Moose Jaw, it’s time to start celebrating the great citizens we have here, the exceptional service and recognition rightly deserved by all recipients. Let’s give honour to those it is due.
This year’s Chamber of Commerce list of nominees for Citizen of the Year and Group of the Year was impressive for 2023. Congratulations are in order to longtime Moose Javian Alex Carlton who seems to have put in a lot of hard work and effort into all of the organizations he has been involved in over the years, but especially noticeable this past year as a high profile guy going the extra mile.
Congratulations are also due to The World Para Hockey committee that hosted a world-class event this past year in only 70 days. It was the first event of its kind in Moose Jaw, as well as Saskatchewan, that took a lot of volunteers’ hours of effort to make it a huge success.
While on this train of congratulatory notes, I would also like to congratulate Geoff Anderson of Moose Jaw Co-op for his recent appointment as CEO because of his strong leadership and the ‘exceptional sales growth’ the company saw in 2023.
Not to be outdone, how impressive is it that our local Prairie South School Division was named as one of Canada’s best employers for 2024. Prairie South School Division is the first Saskatchewan organization — and only school division — on the list, in 72nd position. SaskPower follows this in 73rd spot, Cameco mining in 102nd position, Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) in 146th spot, Affinity Credit Union in 182nd position and Farm Credit Canada in 209th spot. Prairie South made the list because of how well staff work with each other, how managers, supervisors and principals respond to concerns and how open the organization is to feedback, education director Ryan Boughen said. Furthermore, the list aligns with the direction and work that the board wants the division to take to become a preferred employer.
On the sports’ scene, Moose Jaw’s Rod Heisler was recently named to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame because of his outstanding career in the late 1970’s and beyond as a member of Team Canada. He played in a record 14 international competitions. Heisler and his classmates will be inducted in a ceremony at the Hall of Fame grounds in St. Mary’s, Ontario on June 15, 2024.
Another accolade worthy of mention is the Centennial Celebration for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) this year. How fitting it was that Jeremy Hanson, Canadian astronaut that will be going to the moon sometime after late fall 2025 made a visit to his old stomping grounds here in Moose Jaw. As a former 15 airbase Wing trainee, he was welcomed back last week to kick-off a year of special events being held this year to commemorate the centennial milestone for RCAF.
Inside this edition you can read all of the in-depth stories on the above and much more.
Another big list of accolades are also in the works with nominations open for The Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence awards with a gala being held on April 24th. The deadline for nominations is March 17th. The list of categories and full story is in this edition as well.
Wow! We can all be proud of what we have and who we have living here in Moose Jaw.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
