On the evening of Friday, March 1, the winners of the 2012 Sooke Region Chamber of Commerce Awards were announced at Sooke’s Prestige Hotel.
They were as follows:
Non-profit: Sooke Food Bank
Sooke Region Chamber of Commerce Directors Award: Rod Sluggett
Employee of the Year: Bonnie Sprinkling
Dining Excellence: Markus’ Wharfside Restaurant
Retail Excellence: A Sea of Bloom Florist
Development Excellence: Woodland Creek
Manufacturing: E-Fish-Ent Fish Co.
Professional Services: Karen Mason, Mason Financial
Sustainability Leadership: Sooke Harbour House
Citizen of the Year: Maja Tait
New Business of the Year: DLC Modern Mortgage
Business of the Year: Little Vienna Bakery.
The event was emceed by Sooke’s Ron Larson, who is also a DJ for 100.3 Q-FM.
In accepting the nomination as runner-up for the Sustainability Leadership on behalf of the T’Sou-ke Nation, Chief Gordon Planes summed it up nicely when he said that, “I can’t put this on myself, I’ve got to put this on the community.” Many of the following recipients echoed his words, saying that it is not the individual but a community that stands behind any success
The awards ceremony was a fine display of the the final culmination of initiative, talent, commitment, collaboration and community support.
