Banquet Honors Deserving Award Winners

The 8^th annual Community Appreciation Awards Night banquet was another evening of good food, spirited conversation and putting a spotlight on some deserving award recipients who help make the town of Outlook the unique place that it is.

Held on Wednesday, April 18 at the Outlook Civic Centre, the event featured the official presentations of the Jim Kook Citizen, Business, Youth and Group of the Year awards to the recipients, which included Darlene Hovdestad (Citizen), the Outlook Funeral Chapel (Business), Chastan Sim (Youth) and the Outlook Fire Department (Group).

Presented by the Outlook & District Chamber of Commerce and The Outlook, the event also featured special guest speaker DonnaLyn Thorsteinson, a senior director with the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority (SREDA).  Her talk entitled, ‘The Journey of Entrepreneurship’ featured DonnaLyn conducting an interview with a local business owner, Lee Baker of the Outlook Locker Plant.  Her questions and insights, coupled with Baker’s honest answers as a hard-working and dedicated professional butcher showed what it takes to be in charge of one’s own business.

The first award of the evening to be handed out was for the Group of the Year.  As the large group of men representing the Outlook Fire Department took to the stage to receive the honor, it wasn’t long before a well-deserved standing ovation broke out in the Civic Centre.  A very busy group in 2017, the fire crew were called to a high number of calls that occupied much of their time and tested their mettle, and the applause for them on this night was merely a small token of a community’s appreciation for what they do.

“Thank you for the support,” said fire chief Dalas King.  “It’s a group that got this award, and I like to think of this group as family.”

Floyd and Marjorie Childerhose, taking to the stage to receive the Business of the Year award, took the time to thank long-time friends who were there for them in the very beginning of their careers at the Outlook Funeral Chapel, and also gave thanks to their families for being so supportive of them as they work what has shown to be a 24/7, 365-day-a-year career; a professional commitment that will typically keep them away from certain events and functions.

“Needless to say, we’re very honored,” said Floyd.

The newest Youth of the Year, Chastan Sim, wasn’t just content with coming up onstage and receiving his award, as he entertained the audience with a stirring vocal rendition of ‘What a Wonderful World’.  Touching on what it means to live in a place such as Outlook, Sim said it was the strength of its people that helps make the town what it is today.

“What makes a community what it is isn’t just about living together,” he said.  “Thank you for all being there for each other.”

Darlene Hovdestad, the latest Citizen of the Year, was grateful to the community for showing their support of all the volunteer initiatives that she takes part in, and as a very modest person, Darlene was quick to include everyone that she works with as being a sort-of co-beneficiary of the award.  She credits Outlook as a whole as being a town in which people take care of not only each other, but those who are new to the area from near and far.

“I feel that I’m receiving it on behalf of all the volunteers,” said Hovdestad.  “I think that Outlook is a good place to live because of the people in it, and I think we’re all doing what we do because we love to do it.”

In closing out the evening, Sharon Bruce of the Chamber of Commerce noted that highlighting the people, groups and businesses that stand out is one of the things that makes Outlook the unique place that it is.

“It’s wonderful to live in a community where people are appreciated for all that they do,” she said.