As Mayor John Armstrong walks away from his position on Clarendon council, he takes with him many fond memories from his 16 years of service to his community.

Armstrong said he is looking forward to spending more time with his wife of 55 years, Marlie (née Sinclair) and his daughters Janet, Lori and Ruth, their husbands, and his four grandchildren.

After working at the pulp and paper mill in Portage du Fort for 37 years, Armstrong said he was urged by Jack Lang, who was the mayor at the time, to run for office and he was elected councillor.

“From the beginning, I always said that I’d be available. If someone called and left me a message, I would always return their call. I felt that was important,” Armstrong said, “I didn’t go into office to just sit at council and do nothing in between.”

The 280 kms of Clarendon roads to maintain kept him busy, but he felt it was his duty to travel those roads on a regular basis to make sure the roads were in acceptable conditions.

“With farm equipment getting bigger and heavier, we’ve had to upgrade the roads, change some of the culverts to larger ones to accommodate the spring run-off and avoid flooding and washing out the roads,” Armstrong said.

Having served alongside two mayors as councillor, was pro-mayor for eight years and mayor for six year.

Meanwhile, Armstrong said it was nice to see housing developments sprouting up in the community as well as seeing young farmers coming back to build on family homesteads.

“It proves that this is a good place to be,” he said.

“John always gave his time and worked hard. When you put yourself out there in public for that many years, you have to have a thick skin,” said Councillor Phillip Elliot, adding that it has been a pleasure to work alongside him for many years.

Armstrong has always had a pulse on what needed to be done ahead of time, according to Elliot who said, “We all do our best and with that many kilometres of roads to look after, he is leaving [most of] our roads in tip-top shape,” Elliot added.

Armstrong believes it has been a privilege to have the people of Clarendon place their trust in him through the years and said he has enjoyed it tremendously.

“I can walk away with pride knowing I have dedicated myself to his community and in building an excellent rapport with my fellow council members,” said Armstrong.

It is a sentiment that was echoed by councillor Mavis Hanna, who said, “John has always been extremely dedicated, he was always concerned about values and making sure the proper infrastructure was in place.”

“He never shied away from difficult situations, he worked through them with integrity, would always put his best foot forward and bring a positive note,” she added.

Hanna recalls an instance when the office was short-staffed, she and Armstrong went in to stuff and stamp envelopes with mailers for the community.

“We didn’t have enough resources at the office in order to get them out in a timely fashion, but no matter what he was there to help, to support the community and it didn’t matter if it was a big job or a small job, John was there and he was all in. He will be greatly missed,” said Hanna.

The 77-year old said he wasn’t stepping away because of his age or because of any health issues, and he foresees future community involvement in some capacity; but he is looking forward to catching up on some of his grandchildren’s baseball and hockey games that he’s had to miss in the past.

“I just feel that it’s time for me. Now it’s time for me to enjoy my family and my grandchildren” he concluded.

The Equity contacted other candidates in this municipality but was unsuccessful in time for publication. We anticipate getting in touch with them in the coming weeks.

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