Gladstone Chamber honours their finest
- Details
- Published on Friday, May 29, 2015
By Ken Waddell
The Neepawa Banner
The Gladstone and District Chamber of Commerce continued a tradition of honouring their finest on May 20 at their annual general meeting. The meeting and banquet featured a Citizen of the Year Award, a Community Builder Award and a special presentation to past members who have retired from business.
Guest speaker was Tara Fulton, general manager of the Gladstone Auction Mart. Fulton, who became manager in Jan. 2014, outlined the history of the mart, from its humble beginnings in 1962. Seven farmers and businessmen formed a committee, shares were sold and the original 50’ by 64’ building was constructed. The first sale was Sept. 13, 1962. Fulton noted that by 1969, wages were $1.50 per hour in contrast to $13 to $15 per hour today.
The mart draws cattle and horses from a large area extending from McCreary and Alonsa to Holland and Elm Creek. They sell about 32,000 cattle and 350 horses per year. The first million dollar sale was held in 2013 and there were two $2 million sales in 2014.
The Citizen of the Year Award was presented to Florence Kerr who has served the community in many capacities from the Myrtle Rebekah Lodge to the Legion and the Gladstone United Church. Kerr came to Gladstone and worked as a telephone operator with Manitoba Telephone System and married John Kerr.
Earl Clayton was presented with the Community Builder Award because of his years of work in the community and especially with the Gladstone Seniors Drop-in Centre. His leadership has taken the membership up to about 190 people. It was noted that there is a mix of ages at the centre as it’s not uncommon to see grandchildren working with their grandparents at the drop-in centre’s computer centre.
Retired business owners Evelyn Foxon and Neil Goertzen were also honoured.
The Gladstone and District Chamber operates a number of business friendly programs including a long-standing advertising promotion on CFRY radio station. The fall supper and the Christmas cash draw are major fund raisers for the chamber. They also operate a Happy Rock Bucks program and maintain the town’s iconic wayside statue Happy Rock, a spot where travellers can take a break. They also do town beautification programs and a town-wide garage sale along with other promotions. The chamber had a profit of $2,345 in 2014.
