IT'S easy to see that Nolan Crouse loves his city. It's written all over his Facebook page, which seems to be crowded with statuses congratulating local high school grads, and of folks thanking him for making an appearance at any number of events, or posts alerting residents of recent criminal activity...an infrequency, btw, in the city of St. Albert.

St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse was named Coach of the Yearby Hockey Alberta (1990), the Slave Lake Region (1991), andAlberta Major Bantam (1996 and 1999).

There's even photographs of things such as graffiti, in which Crouse proposes "let's find ways to rid ourselves of graffiti and report all this garbage." Clearly, Crouse is dedicated to making St. Albert a great place to live, work, or simply visit. In fact, that's hisjob!

But Crouse, as I soon discovered, is more than just the Mayor of Edmonton's closest neighbour. He's an advocate, a campaigner, a spokesman for St. Albert, itself a bustling, self-sustaining community of more than 60,000 people. This I could tell when I spoke with him about it, as well as himself.

Crouse, who was actually born in Viking, Alberta, has had a storied resume, to say the least, perhaps highlighted with turns as GM of companies like Proctor & Gamble, Alberta Energy, West Fraser Timber, and Sunchild Forest Products, the latter of which he owned. The husband and father of three is even a certified auctioneer, trained as a chemical technologist, and was heavily involved in community sports throughout the province for decades now, including President of the Grande