Robert Simons is the 18th recipient of Port Moody’s Freedom of the City award.
But don’t expect him to start herding sheep and cattle down St. Johns Street.
The award acknowledges the contributions to civic life by an individual or group. Past recipients include Dr. Mary Anne Cooper, former mayor David Driscoll, Bert Flinn and Port Moody Legion Branch 119.
Freedom of the City awards date back to medieval England when respected citizens were exempted from feudal serfdom. In London, that meant they also had the right to drive their livestock over the London Bridge to markets in the city.
Simons said he isn’t sure what sorts of perks will come with his new title that is to be presented to him on April 17, but it’s one he’ll wear proudly and with no small measure of responsibility.
Since moving to the Noons Creek area of Port Moody in 1980, Simons has made it his life’s work to nurture and build the city’s unique sense of community.
His volunteer service has touched almost every aspect of life in Port Moody, from the city’s community care committee that worked to make it more livable through initiatives like auditing the accessibility of civic facilities, to a six-year stint on the police board, to preserving heritage, fostering the arts and bolstering the city’s economic growth. He's also run for political office.
Simons said one of his current leadership roles, as president of the Port Moody Foundation, allows him the privilege of having his finger on the city’s heart and soul.
A lone child of parents who worked in health care and without children of his own, Simons said his community has become the channel for his nurturing nature. But it’s one he can’t fulfill alone.
Simons said the mantle of Freeman of the City is one he doesn’t wear in isolation as each effort to build community takes a legion of dedicated volunteers who are open to sharing their own passions and ready to work together to see them blossom.
“Everyone is part of a big team,” he said. “We have to find a way to come together in a common ground to bring in positive solutions.”
Simons said the foundation of Port Moody’s unique, natural environs and residents’ strong connection to their community will endure, even as the city wrestles with the changes that come with growth.
He said angst and hand-wringing over issues like development, traffic and economic diversity are part of a city’s natural trajectory, especially in a community like Port Moody that cast itself as a small town for so many years but is now coming to grips with its reality as a piece of a much larger urban puzzle.
“I don’t think [Port Moody] will ever lose its essence,” Simons said.
