Past and present citizens of the year are now being honoured on a wall at Territorial Place Mall.
The mall has officially unveiled its citizen of the year wall inside the mall. The wall consists of plaques honoring the past winners, including pictures of the current citizen of the year, junior citizen of the year and citizen of the decade.
"The wall looks beautiful, it's taken a couple of years to make it happen but there it is, the unveiling of the wall," said Glen Gantefoer, Battlefords and District Co-op human resources manager and member of the citizen of the year committee.
The honours are sponsored by the Battlefords and District Co-op, the Lions, and the Battlefords News-Optimist. Up until this year, those honoured by the award were regularly recognized at awards ceremonies held early in the year. However, this was a more permanent way to honor those who have received the awards since 1968.
The committee came up with the idea of a wall two or three years ago and approached Co-op general manager Pat Smith with the idea. Smith was excited and enthusiastic, and the wall became part of the plans for the renovations that took place at the Territorial Place Mall over the last year or so.
The current wall features listings of the past winners as well as pictures of the current title-holders: Citizen of the Year Harry Michael Dekker, Junior Citizen of the Year Lindsay Martel and Citizen of the Decade Ray Hickson.
"What you see there is what we had hoped to happen," said Gantefoer, who notes the wall is exactly as it was envisaged to be.
He thanked Smith for his support, Viewpoint Photo for the photos, TLC Picture Framing for the framing work, 4D Signs and Engraving for their work on the plaques, Ultra Print for the listings of the recipients and Kim's Sign of the Times for the signage.
Also at the unveiling was members of the Lions as well as Mayor Ian Hamilton, who called the wall a "lasting tribute" to those citizens who had made such a contribution to the community.
"It's so very important to recognize those who've gone above and beyond," said Hamilton, who adds thousands of visitors at the mall will notice the wall.
"People will stop and take note."
