A special award ceremony was held yesterday (August 30) honouring nine nominees who show exemplary leadership and spirit within the Cochrane area.

The recipients are the perfect example as to the 'heart' Cochrane has and why our town has the community feel it does. 

It was a difficult decision, shares Banff-Airdrie, MP Blake Richards, and one he was happy to not make. A special committee reviewed a number of nominees before choosing the award winning names. "It was a very difficult job. There was a lot of people nominated by their fellow citizens in the community and we asked a small group from across the riding (past award winners themselves) to put together a list of people who would make good recipients."

Being Canada's 150th anniversary served the perfect opportunity to thank those for tireless efforts. "These are always the kind of opportunities you look for. In the past, there have been official government recognition ceremonies and medals, Canada's 125th anniversary, Jubilee for the Queen are examples of that. The government for some reason chose not to recognize people in this way for the 150th, which is why we created our own awards essentially to recognize people because it is important that you do that. There is always going to be more opportunities like this in the future and we absolutely should be taking every opportunity we get. Why wouldn't you want to celebrate people who give to the community so selflessly."

While no one volunteers for recognition, it is still important we celebrate the people who make Cochrane the town it is. "There is always so many deserving individuals you wish you could recognize more people, but the people that we recognized are great examples and representative of so many others too, of selfless dedication to try and better the community. When you have opportunities to celebrate your great country the best thing you could do is celebrate what makes it great which is the people who give their time, money, and efforts to try and make the community better."

Congratulations to the following outstanding citizens of Cochrane:

Alex Baum

Marina Chabbert

The Kimmett Family

Dan Kroffat

Dr. David Legg

Steve Merritt

Jackie Shier

Jack Tennant

and a special youth award for Kassidy Gerhardi