By Pepper Parr
April 20, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The nominations for Burlington’s Best awards are in, and similar to previous years, the quality of individuals who were nominated is very high. It apparently took an extended deadline of seven additional days to pull in all that quality.
Having said that there are some exceptionally deserving names on the list.
“There is no shortage of incredible leaders and volunteers among our residents who help make Burlington the city we know and love,” says Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring. “This event gives special recognition to those who go above and beyond in their contributions to our community.” Paragraphs like that are what we pay Mayors to say.
The 2012 winners recognized in 2013
Residents are invited to join some of Burlington’s finest civic-minded volunteers, advocates and community leaders on Thursday, May 14, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. at the Burlington Convention Centre, 1120 Burloak Dr., for the 2015 Burlington’s Best Awards, a gala evening in honour of Burlington’s most outstanding citizens.
“Every year I can’t help but be impressed by the incredible individuals who have received nominations,” said Mary Kay Aird, Chair of Burlington’s Best Committee. “Each Burlington’s Best nominee exemplifies the leadership and compassion shown among our residents, and we are proud to be able to recognize them for their tireless work.”
I have some difficulty squaring the above with the media release put out earlier extending the deadline
The 2013 winners who were recognized in 2014
Tickets to this event are $35 per person; a table of the 10 is $280. The event includes a light buffet and cocktail reception. Tickets can be purchased at the Service Burlington counter at City Hall, 426 Brant St., or by contacting Wanda Tolone at 905-335-7600, ext. 7458 or wanda.tolone@burlington.ca.
Has the price of those tickets gone up? I have the sense that they were a little lighter on the pocketbook previous years.
The food on the buffet table came close to running out last year
The award winners will be announced at the event. This year’s nominees are:
Citizen of the Year – Angelo Bentivegna, Ron Foxcroft, Maibritt Bergman
Senior Citizen of the Year – Esperanza Peacock, Helen Deadder, Bonnie Purkis
Junior Citizen of the Year – Kevin Han, Caitlyn Kay, Connor Fraser
Environmental Award – Susan Fraser, Monte Dennis
Heritage Person of the Year – Alan Harrington, Mary Jane Pilling, the late Dave Morris
Arts Person of the Year – Chris Giroux, John Kemp, Leslie Gray, Tomy Bewick
Community Service Award – IronDames Group, Mary Nichol, Bob Vandenberg, Christine Karczmarczyk
There are some fine people on that list; there are some we have seen before.
The Gazette will publish profiles on each of the nominees later in the week.
Pepper were you at last year’s event? Coming close is not the same as running out. You put a negative spin on everything….
Prices have not gone up – same as previous years and great deal. It is about time the prices increase given the scope and quality of this event which includes a meal.