Milton Taylor, a long time Saskatoon photographer and owner of Imagery Photography, was honoured at this year’s B’nai Brith Silver Plate Dinner and was presented with the 2015 We’re Proud of You Award. This award recognizes a citizen who has provided exemplary volunteer service to the community, something which Milton epitomizes.
As passionate about volunteering as he is about photography, Milton devotes countless hours to many community organizations, projects and programs. He has been, and continues to be, involved with the Kinsmen Club, the Jazz Festival, Saskatoon Folkfest, the World Junior Hockey Championships, the Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre, the Saskatoon Golf and Country Club and Tourism Saskatoon. Milton was also instrumental in establishing SYPE (Saskatchewan Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs), a Junior Chamber of Commerce.
One of Milton’s greatest passions is his involvement with Care and Share, an organization devoted to the needs of 17 inner-city schools. By providing children with some basic needs, Care and Share encourages them to stay in school, in hopes of having a better life than the one they were born into. Milton strongly believes that education is only way to break the cycle and that the longer children can stay in school, the better their chances of success. Milton volunteers and has served on the board for more than 12 years.
“The Patch” is another project Milton helped establish along with the Mayor of Saskatoon. Across from Milton’s business, on the corner of Third Ave and Duchess Street, are three acres of property owned by the City of Saskatoon. After tearing down some dilapidated houses, work began to turn the land into a community garden, which is tended by volunteers associated with the Saskatoon Food Bank. This year marked the fifth harvest which produced over 20,000 lbs of produce for the Food Bank.
Milton loves to make people happy, something that is reflected in both his volunteering and his career. He is grateful that his business allows him to mix his passion of photography with volunteering. “Choose a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” He states that he hasn’t worked for a long, long time. “We capture memories and preserve the present for our clients. There’s something really special and rewarding in that. Those memories are gifts that will keep on giving for generations.”
“Treasure Life”has been Milton’s motto for many years. “We all get opportunities to do something in life. We have to seize those opportunities and make them count.” He hopes that we can all look back in years to come and recall how wonderful and treasured those opportunities are. Always treasure life. – Mazel Tov Milton.