A prominent member of the Chatham-Kent Black community has been named the municipality's Senior of the Year.
Dorothy Wright-Wallace was given her award on Wednesday during the Aging Well Conference at Hidden Hills Golf and Country Club.
She was one of 18 seniors nominated for the award.
Wright-Wallace was speechless after finding out she had been chosen.
"It never entered my mind, something like this... I can't put it into words right now, it's so unreal," she said.
CK Councillor Alysson Storey, who also chairs the Chatham-Kent Celebration of Older Adults committee, explained all the nominees were deserving of the award. In the end, the committee decided to give it to Wright-Wallace.
"She's been volunteering in our community literally for decades," she added.
What stood out for Storey was Wright-Wallace's work with the Black community. Specifically, her commitment to ensure that Chatham-Kent's Black history is remembered.
Wright-Wallace said this has been a passion of hers for many years.
"Black history wasn't put in our schoolbooks when we were being educated and I want the next generation of Black children to know our heroes and know what we did," she explained.
The other 17 nominees were given certificates and messages from Chatham-Kent-Leamington Member of Parliament Dave Epp and Member of Provincial Parliament Trevor Jones.
The other nominees are:
Deb Johnson (Chatham)
Dianne Lloyd (Chatham)
Edwinna Rawlings (Chatham)
Fran Betts (Wallaceburg)
Cindy Cadotte (Chatham)
Jarka Pelisek (Chatham)
Judy and Rod McKenzie (Chatham)
Cathy Underwood (Wallaceburg)
Anne Gibson (Chatham)
Madeline Blain (Tilbury)
Robert Hughes (Chatham)
Leanord Joseph Maynard (Chatham)
Ken and Rose King (Blenheim)
James Snyder (Chatham)
Dr. John Mann (Blenheim)