By Yvette d’Entremont
When Gordon Morgan hung up his volunteer hat with the Sackville Community Development Association last year, he left big shoes to fill.
The longtime Sackville volunteer may not be well known to most Sackville residents, but his legacy has left its mark on many.
In addition to being one of the first volunteer organizers of the Sackville United Soccer league, Morgan has devoted countless hours to numerous community endeavours. His work as head of the Heritage Park Advisory Committee helped ensure the beautification of Sackville’s Heritage Park.
He is also the founding member of the Sackville Development Association, formed in 1997 by a like-minded group of volunteers who wanted to ensure Sackville retained a community character of its own following amalgamation.
The popular and well attended Patriot Days festival is one of the group’s crowning achievements.
But that wasn’t enough for Morgan. Disappointed that he could never count on securing a marching band to play during the Patriot Days Canada Day parade, Morgan decided to look into creating Sackville’s very own band.
In the fall of 2002, the Sackville Community Band was born. The group now includes a 55-member concert band, 35-member youth band and 30-member marching band whose talent is widely recognized and whose services are in high demand.
Although Morgan left his post with the development association last year, he remains involved in the community via his volunteer work with the Sackville Legion.
“Gordon has left some big shoes to fill, and the amount of work he has done for this community should be widely recognized,” said Charlene Whitlock, the Sackville Community Development Association’s new chairperson. “We definitely want to thank him for lighting that spark that brought us to where we are today.”