Glen Vienneau
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 27/00) - Five Northern volunteers were recently invested by the Order of St. John for their contributions towards the community.

"They've done collectively an awful lot of work for St. John Ambulance and of course they continue to do so," said Max Rispan, board member and past-president of the St. John Ambulance for Nunavut and NWT.

Commissioner Glenna Hansen, Linda Heimbach, Lynn Cook, Lieut. (Navy) David Connelly and Alfonso Santos were recognized by the Most Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem.

As tradition, Hansen who became the Northwest Territories' 14th commissioner last April, was invested as Commander as she is by extension the Queen's representative in the North.

She became the Vice Prior of the Council of St. John for the NWT and Nunavut, replacing former Commissioner Dan Marion.

Last Friday, Hansen and Lieut. Connelly took part in the investiture ceremony at the Christ Church Cathedral in Ottawa.

"The investiture was a large stone cathedral in Ottawa with a pipe organ that just make the stones reverberate," Lieut. Connelly said, adding, "It was awe inspiring. You are allowed a guest, so I took my mom from Nova Scotia. She was just tickled pink."

Following the ceremony, Hansen and Lieut. Connelly were among those invited to a reception at Rideau Hall.

As for the three others being honoured, they will be receiving their medals at an upcoming ceremony to be held in Yellowknife.

During that time, Santos will be promoted to Officer of the Order after 21 years of service in the North.

Santos believes his accomplishments would not have been possible without the support he received from the volunteers.

For Cook, her upcoming investiture as Serving Member comes as a honour and is "a very nice way of saying thank-you for volunteer work".

Cook is among the 13 board members of the St. John Ambulance Nunavut and NWT.

Linda Heimbach, president of the NWT Registered Nurses Association, will also be invested as a Serving Member. She has been nursing in Yellowknife for the past 10 years.

Heimbach has work as a emergency nurse and is now the Tele-health co-ordinator for Stanton Regional Hospital.

In the North, St. John Ambulance is known for its voluntary first aid and community services, first aid training, youth development, and emergency response and preparedness.

In total, the association has 15 brigades and 70 instructors in the NWT and Nunavut.

The charitable traditions of the Order of St. John goes back more than 900 years and 25 years ago in the North.