Red Deer volunteer all-star Lyn Radford will receive Alberta's highest honour.
Radford is among nine Albertans who will be invested into the Alberta Order of Excellence in an October ceremony. The Order of Excellence was created in 1979 and is the highest honour the province can bestow on a citizen.
The 2009 Red Deer Citizen of the Year, Radford was floored when she got word of her latest honour.
"I was a little awestruck. It's just kind of shocked me. I didn't expect it," said Radford, 69.
She has always appreciated the recognition she has received from the community for her efforts, which have included numerous honours and awards over the years, including being inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. But it is even more humbling to be singled out at the provincial level.
Alberta Lt.-Gov. Salmi Lakhani said the order recognizes "individuals who have made transformative contributions to our province.
Radford and the other eight from Calgary, Edmonton and Medicine Hat have "had an immeasurable impact upon Alberta history and new opened new opportunities for countless other Albertans."
Radford said she had no inkling she had been nominated and has no idea who put her name up.
"Whoever it is, thank you for seeing something in me that I don't see in myself," she said. "I'm fortunate that people have always taken the time to recognize me.
"You don't do the work for the recognition. You do the work to make someone else's life better."
The grandmother to 11 said she has tried to instill in them the same message she had for her children, which is to always look to help others and make your community better.
"When you see that you can help make something a little bit easier or a little bit better for someone, you do whatever you can."
Radford is showing no signs of slowing down. On Monday, she will miss a Red Deer Games Foundation board meeting. But that's only because she is in Ottawa for a Canada Games Council meeting, where the torch was lit on Monday afternoon for the 2025 Canada Games, which runs Aug. 8-25 in St. John's, Nfld.
She recently chaired Red Deer District Chamber's Task Force on Homelessness, which set the stage for the creation of the Homeless Foundation for Red Deer Region.
Some partial highlights from Radford's resume include: 2006 chair of the Alberta Summer Games; director on the 1998 Alberta Winter Games, 2004 and 2012 Scotties Tournaments of Hearts, as well as being involved in the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay Celebration and the inaugural Tour of Alberta cycling event. She is also a founding member of the Alberta Sports Development Centre – Central and the Red Deer Leadership Centre.
In 2007, she received a Mayor's Award for Distinction for Volunteer Service, and in 2015 received the city's highest honour the Mayor's Special Recognition Award, and in 2019 received an Honorary Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies from Red Deer College, and in the same year received the City of Red Deer Lifetime Sport Achievement Award recipient.
The Alberta Order of Excellence is the highest honour the Province of Alberta can bestow on a citizen and takes precedence over any other provincial honour or award. The Alberta Order of Excellence is on the Canadian Honours Order of Precedence, meaning its members are entitled to wear the insignia as approved by the Governor of General of Canada.
Members of the Order are entitled to use the post nominals AOE.
