Garent Patterson received Honorary Membership for 2007.

President Wade Van Snick presents Garnet Patterson with his Honorary Membership at the 2007 Annual General Meeting.

 It is hard to think of the Nova Scotia School Counsellors Association without picturing this year?s honorary member, Garnet Patterson.  Many of you will recognize him as the longstanding Treasurer for the NSSCA for the past number of years and will miss his presence.

Garnet  brought much insight to the NSSCA from his experience as a Guidance Counsellor at St. Mary's Academy in Sherbrooke for 28 years, beginning in 1979.

He honed his skills with a Masters program from Acadia in 1986-87.  

His involvement with the NSSCA began in 1991-92 as Conference Chair and registrar for the 1992 conference at St. F.X.U.  

He was first elected Treasurer at that annual general meeting and he took over the membership duties at that time.  

 Including 1992, Garnet looked after registration for at least 10 conferences.   

It is important to recognize that in his 15 year involvement with the NSSCA executive, he never missed a meeting.  At our last meeting, he did admit to being late once.  By the way, that was his first meeting, driving in a raging snowstorm, with him in one vehicle, his wife Judy and their children following behind, and he spent the drive looking both out the windshield and in the rearview mirror.  He arrived at 7pm for a 5:30 start.  And he was never late again.

Garnet served on the Special Associations Steering Committee in the late 1990's for three years.  From 2001 to 2004 he was also the Treasurer for the 2003 CCA National Conference in Halifax.  

His other involvements included many years as a Local Treasurer, District Coordinator for NSSAF, Chairman of the Volunteer Fire Department, NSTU Annual Council delegate and Resolutions Chair and service on several NSTU committees.  He has  just been named to the Board of Directors for the Sheonoroil Foundation as a retired teacher representative so his expertise will continue to provide our members with benefits.

Garnet humbly stated that he sat at meetings and listened to the wiser heads around him.  But he is being modest.  Garnet was always the guy who could answer, from memory, a particular clause in the contract or whether or not a counselor was a member, and as a regular delegate at Annual Council,  he often spoke up for the needs of counselors in the province. 

The NSSCA and the counselllors across the province will miss him greatly and we wish him well in his retirement.