The City of Yorkton recently recognized the recipients of the 2025 Civic Recognition Awards at city hall. The chamber room was full on Monday afternoon, as friends and families gathered to celebrate the 2025 Civic Recognition Awards recipients. “These awards are about more than recognition,” Mayor Aaron Kienle said prior to the event. “They’re a chance to celebrate the people and organizations who keep showing up for Yorkton.” On Monday, he opened the awards ceremony but quickly gave word to the awards committee who presented the winners with wooden plaques. “An outstanding young person who leads through service and initiative,” said Sherry MacDonald from the committee. She called on 17-year-old Danica Keyowsky to present her with the 2025 Youth Civic Recognition Award. Keyowsky’s been volunteering for years at organizations in Yorkton such as the Western Development Museum, the Boys and Girls Club (BGC) and Habitat for Humanity. “When I was with the [BGC’s] Lead Up program in 2020-ish, I was averaging like 120 volunteer hours per year,” Keyowsky told CTV News after she received the award. Keyowsky said her plan is to become an aerospace engineer and this recognition is taking her closer to realizing her dream. “It’s a resume builder and it shows that I’m really committed, and when I have something that I want to do, I work until I get it done,” she said. In the adults category, the award was given to Thom Weir for decades of dedicated community service in Yorkton, including leadership and volunteer contributions in agriculture, tourism, heritage, sports, and community organizations. His most visible contribution to the community is perhaps the reconstruction of the city’s old flour mill, soon to become a bustling community centre. “Over the years, I’ve been involved in provincial things too, but [I was recognized] mainly for the activities with the exhibition board,” Weir told CTV News on Tuesday, standing inside the Yorkton Flour Mill. “Working with their education program there, working with the crops of the Parkland, and restoring the mill.” Weir was nominated by the Juanita Polegi, executive director of the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce. “In recognition of the selfless support an individual has made towards the betterment of the City of Yorkton,” Weir read the words on the award plaque. The Yorkton Lions Club was also recognized in the 2025 awards for its longstanding service to Yorkton and area, including community-building initiatives and the continued development of Wonders of Winter. “I think recognition does not only support the people doing the work, but it also puts information out there [about] these opportunities,” Mayor Kienle said after the event. “Like tonight giving the award to the Lions Club. Hopefully that will maybe bring some more people who would like to join the Lions Club and get involved.”
