A Moose Jaw family had a New Year’s they will never forget as their baby girl was born at the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Hospital to become Moose Jaw’s New Year’s Baby for 2020.
Thomas and Courtney Thorton welcomed their third child, Margaret Grace, to the world at 6:07 p.m. on Jan. 2. She weighed seven pounds, 11 ounces. Margaret is a sister to her siblings Emily and Cait.
“It’s pretty neat. My doctor asked if I wanted to have the New Year’s Baby, if I thought I would,” Courtney said. “I didn’t think that I would, but I guess she decided she wanted to be.”
Beverley Morell from the Welcome Wagon visited the family on Saturday to drop of gifts from organizations across the city including the chamber of commerce and Moose Jaw Right for Life.
“This is my second year of presenting for the New Year’s Baby here in Moose Jaw,” Morrell said. “We get different contributors every year and as you can see a fairly nice basket of stuff for them.”
The Welcome Wagon is a Canadian-owner group that provides services for families experiencing a lifestyle change such as a new baby for moving to a new city or neighbourhood.
“The Welcome Wagon program is supported by the hospital and we come up and greet all the new babies and moms almost daily,” Morrell said.
Moose Jaw & District Chamber of Commerce CEO Rob Clark also visited the family and says the New Year’s Baby is an event the chamber looks forward to every year.
“I know I’ve been coming up here for the last four or five years and it’s always impressive,” Clark said. “You see the parents walking down the hallway with big smiles on their face and here they have a couple other daughters, number three daughter has come along.
“The chamber is really happy to be supporting this and thankful to the business community for some of the prizes and gifts they get. It’s something we look forward to every year because it changes up our everyday life at the chamber to welcome a new Moose Javian.”
