The Town of Hay River is putting together a special event that will allow residents to nominate and vote on who they believe to be the most impactful citizens of the year.
The 2024 Community Spirit Awards Gala is a special event that will be giving out eleven different awards to residents of Hay River who exemplify the categories that they have been nominated for. The event will be held on February 3rd at the Hay River Legion, and will offer dinner to the guests, as well as dancing to live music from Welders Daughter.
The awards will be given out between 7:30 and 9:30 that evening.
The categories for the awards are as follows;
- Youth Volunteer – Nominees must be under the age of 19, and have volunteered on behalf of or within the town of Hay River for at least two years.
- Senior Volunteer – Nominees must be at least 55 years-old, and has made a significant contribution to the community and demonstrated their commitment to being a leader for the future.
- Community Beautification – This individual or group prioritizes the cleanliness and appearance of the community by cleaning up garbage, and takes pride in the presentation of the community.
- Arts and Culture – This award goes to an individual or groupthat has enhanced the community by supporting and promoting the arts and culture, including music, performing, and literary arts.
- Community Spirit Initiative – This award goes to a supportive organization that hassignificantly enhanced the town spirit through their contribution in areas of charitable giving and civic engagement.
- Good Neighbour – This award goes to a resident who embodies what it means to be a good neighbour, and recognizes and celebrates the acts of kindness that help connect neighbourhoods.
- Good Business – This award goes to a Hay River business that regularly lends a hand to the community’s economic prosperity, corporate responsibility, and community involvement.
- Diversity Award – This goes to an individual or group that is dedicated to the promotion and support of making sure that Hay River is an accessible and diverse place to live for all people, regardless of race, ethnic origin, religion, age, gender, or sexual orientation.
- Community Safety – Presented to an individual or organization that is dedicated to any developments that work to improve the safety of the community.
- Trailblazer Award – This goes to an individual who takes the time to clean and maintain walking trails around the community, opening the door for the exploration of the local cultural land and nature for locals and tourists to enjoy.
- Citizen of the Year – Hay River’s COTY is an annual award that recognizes the exceptional contributions made by an individual for the betterment of the community.
Those who will be taking part in the event can nominate a single person or organization for each of the 11 categories. Once all the nominations are collected, residents will have ten days to cast one vote per category from the list of nominees.
