Held at a packed Buttercup Celebration Hall north of the city, the Winkler and District Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual P.W. Enns Business Awards Gala Wednesday evening. Four businesses and a non-profit organization were recognized for their respective impact on the community and its residents.
The winners were:
Business Excellence Award - Tri Koating
Community Builder Award - The Property Brokers
Business Builder Award - Mulligan’s
Customer Service Award - Emco
Non Profit Service Award - Katie Cares
A life and legacy recognized
From a single beanie baby given to a child in care to the opening of Katie's Cottage and 798 guests hosted last year, the impact of Kaitlyn Reimer's legacy was recognized through the presentation of the Non Profit Service Award. Katie Cares is the organization which bares the late teen's name. Her mother, and C.E.O., Ruth Reimer accepted it on the group's behalf.
"I want to say thank you," shared Reimer. "I want to say thank you for believing and supporting and carrying us through the transition of starting it. Where would it be in eight short years? Here we are getting this prestigious award and we're honoured."
In addition to operating Katie's Cottage, located just east of Boundary Trails Health Centre, the organization also provides to go bags and slippers, among other amenities, to those families that stay at it.
"The reactions are 'I love this place. I want to come back and I'm telling my friends they need to come to be here.'" said Reimer. "We had a baby born about a year ago, right in Katie's Cottage, and (the family) thought they wouldn't be here very long. He said it ended up being an oasis for them, an oasis of peace and comfort as his child was born in the cottage, so that was cool. Having a palliative care patient family staying with us, and walking along this journey that is not easy and I know that. The staff at Katie's Cottage, they provide that beauty of compassion and love, and just carry them through some tough, tough days."
When asked to share what are some of the latest things happening at Katie's Cottage, Reimer pointed to recently converting a room into a lounge space to provide more indoor seating and relaxation options for guests. The group also just received a grant last week which will be used to add new, bigger TVs.
"It's always about what the guest feels like, and the comfort we can provide, and just show them the world isn't just negative, but there's so much positive."
It's so much more than investing in properties
The Property Brokers mission to invest in not only properties, but people and creating neighbourhoods, and that was at the core of the real estate brokerage receiving the Community Builder Award. Started in 2022, co-owners Wes Harder and Tim Friesen accepted it.
"It's very cool and it's humbling," said Harder. "You feel you're putting the right efforts in, and we still feel like we're a new business (even though) it's been 3 1/2 years. Part of our mission is we want to give back to the communities that have given so much to us, and there's various ways we do that. You don't look for the recognition, and when you get an award like this, you just sometimes get a bit of a loss for words."
Friesen echoed those sentiments.
"We have this mission statement, and we want to give back to the communities that have given so much to us, and we think we are on the other side of that," said Friesen. "We've been given so much by the community of Winkler, it's been unbelievable. It just motivates us to give more back to the community, and think of ways in how we can give and do more for the communities."
The award celebrates more than just good business, also honouring vision, heart and a deep-rooted commitment to making the city a better place to live, work and grow.
"It's the people I think you're doing life with around you," reflected Harder. "It's the people we serve as clients. It's the people we do life with. It's those we are working with in our community. It's the entrepreneurs. It's those that go to their job every day, and help to build Winkler to what it is. It's the nonprofits. It's the charities. There's so many pieces of it, and we just love that we can play a small part of that."
The evening also included several students from Rhonda Kezema’s Business Management Class at Garden Valley Collegiate taking the stage for a special presentation. The group was there to thank the city’s business community for its support over the years of the school and its students. The presentation was done from the context of this being Pay it Forward May.
The recent passing of Walter Siemens was also noted with a moment of silence. He had been a long-time member of the Gala's organizing committee, and over the years also played a role in several major community development projects in the city including most recently the Buhler Active Living Centre.
- With files from Mikaela Warkentin and Ty Hildebrand -
