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Honouring Innisfail's finest at annual gala

INNISFAIL – It’s a night to honour Innisfail’s finest. The Innisfail Community and Business Awards Gala: Celebrating Excellence in Our Community, is set to take place at the Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion on Oct. 12.
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Noel West/MVP Staff Minor hockey coach and community volunteer Bernie Vanderham was the winner of the 2017 Citizen of the Year Award.

INNISFAIL – It’s a night to honour Innisfail’s finest.

The Innisfail Community and Business Awards Gala: Celebrating Excellence in Our Community, is set to take place at the Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion on Oct. 12.

“It’s a night to recognize people’s accomplishments and their contributions to the community. It’s a proud night for the town,” said Janice Jones, marketing and administration coordinator. “It’s a combination of the community awards and the business awards.”

Local citizens and businesses are nominated in several categories, including the Mayor's Fitness Award, Male Athlete of the Year, Female Athlete of the Year, Sports Team of the Year, Coach Recognition, Leaders of Tomorrow, Community Arts and Culture, Community Builder and Citizen of the Year.

On the business side there are four categories up for grabs, including Business of the Year, Customer Service of the Year, Business Contribution, and Farm Family of the Year.

“We look to the community to nominate people in their community, people they know and people they work with,” said Jones, noting many nominees volunteer much of their time in the community.

This year there will be a new award presented called the Judy Davis Memorial Award that will recognize random acts of kindness.

“It is to recognize somebody or a couple or a business each year who contributes to other people’s well- being without expecting any recognition or return,” said Larrie Davis of Primerica, sponsor of the award. “They just do it because they’re kind.”

Davis lost his wife Judy this past spring and wanted to sponsor an award in her memory. He approached the committee with his idea, and they approved his award contribution.

“(Judy) was a person who was always doing things for people who were not visible. She expected no reward other than knowing she had done something that helped somebody,” said Davis. “There are all kinds of people like that in every community and I think our community is blessed with a lot of them who never get recognized.”

Tickets for the Community and Business Awards Gala are now on sale.

Early bird tickets for adults are $40 and children 10 years and under are $20. After Sept. 30, they are $45 and $25 respectively.

Tickets include a sit-down roast beef dinner and the awards ceremony and can be purchased at the Innisfail Chamber of Commerce office.

For more information visit www.innisfail.ca/awards


Kristine Jean

About the Author: Kristine Jean

Kristine Jean joined the Westlock News as a reporter in February 2022. She has worked as a multimedia journalist for several publications in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta, and enjoys covering community news, breaking news, sports and arts.
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