Former Rosemount High School Teacher Receives Award at Buckingham Palace and From the Queen

Mr. Hunt was a recipient of the HRH Prince Michael of Kent Certificate of Merit. These are usually limited to two or three per year. However, since this was the 125th anniversary of the Royal Life Saving Society, 125 awards were presented in 27 countries of the Commonwealth. Nominations were called for people who had made a significant contribution to the Society in its mission of drowning prevention.

Mr. Hunt’s contribution involved 13 years of work with the Technical Committee of the lifeguard program in Quebec. He taught lifeguard and lifeguard instructor courses and was responsible for working with the National Committee to update the Lifeguard Program. “When the waterparks arrived in the early 1980s, I led a small team in the development of two levels of courses for lifeguard personnel,” Mr. Hunt explained. “Along the way, I also developed and taught a special course on pool water quality for the personnel in public facilities. I was also a member of a small team which developed and taught a special course for head lifeguards in aquatic facilities.”

From 1985 until 1995, Mr. Hunt worked on re-writing the two main books used by the Society for their courses. The first is The Canadian Lifesaving Manual used in courses such as bronze medallion and bronze cross. He also worked from 1985 until 1994 on the book used for National Lifeguard courses called: Alert! Lifeguarding in Action.

“I gave a first Canadian presentation on lifeguarding in the waterparks in Edmonton in 1988 and organized a national symposium on the same topic in Quebec City in 1989,” said Mr. Hunt. “These presentations were given for the Lifesaving Society in Canada.”

In 2004, the Society nominated Mr. Hunt to receive the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for service to Canadians. Then, in 2016, he received word about the HRH Prince Michael of Kent Certificate of Merit. He travelled to London with his wife Doreen on November 22. He was thrilled to attend the awards ceremony, followed by the reception hosted by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Prince Michael is the younger brother of the Duke of Kent. He is a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, and the second son of Prince George, who was the fourth son of King George V. Prince Michael is President of the Commonwealth Branch of the Society and Queen Elizabeth is patron of the Society.

Mr. Hunt retired from teaching in 2008. At Rosemount High School he was in charge of the yearbook during.  Even in his retirement, he still volunteers with his wife to record school concerts and take pictures.