The Weyburn Chamber of Commerce will be celebrating their 80th anniversary in 2020, and are looking back at an eventful past year with plans for more to come this year.
鈥�2019 was a busy year for the Weyburn Chamber of Commerce. We will continue to listen to our members as they guide us in our goals and objectives in the coming year,鈥� said Twila Walkeden, manager of the Weyburn Chamber.
The Weyburn chamber currently has 188 members, with 17 new members joining in 2019.
The photos shown above include some of the Chamber's highlights of the year, from the Golden Spike award, presented to Winston Bailey, to the Fair parade, the Golden Sheaf Award (presented to Brad Barlow of Griffin) and lastly, the Parade of Lights.
One event the chamber began this year was the Coffee with the Chamber round table discussions, which started in February with a discussion around the state of the oil industry in the southeast and in Saskatchewan as a whole.
鈥淢ore of these events were held throughout the year on varying topics, including a conversation with the City of Weyburn, an update from Weyburn realtors, and Saskatchewan鈥檚 current economic growth with Steve McLellan, CEO of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce,鈥� said Walkeden.
The chamber bid a farewell to longtime board member Jerry Ponto early on in 2019, as he took his retirement from the Prairie Sky Co-op.
The Chamber鈥檚 annual meeting and President鈥檚 Dinner was held on March 26, with the Golden Spike Award presented to Winston Bailey.
Other highlights of the year included celebrating the grand reopening of KFC in May, attending the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Show in early June, and attending the City of Weyburn鈥檚 grand opening of the new water treatment facility.
The annual Chamber Parade for the Weyburn Fair was held in July, with over 70 floats entered, setting a new record. The top winners were Roughbark Acres in the business category, Sun Country Riding Club in the organization category, and Ryan Bobier won for best float entered by an individual.
The Chamber鈥檚 other major summer event was the annual 鈥淟inked on the Links鈥� golf tournament held in August, and in October the chamber hosted the all-candidates forum at the Weyburn Legion Hall. Four of the six candidates in the federal election were present for the forum.
For Small Business Week in October, the chamber had a speaker from the Better Business Bureau, who provided information about common business scams that business owners and employees should watch for and be aware of.
The annual Farmer Appreciation Banquet was held in November, and the Golden Sheaf Award was presented to Brad Barlow and Leeann Minogue of Crow Lake Farms Ltd.
The annual Parade of Lights was held on Dec. 5, with over 40 floats taking part, to help kick off the holiday season in Weyburn.
In addition to celebrating the chamber鈥檚 anniversary in 2020, the first Coffee with the Chamber event will be held with the City of Weyburn on Wednesday, Jan. 22, and a highlight for this year will be the WEYBEX Awards for business excellence, to be held on May 1.
