FRESH IMPACT

Donald Taylor

This person has been in Kamloops less than three years but is already making an impact in the community in a leadership position in business, volunteer work or other community involvement.

For the past five years, Donald Taylor has been helping worthwhile causes by dressing up as Santa Claus and taking on the persona of the jolly old man. Taylor trims up his white beard and dons his tailored red Santa suit as local children sit and chat with their favourite seasonal character.

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During each Christmas season, Taylor sets up his elaborately decorated village, where kids can meet Santa Claus. Photos with Santa are by donation, with proceeds going to Social Butterflies Activities and Learning, the school his son, who is on the autism spectrum, attends. This allowed Social

Butterflies to purchase iPads for its students. Taylor said it all began when at the age of 42, when he was living in Maple Ridge and was president of his son’s school’s parent advisory council.

Taylor decided to grow his beard out and it came in pure white, so he was recruited to be the Santa for the school’s Christmas fair. The beard — and his Santa persona — stuck and, after moving his family to Kamloops, Taylor continued to set up a Christmas village in his front yard and welcome children as Saint Nick.

Taylor keeps active during the rest of the year by sharing his love for singing. This past year, he organized a karaoke contest called Kamloops Pub Star.

“It was kind of a community building type thing and trying to get some hype up for karaoke because it’s a dying art,” Taylor said. Contestants performed in the preliminaries at six pubs throughout the city.

“We had the finale over at Pogue Mahone and it was packed,” he said. “We had celebrity judges. It was wonderful.”

To find out more about Taylor’s charitable endeavours, go to Facebook and search “Kamloops Santa Claus North Pole Village.”

MKamloops, many, as cycling a vehicle “I’m people said. “Anything of this, She with environmental welcomed

Marg Archibald is a superb example of an environmental leader.

During her decades in Kamloops, she has been an inspiration to many, as she can always be seen walking and cycling wherever she goes. She has not owned a vehicle since 2015.

“I’m painfully aware of the legions of people that really deserve this,” Archibald said. “Anything to highlight the importance of this, I’m in.”

She volunteers for many groups involved with environmental issues and has often welcomed people into her beautiful backyard for concerts and fundraisers to support those groups.

During her time as manager of the Sahali Mall, Archibald arranged for the Kamloops Regional Farmers’ Market to continue in the mall through the winter months.

At the age of 50, Archibald wrote a book, Cycling Into Your Soul, detailing her experiences travelling and cycling in Russia, Czechia (Czech Republic), Corsica, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, New Zealand and Thailand.

Closer to home, Archibald has continually supported Bike to Work Week (now known as GoByBike Week).

Now in her 70s, Archibald can be found on Saturday mornings downtown at the farmers’ market on St. Paul Street, ensuring each passerby is aware of the bicycle valet service now available in the city.

Archibald is an inspiration to those who advocate for active transportation.

She constantly demonstrates actions everyone can take to help reduce their carbon footprint.

“I’ve got grandchildren,” Archibald said. “We have to be thinking in these terms. I gave up my car in 2015. That’s a big, big piece of it.”

Everyone is talking about the carbon footprint, but this award celebrates a person who is walking their talk, whether it be riding their bike to work year-round, reusing and reducing, and taking great steps in setting an example for others to follow.