QAHN is pleased to announce that Sheila Achtell is the recipient of the 2026 Marion Phelps Award. A volunteer board member with the Mulgrave & Derry Historical Society (MDHS) in the Outaouais since she helped found that organization in 2001, Sheila is a descendent of the early families who settled in Mulgrave in the 1860s and 1870s.
“Sheila has lived in Mulgrave all of her life and for more than 50 years has volunteered in fundraising for the local Lutheran Church,” explain Lise and Lyall Berndt, two of her nominators. The historical society grew out of the photo board project, which continues to this day. “As the year 2000 approached, our rural municipality of Mulgrave et Derry (population: 400) was considering how we would celebrate the new millennium. A local celebration was logical with a focal point of family histories. The first settlers had arrived around 1850s, so there were many families that were in their second and third generation in Canada. Any/all families could document their family history – mostly using poster boards with pictures and comments. The one-day celebration in 2000 was a huge success,” says Donald Smallian, who is a past president of the MDHS and another of Sheila’s nominators.
Following the millennium celebration of those early German and Irish immigrants who joined their French neighbours, the documented history became the start of the MDHS. Three of the original board members continue to serve the organization. “On most Boards you will find someone who becomes a very important part of the board... In our organization, that is Sheila Achtell,” Smallian says.
Sheila has an impressive list of achievements to her name, including a special heritage and community project in 2003. “Sheila convinced her church members to collaborate with the municipality to restore her church’s parsonage. This house had been vacant for years and was in need of serious care. Funds were raised, volunteers chipped in and the parsonage was rejuvenated. Thanks to Sheila and the church members, the building later became home to the MDHS, where photos and artefacts are on display. Annual heritage celebrations are held to this day,” explains Michael Kane, a former mayor of Mulgrave-et-Derry.
“2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the MDHS and also the 25 years that Sheila has worked tirelessly for her community,” he says. Julie Cullen, the current president of the MDHS, says that she was inspired to nominate Sheila for the Phelps Award not only for Sheila’s collective contribution and how it has flourished for over a generation, but for how her contributions have been so unsung. “That kind of selfless effort,” she says, “resonates for me as true volunteerism.”