator was hit in the face by a puck, and duties with the Rotary Club of Aurora, which he took over from his late partner, Rosemary Schumaker. <\/p>\n

Sitting alongside him in the Council chamber as he accepted his reward was his wife, Patricia. Having \u201ccoerced\u201d him (his word!) into attending the meeting, she had nothing but pride as it unfolded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so happy for him and obviously very, very proud to be married to him and a part of his life,\u201d she says, before adding with a laugh, \u201cIt\u2019s about time! I think it is well deserved and I am thrilled for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others in the community also offered their tributes to Aurora\u2019s Citizen of the Year, including Councillor Chris Ballard, who received from Ron his \u201cfirst paying job in journalism.\u201d Councillor Ballard was then a resident of King City and says Mr. Wallace didn\u2019t hesitate to throw him into the deep end. <\/p>\n

\u201cOn my first day, he had me write an in-depth article on the school board\u2019s proposed budget,\u201d Councillor Ballard recalls. \u201cI thought he was crazy. What did I know about million dollar financing? He thought otherwise and told me to get my \u2018g-d ass out the door.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

While he cites then-trustee and former Aurora Councillor Norm Weller for helping to get through it, he also recalled days when people in the community would drop by the office just to check in with Ron and \u201cshare gossip.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had his finger on the pulse of Aurora and our office at Yonge and Wellington was a perfect location to watch the action. Ron could be grumpy \u2013 or at least he tried. He, rightly, criticized my spelling, made caustic comments about stories not up to snuff. He always had a lead on a good story, and he was a decent boss and a good guy. <\/p>\n

\u201cRon reinforced in me the importance of community journalism. He showed it was both a satisfying and noble profession that could make a difference in people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councillor Wendy Gaertner adds her appreciation for Ron\u2019s support of Hot Spot, a youth drop-in she ran for many years for kids aged 11 \u2013 14.
\n\u201cFor 18 years he was instrumental in keeping the community updated about our activities,\u201d she says. \u201cI believe he really understood youth need a place just for them, where they feel welcome and respected. Ron, on behalf of all the kids who loved those Friday evenings, congratulations on being named Aurora\u2019s 2013 Citizen of the Year.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Surrounded by family and friends, Auroran founder Ron Wallace was honoured as Aurora\u2019s Citizen of the Year in a ceremony last week. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/2013-07-03-25.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-Lg","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-15 09:13:20","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}