Monday March 17, 2025 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
There are about 30,000 people across Canada who will have received the King Charles III Coronation Medal over the past year.
Tonight during a City of Langford council meeting, one of those medals was awarded to the widower of fallen West Shore RCMP officer Cst Sarah Beckett.
Brad Aschenbrenner was presented with the medal by Jess Gunnarson, Chair, Boys & Girls Club.
Role of the MP:
The brief ceremony was presided over by Alistair MacGregor, Member of Parliament (MP) for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford.
All medal recipients are vetted through the office of the local MP as well as through the Governor General’s office in Ottawa.
Making a few remarks, Aschenbrenner emphasized the importance of providing opportunities to youth, which was recognized by the local Boys & Girls Club in Langford.
“When BGC Canada invited all 80 Clubs across Canada to nominate one person who has made a significant contribution to their organization to receive one of the 36 medals to be awarded, Brad Aschenbrenner was our unanimous choice,” said the Boys & Girls Club in a news release.
Other Langford-area recipients:
MacGregor presided over his own medal ceremony for 13 other recipients of the Cowichan-Malahat-Langford area, in Cobble Hill on January 18 including former Langford Fire Chief Bob Beckett, former Langford Engineer Michelle Mahovolich, and long-time west shore news publisher Mary P Brooke.
Last fall, the medal was awarded to former Langford Mayor Stew Young, former BC MLA Moe Sihota, and First Nations leaders Gordon Planes and Shirley Alphonse. That ceremony was presided over by MLA Ravi Parmar (then for Langford-Juan de Fuca).
Remembering Sarah Beckett:
The late Cst Sarah Beckett left behind her husband and two children upon her death in a very early morning vehicle crash in the core of downtown Langford at Peatt Road and Goldstream Avenue. Her police cruiser was impacted by a drunk driver in an oncoming pickup truck during a police chase.
Cst Beckett has since been remembered with a scholarship for students going into criminal studies or policing training (administered by the Capital Regional District) as well as a playground in Langford located behind Starlight Stadium, and an annual community Sarah Beckett Memorial Run as a fundraiser.
There is a memorial plaque outside the West Shore RCMP detachment.
RCMP officers from across BC and across Canada attended the memorial for Sarah Beckett in 2016.
===== RELATED:
- Island Social Trends editor & publisher Mary P Brooke receives coronation medal (January 19, 2025)
- King Charles III Coronation Medals awarded in Cowichan-Malahat-Langford (January 18, 2025)
- West shore mix: Stew Young & Moe Sihota supported by family & friends (September 5, 2024)
- Four west shore recipients of the King Charles III coronation medal (September 4, 2024)
- NEWS SECTIONS: LANGFORD | VANCOUVER-ISLAND
