This category did not work out as planned. That’s not because readers didn’t send in some amazing submissions - I’m sure there were lots of older achievers people wanted to highlight. But due to a technological glitch, all the reader submissions were lost.

The Uniter 30 began as a “30 under 30” roundup, but as it progressed, we widened the categories to celebrate those making impacts in the city regardless of age (for most categories). And this year, the editorial team thought it would be great to highlight some older achievers as well.

In place of reader submissions, we collected a few notable folks to highlight.

We asked our favourite younger achiever, Chloe Chafe, if there was anyone she would nominate, and she suggested elder Mae Louise Campbell. Campbell is Ojibway Metis and lives in the North End.

“(S)he’s really shaped a lot of activism in the community and been a very important member of the community,” Chafe says. “She worked with us with the Star Blanket project on Main Street last year. She came and did a really beautiful talk and blessed the mural, so she’s really a spectacular person.”

Earlier this year, Winnipeg also lost a very prominent social justice activist who focused on issues for seniors up to his death at 83. Harry Paine served on boards of neighbourhood organizations and was also awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Make A Difference Community Award. Paine was also active with the local NDP.

While Uniter staff were tabling to pro-mote voting for the Uniter 30, we were approached by a 92-year-old University of Winnipeg student who is also a painter. His response to the survey was enthusiastic, but he said he couldn’t participate, as many people he would vote for are now dead.

Yet he - and others named here, and all the others whose names were lost in the void of the internet - are proof that it’s possible to keep making an impact, no matter one’s age.

Published in Volume 72, Number 12 of The Uniter (November 30, 2017)