Catching Judy just as she was about to participate in the Viking Santa Claus Parade on a Dragon Float, equipped with flames of course, her love for the town of Viking was striking! Born in Viking, but having had her career and her family away, Judy returned to Viking ten years ago to retire, although most people don’t have running for the town council as part of their retirement plan. Judy’s boundless energy and enthusiasm probably does not allow for much down time.
Indeed being a strong advocate and passionate champion for Viking, runs in the family. Both sets of grandparents were part of the founding of the small town, population 1000. Her Father was the COS (now called the Chief Administrator Officer) who organized fundraisers for town projects. Between 1950 – 1953, 43 cars were raffled off. One of the signature projects was the local arena which became known as the car- arena. Until Judy was a teen-ager, she thought all indoor skating rinks were car–arenas. In 2018, at the 65th anniversary celebration of the Car-arena project, some of the original cars were hauled out of the bush (where they had been retired) to be part of the celebration.
If cars were a focus of her Father’s volunteerism – walking is a focus of one piece of Judy’s active volunteer life. She walks 5 miles a day and is a member of the Viking Community Wellness Society which has been building trails to ensure that residents can walk to all the amenities and services of Viking. At this point the well-used paths are covered with wood chips as the town raises money for other kinds of paving. The group has plans to extend the pathway system into some of the farmlands and wetlands near- by.
Asking Judy about her hopes for Viking was a poignant moment . . she in fact loves Viking exactly how it is and finds it hard to imagine it being any better!