Community builder Val Jensen inducted into LTCHS Hall of Fame

She said it was humbling to receive the recognition.

“Especially when we watched all the past inductees and what they’ve done throughout the world. Really what I’ve done has been in Red Deer,” she said.

“It’s really humbling but I’m full of gratitude.”

Jensen, a graduate from Lindsay Thurber in 1976, made a difference in the community through her love for sports, physical activity, and healthy living.

Before her accomplishments as a community builder, she was a high-level athlete, which included representing her province in alpine skiing at the Alberta Winter Games.

She also competed for Canada on the duathlon and triathlon teams.

Among her many accomplishments in Red Deer, they’ve included founding Dance Magic Studio over 35 years ago. She opened the studio to allow kids of all ages to learn and enjoy dance. She sold it in 2006, but it continues to operate under different ownership.

“It was a noncompetitive studio and the motto I came up with was ‘everyone is a star,’” she said.

“That’s what I wanted kids to feel like. They’re all winners and can feel good about movement and dance.”

Jensen has also volunteered as the race director for Woody’s Triathlon and as chairperson for the 2006 Alberta Winter Games.

She played an important role in the bid for the 2019 Alberta Winter Games as co-chair of community engagement and also founded the PCN Fun Run. The Fun Run helped raise $20,000 to upgrade the kitchen at the Bower Community Hall.

In addition, Jensen coordinates the Aloha School Run that involves 10,000 kids from 26 schools that do a three-kilometre run during mental health week.

“I think if we’re active outside we’re happy people. It just comes down to I think, it’s what we all need in life is being active,” she said.

“There’s so many mental problems that kids and families are dealing with but if they get outside and play together, those fall away.”

Jensen has also won many awards that began in 2012 when she was named a Woman of Excellence by the Red Deer & District Community Foundation. That same year she won the Golden Dove Award from the Mustard Seed.

In 2014 she received the Volunteer of the Year Award from the City of Red Deer Sport Council and most recently, the Mayor’s Special Award in 2022 and the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2022.

“I was shocked,” said Jensen when asked of her initial reaction to being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“So many of the people that were in there I knew, and they had done really amazing things. Jessica Scott in Nasa and some of them have written books.

“I mean, there are some really amazing people, and I have a Grade 12 education. I taught the hokey pokey for a living, so it was kind of like, really me?”

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by Ian Gustafson

Community builder Val Jensen inducted into LTCHS Hall of Fame

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