Citizen of the year says he's proud to live in such an amazing community

By: Liz Dadson April 7, 2016 1950

Citizen of the year says he's proud to live in such an amazing community

The Kincardine and District Chamber of Commerce's citizen of the year says he is proud to live in such an amazing community.

Brad Kirkconnell received the recognition at the chamber's community achievement awards dinner, held Saturday night April 2, at the Best Western Plus Governor's Inn.

"I'm very honoured by this," he said. "This is a great community. I am equally honoured to be considered with my fellow nominees, Jim Tripp and Linda Bowers."

He thanked the chamber, his family for all the support and encouragement through the years, and he thanked all the volunteers who work alongside him on the Kincardine Trails Association, the Canada Day committee, and the many other endeavours that make Kincardine such a great place to live.

"Kincardine is one-of-a-kind," said Kirkconnell. "This is a vibrant and caring community, with wonderful community spirit. And I believe my work is not done yet."

New chamber president Matt Smith welcomed everyone to the event, and thanked the organizing committee and the chamber executive for all their hard work.

Kincardine mayor Anne Eadie brought greetings from the municipality and congratulated all the nominees, and all the businesses represented in that room.

"I'm proud of the professionalism and enthusiasm that we find in our business community," she said, "and the chamber as well. I'm also thankful to the businesses for the many ways they support our community."

Huron-Bruce MP Ben Lobb congratulated the chamber and all the nominees, on behalf of himself and Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson who was in Walkerton, taking on his MP duties there.

"I grew up in a small business and I know how much time and effort is involved," Lobb said. "You put in your 40 hours by Wednesday but you're still there Saturday afternoon. You are the job-creators in our community. Thank you for all you do to make this such a great community in which to live."

The Enbridge Quality of Life award went to Jared Adams, in recognition of his Run 4 A Reason which saw him run 100 days in a row, raising $7,000 for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Kincardine and District.

Adams said he started the run in November, 2015, as a way to challenge himself. "I'm grateful for this wonderful community that embraced this cause and supported me all the way to the end."

The other nominees were Debbie Simmons and Mike Weichert.

The RBC Golden Apple award went to Bryan Derksen, a technical skills teacher at Kincardine District Secondary School. He said this award was a complete surprise for him.

"This community has so many wonderful teachers, including my fellow nominees, Lindy Wright and Cristal MacIntosh. Our job is to inspire students and help them to become the people they are meant to be."

The Ontario Power Generation (OPG) Environmental award went to the FIRST Lego League Team 4137 - Clean-up Crew - of Kincardine, for its success with a Blue Box cover that could eventually become a marketable product.

Brent Williams, coach of the team, thanked the community for all its support on this project. "This is an amazing group of kids. Every time, I would under-estimate them, and they would surprise me." The team includes Nathan Williams, William Middelkamp, Spencer Adams, Layne Rothmaier and Carter Frook.

The other nominees were the Penetangore Watershed Group and Armow Mall - ReUse Centre.

The Meridian Good Neighbour award went to the Kincardine Trails Association. Brad Kirkconnell said it was an honour to receive this award, and credited the many volunteers who work hard to develop and maintain the trails. He also thanked the municipality for its support in the development of the trails, and the many people who use the trails.

The next project, he said, is to develop 12 kilometres of trail along the B-line, from Huron Ridge to Inverhuron Provincial Park.

Also nominated, were the Kincardine Agricultural Society's fall fair ambassador program, and West Shore Clothing Shoppe.

The Bruce Telecom Young Entrepreneur of the Year award went to Patrick Main and Kasey King of Pick Studios, Kincardine, which provides programming for all - from newborns to seniors.

Main said he and King have some amazingly-talented people working for them, and they are grateful for all the support since they opened one-and-a-half years ago. They are planning to hold a summer camp in July.

The other nominees were Jessica Cormier of Jessica Cormier Studios, and Kaitlin Young of MacG's House of Fashion.

The Canadian Tire Farm Business/Farm-Related Business of the Year award went to Snobelen Farms which has been in business for 45 years.

Nine-year-old Carter Snobelen accepted the award on behalf of his father, Troy, and his grandfather, Mike. He thanked the chamber for this honour and said Snobelen Farms operates five elevators and has 35 part-time employees. "This is going to keep me busy in the future," he said. "Congratulations to all the nominees."

Also nominated, were KNJ Farms and OK Tire Kinfarm Tire.

The new Jacques Law Youth Programming Excellence award went to Derrick Burrows for his work in sports in Kincardine. He was absent. The other nominees were Little Beginnings and Pick Studios.

The Community Living of Kincardine and District Inclusion award went to Gordon Pharmasave in downtown Kincardine. The recipients were absent. The other nominees were McDonald's Restaurant in Kincardine and St. Anthony's School, Kincardine.

Community Living staff member Beth French and supported individuals Kathy Soloduka and Cassandra Ritchie were on hand to present the award and said they are proud to live in such a supportive community.

The BDO Customer Service Excellence award went to Hawgs Breath in downtown Kincardine. Owner Laura Hawkins-Doerr is celebrating her 20th anniversary of the business and customers say the attention to detail is "top-shelf."

Hawkins-Doerr said she can't believe it's been 20 years, and thanked her amazing staff and customers. "Here's to the next 20 years!"

The other nominees were Devlyn Design and Penetangear.

The Municipality of Kincardine New Business award went to Joint Physiotherapy which is owned and operated by Sarah Filsinger and Laura Woods.

Filsinger thanked the team at Joint Physiotherapy and the chamber for the award, and congratulated all the nominees. "We all understand how difficult it is to get a business off the ground," she said. "But it's great going to work and doing what we love every single day."

The Superheat FGH Business Person of the Year award went to Duncan Hawthorne of Bruce Power, who was absent. He was praised for his hard work, dedication and perseverance to build up the Bruce Nuclear site to the world's largest generating station in the world, with a solid future.

Rob Liddle of Bruce Power, thanked the chamber for the award on Hawthorne's behalf. "He is sorry he couldn't be here tonight, but if he were, he would thank his wife, Lesley, and his family in the U.K. He would also thank the employees at Bruce Power, and this great supportive community."

Also nominated, were Matthew Moore of TD Wealth Management, and Brad and Melanie Pyke of Kincardine Home Hardware.

The myFM Business of the Year award went to Penetangear in downtown Kincardine. Owner Darrel Perry said he and his wife, Teresa, have just completed their second year in business and are more certain than ever that they made the right choice coming to Kincardine. "It takes a brave person to believe in someone's vision," he said.

The other nominees were J'Adorn and Superheat FGH.

The Kinetic Knights Robotics Team 781 had a display at the event, and during the intermission, Lobb auctioned off two gift packages, including a bottle of wine and two games of indoor golf at the new Marriott Suites hotel. The auction brought in $600 for the Kinetic Knights who are fund-raising to travel to St. Louis, Missouri, for the FIRST world championships at the end of April.