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Volunteer Appreciation Wee Mundare Couple Always Willing to Lend a Hand Michelle Pinon News Advertiser It has been said that, “The hands that make the difference are the hands of volunteers.” That is especially true of Bob and Deb Gratton who arrived in Mundare nearly six years ago. As to what brought the couple to this small town? Bob said, “We used to live on an acreage and kind of got tired of being secluded and thought we’d move into a nice little community. Online I saw Mundare and thought it would be a good fit for us.
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april 21, 2021
Deb and Bob Gratton at the concession in Victory Park. (Michelle Pinon/Photo)
Deb and I are always active no matter where we end up. We always try to be part of the community. So when we moved to Mundare we were looking for organizations we could possibly get involved with and help. The seniors centre was the first opportunity we had. They
were looking for members so we approached them and we joined.” Then came the Communities in Bloom organization. “Deb is a horticulturalist (she took a master gardeners course) and we found out there was a CIB here so we got involved there. We use to volunteer at the George Pegg Botanic Garden near Sangudo. We volunteered there for 10 years.” Bob says volunteering, “Is about not only giving back to the community we live in, but wanting to be productive and helpful in society while we’re still living. We are not people just to sit around and do nothing. We both met in Fort McMurray and it became very active with different organizations there. Raising money for different groups and things like that. As our kids grew up through school, we were involved with a lot of the school fundraising activities and those types of things. So, nothing’s changed, except the kids have grown up and gone.” One of the biggest fundraisers they were involved in was for the hospital foundation in Fort McMurray where Bob created and constructed a haunted maze. “That raised over $500,000. We did a haunted maze for three years in Mundare and raised some money for minor hockey and public library.” One of the big fundraisers they participate in with the Mundare Senior Citizens Centre are the monthly perogy suppers. “We plan to restart take-out meals, but with Covid it’s just a waiting game until we get the word from Health Services that we can meet as a group so we can start making our perogies and do that fundraising activity.
CIB just had a meeting and are getting organized for the spring and summer. We do pruning and planting and whatever we need to do to beautify the town. One of the fundraising projects with CIB is slo-pitch ball tournaments. My wife and I run the concession. When we moved here the concession wasn’t being used. So, that prompted us to open the concession and make use of the facility there. Some of the other members volunteer to help us out there.” While they already have plenty on their plates, they always find the time to help out their neighbours. They have grown to love Mundare, and plan to keep getting their hands dirty and rolling up their sleeves for the betterment of the community.
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Deb and Bob Gratton hope there will be slo-pitch tournaments in Victory Park where they operate the concession. (Michelle Pinon/Photo)
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