Brighton Man Awarded Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers by Lieutenant Governor
A long-time serving Legion member was honoured by receiving the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers at his home in Brighton on Wednesday, March 9, 2022.
Lieutenant Governor, Elizabeth Dowdeswell arrived at the Baldwin Street home of Greg Kobold at approximately 2 p.m. for the outdoor ceremony.
The Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers (SMV) is a national award that recognizes the volunteer achievements of Canadians from across the country in a wide range of fields. It is the highest honour for volunteer service that an individual can receive within the Canadian Honours System.
Her honour was accompanied by the OPP and her Aide de Camp tomorrow as she arrived.
In attendance there were several Legionnaires to mark the historic occasion.
Kobold was notified in 2020 that he would be receiving the medal, but due to COVID restrictions the ceremony was put off several times.
Kobold has met the Lieutenant Governor on a previous occasion when she was in Brighton for a rainy Remembrance ceremony reminiscing about the Cadets standing in the rain.
The citation read as follows: For the past 36 years, Gregory Kobold has been helping veterans in his community through his involvement with the Royal Canadian Legion. In various roles, Gregory has worked to break the isolation of retired military personnel by visiting with them, and especially by ensuring that they have access to quality services. He has also helped to preserve military history during the poppy campaigns.”
On behalf of her Excellency, the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, Mr. Gregory Kobold of Brighton, Ontario is presented with the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers.”
Kobold’s first words after Her Honour pinned the medal were, “I’m so humbled.”
“Thank you for your service,” replied the Lieutenant Governor.
Speaking to people who were in attendance, Lieutenant Governor Dowdeswell said that one of the very few benefits of COVID is since they were no longer to gather in large groups for ceremonies, one of the benefits is to go to peoples homes for the presentations.
“I think it’s a much more intimate way of being with family and neighbours along with people who matter to you.”
“One of the things we’ve all learned from COVID is its given us time to think about how important families are and neighbours are. And there is nothing more important than building community than volunteers.”
Speaking of the war in Ukraine, the Lieutenant Governor called it a “geo-political mess, that is so worrying.”
“I really hope it causes us all to stop and think about how precious our freedom and democracy really is.”
“I just don’t understand the bombing of children’s hospitals. Civilians and young people didn’t sign up for this.”
After the ceremony, Kobold said, “it was a fantastic display of courtesy.
Kobold was raised in a military family and joined the Legion in 1982.
He’s served on the Executive, as President of the Brighton Branch, has been a Zone Commander, District Commander and also volunteered after September 11, 2001 in New York with the recovery.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love