Each year, Calgary Unitarians make two awards: the Harold and Marion Panabaker Award for extraordinary services to the congregation, and the William Irvine Justice Award for social and environmental justice in the Calgary community. Click here to read about the William Irvine Justice Award.

The Harold and Marion Panabaker Award

The objective of the Harold and Marion Panabaker Award is to allow theCalgary Unitarians to honour a person or persons for extraordinary services provided to benefit the Church community.

Rules and guidelines are herein provided to document the selection process and to further clarify the spirit in which this award is made.

RULES

1. Nominations must be made in writing by members of Calgary Unitarians and must include reasons for nominating the person or persons.
2. Members of the Board may not submit nominations.
3. Persons who have been staff members or members of the Board in the preceding year are not eligible to receive the award.
4. The Board of Trustees will select the winner of the award from among the nominees.
5. There is no limit on the number of times a person may be nominated.
6. Nominations from prior years will not automatically be carried forward, but a nomination from a previous year may be resubmitted.

GUIDELINES

1. Since there is only one award to be presented each year, there will usually be only one recipient. Exceptions may occur when extraordinary services were provided in a joint effort or, more rarely, when the contributions of more persons appear so equally deserving that it would seem unjust to exclude one person in favour of another.
2. There are no rules to define what constitutes a service to the Church community.
3. Factors which might be considered include:
   – benefits to the Church community
   – personal sacrifice or effort involved in providing service
   – the degree to which the service reflects values esteemed by Unitarian Universalists in general
4. Direct financial contributions, though certainly a service to the Church community, are not considered to be a major factor
5. On rare occasions, the award might be presented to a person who is neither a member of the Church nor attends it. As an example, extreme in Canada at present, a person might be instrumental in preserving the Church by defending its right to exist in the face of legislative or other threats.
6. A plaque is mounted on the wall of the Church listing the names of the recipients. A small plaque is presented to the recipient.

Past Award Recipients

The Harold and Marion Panabaker Award

• 2007: Christine Michell
• 2009: Dorothy Bond and John Michell
• 2010: Penney Kome and Lynn Nugent
• 2011: Gorham Hussey
• 2012: Peter and Joan Riches
• 2013: Susan Stratton
• 2014: Bev Webber
• 2015: Carl Svoboda
• 2016: Leslie Buckle
• 2017: Jane Ebbern and Brandis Purcell

Prior Award for Extraordinary Service to the Unitarian Church of Calgary

Winners of the William Irvine Award for Extraordinary Service to the Unitarian Church of Calgary were:

• 1989: Ruth Barker
• 1990: Marion Panabaker
• 1991: Sandy Tyndale
• 1992: Helen and Rick Green
• 1993: Ruth Staughton
• 1994: John Backhouse
• 1995: Bob Spinney
• 1996: Pat and Alan Jessop
• 1997: Bob and Marion McPherson
• 1998: Dick Wilson and Dorothy Lloyd
• 1999: Marie and John Collins
• 2000: Marsha Haug and Eric Leavitt
• 2001: Helen Backhouse
• 2002: Mary Jane Hussey
• 2003: Jennie Paine
• 2004: Ward Neale
• 2005: No winner was declared in 2005
• 2006: No winner was declared in 2006