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Tribute to Tourism comes to town

In a celebratory atmosphere, a couple of hundred people from southwestern Manitoba gathered in Sunrise Credit Union Hall in Virden’s Tundra Oil & Gas Place, for the 12th Annual Tribute to Tourism Awards on Wednesday evening.
Souris Tourism
Mayor Jeff McConnell, on behalf of the Town of Virden, presents “Souris Events” representative with the Partnership award. Photos/Anne Davison

In a celebratory atmosphere, a couple of hundred people from southwestern Manitoba gathered in Sunrise Credit Union Hall in Virden’s Tundra Oil & Gas Place, for the 12th Annual Tribute
to Tourism Awards on Wednesday evening.

Virden residents attended as well, showing support for this gala event and for the three Virden area nominees.

Over-all, there were 24 nominees for six categories. President of Tourism Westman, Tanis Chalmers, introduced the Emcee for the evening, Adam Tarnowski of CJ103 Virden
Radio.

The emcee brought up Virden Mayor Jeff McConnell who welcomed the crowd and spoke on behalf of Minister of Local Government Drew Caldwell. He said, “Minister Caldwell asked me to share the following tidbit of information with you.... In the Province of Manitoba, it is a $1.5 billion per year driver to the economy.” On behalf ofVirden and the surrounding area the mayor said,
“Thank you, all of you for coming here. It is indeed a thrill for all of us to have the opportunity to host the first ever one of these galas held outside the city of Brandon.”

Coordinator for Travel Manitoba, Michel LaRiviere, brought greetings on behalf of Colin Ferguson CEO for Travel Manitoba. He said the goal is to grow Manitoba’s tourism to $2 billion annually. “We need to make Manitoba stand out in this competitive marketplace.” He spoke of Manitoba - Canada’s Heart Beat campaign, saying that research shows this branding of Manitoba for
tourism purposes seems to be resonating, particularly with Calgary people.
 

Travel Manitoba’s office is moving to The Forks in downtown Winnipeg, this summer. Awards For Marketing Excellence, Melita Banana Days came up the winner. Virden Lions Park was nominated for Service Excellence, an award sponsored by CAA Manitoba.

However, Shady Lane Tea Room and Carousels & Dolls Museum won this award. Doug and Diane Willey have operated and grown this business for 16 years. As the couple
accepted the award, Diane commented, it was a fi tting win for them – their “swan song”, as the couple is retiring from the business this year.

The Volunteer of the Year award, sponsored by Flower Attic & Gifts went to Camiel Serruys, the owner of a popular Melita restaurant. He is President of the Melita Banana Days, on the
Chamber of Commerce, President of the Bowling Association, President of the Pool Committee and involved with the Melita Early Learning Centre.

The Aspiring Youth award went to Jessica Mayes, a 16-year-old from Pierson. She is involved with many projects in the town and has infl uenced the younger community
members to become involved as well.

The Partnership award was sponsored by the Town of Virden. Virden Demolition Derby and Virden Indoor Rodeo & Wild West Daze were nominees in this category.
The winner was “Souris Events", a partnership for Souris’ fi rst arena concert featuring Doc Walker.

For the Event of the Year award, Virden Indoor Rodeo & Wild West Daze topped a number of strong nominees including: Minnedosa Rodeo Committee, Neepawa & Area Lily Festival, Souris Multi-
Cultural Festival, Men’s & Ladies McCain Classic Bonspiel (Carberry) and Melita Banana Days.

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