WESTLOCK — A couple of repeat winners, one double recipient, two new awards and a couple of other surprises were served up alongside a fancy banquet at the Westlock and District Chamber of Commerce's 2024 Business and Community Awards Gala, which was hosted April 20 at the Westlock Community Hall.
A total of 13 awards were handed out based on nominations submitted to the chamber throughout the month of February. The result was a crowded field of nominees, with one category — Exceptional Customer Service (Individual) — having roughly 40 names on the list.
The first honour of the evening was the Pioneer Award, which is given to an individual businessperson who has made a positive and lasting impact on the business community for over 20 years. The recipient this year was Dr. Alan Watt, who originally came to the area in 1964 and has been heavily involved in both Westlock Golf Club and the Westlock Rotary Club.
Watt said the award came as a very big surprise, joking noting that if he was an actual pioneer, he would have been given a quarter of land by the Canadian government after coming to the area in 1898.
"If my family hadn’t frozen the first winter, they probably would have died of starvation the next summer," he said.
Noting that Westlock has been very good to him, Watt jokingly added, "I made a living here. I made a lot of friends here. I've danced here. I've been drunk a few times."
He also recalled the story of how he once met an actual pioneer who settled in the Linaria area just before the start of the 20th century. He had given the man, who was in his 90s, a medical examination and then submitted his bill to the county.
"And it's still there, and it still hasn't been paid," he said.
Next up was the Community Ambassador award, which acknowledges an individual who has exhibited leadership qualities in orchestrating an event or who successfully completed a major project in the past year that enhances the business community.
The recipient this year was Todd Ducharme of Westlock Motors, who said he probably didn't deserve the award when considering some of the other nominees.
"But I was told by my business partner John Davis to surround yourself with good people, and that’s what you do if you want to accomplish things. At home and at work and in the community, I've been surrounded by good people," he said.
A new award this year was the Youth Leadership Award, which acknowledges the future leaders of tomorrow. The recipient this year was Paige Tymkow, who has been heavily involved in the Westlock Rotary Interact Club.
“Volunteering is one thing that I found so much joy taking part in, especially over these past three years being part of Interact," Tymkow said.
“Due to my amazing role models and family, I’ve grown to appreciate that volunteering isn’t just about being recognized for one’s thoughtfulness. It’s about trying your absolute best to make someone else’s life better, whether a crowd is watching or not."
Another new award was the Not-for-Profit Award, which goes to a not-for-profit organization that has made a significant positive impact within the community. The first recipient was the Hope Resource Centre, which provides services to victims of gender-based violence within the town and county of Westlock, as well as the Village of Clyde.
Executive director Sylvia Yoder said she could go on for a week talking about what they do at the Hope Resource Centre, but summed up their mission as supporting "beautiful people."
She added, “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths ... Beautiful people do not just happen. We help them happen.”
The next recipient of the Exceptional Customer Service (Individual) award, was not present at the ceremony, as Mike Alaeddine of Purolator had a prior commitment. Nevertheless, a co-worker accepted it on his behalf.
Westlock Ford was a double recipient of the next two awards: the Exceptional Customer Service (Business) award and the Renovation/Restoration award, which were accepted by master of ceremonies Paul Olsen.
The first award was sponsored by Westlock County, and presenter Tom Koep, the municipality's manager of economic development, noted that itw as "quite a feather in the cap" of Westlock's business communtiy that there were approximately 30 nominations in this category.
Regarding the second award, Olsen commented that their recent renovation to the front end of the dealership came with a lot of hardship, such as employees coming to work to find a layer of dust over everything, but he felt it was worth it.
“It turned out awesome ... I think it really looks nice driving down the highway through town here," he said.
The Westlock Golf Club was the recipient of the next honour, the Innovation Award, which is given to a business that has demonstrated an innovative approach to growth or "staging a comeback."
Noting that he had a dream of managing the business, general manager Ryan Provencal said he, food and beverage manager Kelly Laun and PGA professional Ryan Craig had sat down last summer to hash out what was needed at the golf club and to start working on improving it.
"We needed to make it a community place, build our relationship with the community and ... show everybody what we have. We have a beautiful course, we have great food," he said.
R Star Strategies was the next recipient of the Digital Marketing award, which is awarded to a business that has demonstrated excellence in marketing and promoting its brand through various online channels. Bernice Rennie, who accepted the award, said she was "kind of overwhelmed" by the size of the crowd at the supper, but still very appreciative of the honour, noting that she has some business clients in the Westlock area.
The New Business award then went to Bloom Bake Shop, which is in its first year of business. Nichol Clement, who accepted the award, offered thanks for "incredible welcome" to the Westlock area.
“This is really an honour to be able to live our dream. Most of these businesses started with that, and not many people get to do that," she said.
The Business of the Year (1-10 Employees) award was then presented to All Around Heating and Cooling. Reece Woloshyn, who accepted the award, gave a shout-out to the other staff members at the small business.
“It’s not just me, it’s all you. We did it all together," he said.
The final two recipients of the Business of the Year (11-29 employees) and Business of the Year (30-plus Employees) were also winners from 2023: Westlock Home Hardware and Wabash Manufacturing respectively.
Westlock Home Hardware owner Blair Kneller said he believed there was no way they could win the award two years in a row, but his amazing staff deserved much of the credit.
“This year, we are celebrating our 110th anniversary in the Town of Westlock, so this is an honour for us. And thank you to all of our guys, and all of the customers that shop the store. Hopefully we can continue to provide more and more of what you guys need," he said.
Kayle Mortensen and Jared Kulmatyski, who accepted their award on behalf of Wabash Manufacturing, also commented that "“we were sure because we won last year, there was no way that would happen again."
