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Armstrong, Spallumcheen businesses earn deserved recognition

Ten standout companies, individuals honoured at Community Excellence Awards
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Winners at the 2019 Armstrong Spallumcheen Chamber of Commerce’s Community Excellence Awards Saturday at Centennial Hall included (clockwise from top left): Community Futures North Okanagan Mid-Size Business of the Year: LoveBird Baby Nests and WilderNest Sewing Co. ; Blackwell Building Movers Small Business of the Year: Armstrong Flower & Gift Shoppe ; Tekamar Mortgages Ltd. Rising Star Award: Rhythm Productions ; VantageOne Credit Union Micro Business of the Year: Orchard Blossom Honey . (Roger Knox - Morning Star photos)

Themes from Jeopardy! Love Connection, The Price Is Right and Family Feud could be heard all night.

A couple of contestants walked away with new (model) cars and one even won a two-storey (bird house) bungalo in Deal or No Deal, complete with 50 briefcases (bought for a small fee by awards goers) and a dozen or so stunning models handling the cases.

Play the Plinko board, and you could win small, big or sorry prizes. A Wheel of Fortune was set up in the gymnasium and four businesses competed in a Family Feud style contest.

Yes, Game Show Mania went over big at the annual Armstrong Spallumcheen Chamber of Commerce’s Community Excellence Awards Saturday at Centennial Hall.

READ ALSO: Awards recognize best Armstrong-Spallumcheen has to offer

A capacity crowd was treated to hilarity by emcees Peter Marshall of Hollywood Squares, Gene Rayburn of Match Game and Bob Eubanks from the Newlywed Game (aka Brian Martin of Beach Radio, Phil Hughes and Sean Newton).

The other hit of the evening, of course, were the awards themselves, and businesses and individuals in Armstrong and Spallumcheen can applaud themselves as a record number of entries were received for the 10 categories.

READ ALSO: Record number of nominees for Armstrong-Spallumcheen awards

And the awards went to (oh, sorry, that’s Oscar night, done a few years ago):

Rising Star Award: Rhythm Productions (Sponsor: Tekamar Mortgages Ltd.);

Micro Business of the Year Award: Orchard Blossom Honey (Sponsor: VantageOne Credit Union);

Small Business of the Year Award: Armstrong Flower and Gift Shoppe (Sponsor: Blackwell Building Movers);

Mid-Size Business of the Year Award: LoveBird Baby nests and WilderNest Sewing Co. (Sponsor: Community Futures North Okanagan);

Corporate Business of the Year Award: ATS Agri-Trans (Sponsor: Hub International Barton Insurance);

Employee of the Year Award: Wendy Atkinson, Village Cheese Co. (Sponsor: Shepherd’s Home Hardware);

Revitalization & Innovation Award: The Crystal Cove Spa and Esthetics (Sponsor: Okanagan Restoration Services Ltd.);

Hospitality & Tourism Award: Farmstrong Cider Co. (Sponsor: Township of Spallumcheen);

Organization of the Year Award: Armstrong PreSchool (Sponsor: Hytec – A Division of Kohler);

Youth Volunteer of the Year Award: The Cheese Crew (Cheese - It’s a Natural!) (Sponsor: City of Armstrong).



roger@vernonmorningstar.com

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The rest of the winners at the 2019 Armstrong Spallumcheen Chamber of Commerce’s Community Excellence Awards Saturday at Centennial Hall included (clockwise from top left): Hytec - A Division of Kohler Organization of the Year: Armstrong PreSchool ; Township of Spallumcheen Hospitality and Tourism Award: Farmstrong Cider Co .; Okanagan Restoration Services Ltd. Revitalization and Innovation Award: The Crystal Cove Spa and Esthetics ; Shepherd’s Home Hardware Employee of the Year: Wendy Atkinson, The Village Cheese Co. ; City of Armstrong Youth Volunteer of the Year: The Cheese Crew (Cheese - It’s a Natural!) (Missing from the awards was the winner of the Hub International Barton Insurance Corporate Business of the Year, ATS Agri-Trans . (Roger Knox - Morning Star photos)
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Co-emcees Phil Hughes (left) and Sean Newton (right) cheer on Plinko contestant Teri Nicholson during a break in the Armstrong Spallumcheen Chamber of Commerce’s Community Excellence Awards, with its game-show-mania theme, at Centennial Hall. (Roger Knox - Morning Star)


Roger Knox

About the Author: Roger Knox

I am a journalist with more than 30 years of experience in the industry. I started my career in radio and have spent the last 21 years working with Black Press Media.
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