"The Interview Project" Featuring Donna Reid
Celebrating Donna Reid
We have much to celebrate about this incredible individual. Donna is a mother of three, retired teacher, Cambridge City Councillor, and volunteer with Cambridge Council on Aging. She is passionate about equity issues for women and spearheaded the ‘Cambridge Celebration of Women Group,’ honoring significant days in women’s rights history each year. She is funny, inspiring, motivated, passionate, and long-time volunteer within her community. Donna has 82 years under her belt.
“I did not start university till I was 35, because when I started teaching, you did not need a degree at that time. I decided I wanted to get this education anyway, especially when the younger teachers would come in with their degrees completed. It made me want to sharpen my skills. When my daughters were in high school, I was off to university. Every day, we all headed to school after breakfast together. It was a wonderful time in our lives.”
What volunteer experiences are you most passionate about in your life?
“I am passionate about equity issues, particularly equity for women. In the 1970’s, the ratio of school principals who were men to those who were women needed to be fixed (it was five women to 120 men at that time). We changed that!
“I have always been interested in politics; my focus was on issues of equity….
“I run a program called the ‘Cambridge Celebration of Women’. We celebrate three historic important days for women each year (International Women’s Day, Charter Day, and Person’s Day). Each has unique celebrations planned to involve the community. I love collaborating with different community groups to make these events happen.”
What aspects of serving your community and giving back are most important to you? What motivates you to help in these ways?
“Like a lot of people, you want to make a difference, and leave where you have been in a better place than when you got there. I am the kind of woman that throws myself into the deep end, and then figures out how to swim. I just want to make a difference.”
What is something most people in your life would not know about you?
“When I was in high school, I took officer training and became a sergeant, so I had to command a platoon.”
“When I was in elementary school, I won the public speaking contest for the area.
“I am a huge figure-skating fan.”
What would you want future generations to know about these efforts? What advice would you share with them?
“People should have goals in their lives. Call it a goal or a dream, whatever it is. I have always had goals and dreams that I have wanted to accomplish. You can reach those things when you set them! This is the approach I chose rather than letting things just happen to me….
“Find that thing that you enjoy, and get involved and get right in there. Be a part of it all. It makes a better community, and makes us all happier!”
What would you want people to know about the process of aging that you feel is currently misunderstood within society?
“We believe it is desirable to be young, look young, act young; we all believe that. I am guilty of it myself. This can have a detrimental effect on us as we age. A young child is beautiful; a young woman is beautiful; an old woman is beautiful: we are beautiful at all stages….
“As you get older, you accumulate a lot of knowledge. You have a clarity about who you are. All the wisdom you gained needs to be utilized and shared. The world needs older people just as much as it needs younger people….
“I was at a pain clinic and the doctor said, ‘You are retired,’ and I said, ‘No I work.’ She was shocked and said, ‘Wow, I am impressed’. This should not have been so ‘out of the wake’. I want to work, utilize my skills, give back and be involved. I would like to see us view older adults in this way – as people with skills and talents to share.”
“Every age has something good about it and something bad about it. Do you want to be a teenager again? Neither do I.”
What aspect of your life are you most proud of?
“That I won the election and got onto Cambridge City Council. I worked REALLY hard at that.
“I set my mind to it the second time I ran. It was a new ward so I knew I would have to work extremely hard between April to October, going out six days a week knocking on doors. I am not fast! It took me a long time to get to every door. Sundays were my day of rest. The best days were the days it rained; people LOVED it! I was so pleased when I won. I felt like I deserved it because I worked at it.”
What does age mean to you?
“Age is going through each stage. When you get to be the age I am, there is a lot of freedom. Not everyone is as fortunate, but being financially secure, this freedom to get to do whatever I want to do is great. It is a freeing stage in my life.”
To contact Donna Reid, e-mail reidd@cambridge.ca, or telephone 519-249-0993.