A Weyburn accountant, Ted Hillstead, has been recognized by the Certified General Accountants Association of Saskatchewan with the highest honour that can be bestowed in his profession.

Hillstead was designated as a Fellow of the Certified General Accountants' Association of Canada at the provincial association's convention held over the Sept. 26th weekend in Saskatoon.

This is the highest award granted by the 60,000-member national organization, which recognizes exemplary service by the member to the association, the accounting profession and to the community at large. He is a partner with the firm EPR Consulting based in Weyburn and Regina.

Hillstead said it was quite an honour to receive the designation that weekend, as the national board for the CGA was also meeting in conjunction with the provincial convention, and many of his peers from across the country were present.

He said he is only the second recipient of the Fellow designation who was not a president of the CGA. Hillstead has served as a member of the CGA's board of governors and on a number of the association's committees, as well as with the CGA Canada's Public Affairs Committee, and has taught a number of senior level CGA courses for the association.

In the community, he's been involved with the Weyburn Chamber of Commerce, including serving as president for two terms, and currently serves on the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, as well as serving on the boards of directors for the Sunrise Community Futures Development Corporation, the Weyburn Co-operative Association, the CAA, and has coach peewee minor football for the past 10 years. He was named the coach of the year in 2000 for the Regina Minor Football League.