WEYBURN – Four “Women of Distinction” were presented with awards in their respective categories at the Weyburn YF Wives' second annual gala ceremony on Friday night at McKenna Hall.
The evening began with a meal served by members of the Young Fellows Club, and an award winner from last year, Jordan Szczecinski, gave a speech urging everyone to consider the value of being a volunteer in the community.
For the awards, two of the categories had one nominee. The Weyburn Credit Union Workplace Excellence Award went to Danielle Millar, presented by Tana Torkelson of the Credit Union.
The Weyburn Oilwomen Young Woman of Distinction was Arliss Sidloski, presented by Carmen Sterling and Leah Kot of the Weyburn Oilwomen.
For the YF Wives Community Service Award, with six nominees, Jackie Wilson of Inclusion Weyburn was the award recipient, presented by YF Wives president Chelsey Wall and past president Emma Carpentier.
The Access Communications Exceptional Entrepreneur award had three nominees, and the winner was Lori McIntosh. The award was presented by Ron Irvine of Access Communications.
In accepting her award, Wilson noted she was nominated by two members of the Inclusion Weyburn board who were with her at her table, both young women who work full-time in education and have families.
“They find time somehow to spend so much effort, and use their professional attitude and a caring attitude to make our programs the best they can be for our families,” she said.
Wilson noted that the organization holding the gala event, the YF Wives, would never nominate themselves, and said, “It’s such an honour to receive this award from such a great volunteer group.”
Entrepreneurial award recipient Lori McIntosh said she has a lot of people in her corner supporting her.
“I couldn’t function well without them, and there are too many people on my list to thank them all. I want to say thank you to the community and surrounding area. My favourite part of owning Twine and Twig is giving back to the community, and that wouldn’t be possible without all of you. I am truly honoured to be up here tonight,” she said.
The Young Woman of Distinction, Arliss Sidloski, said, “It’s so humbling to be nominated for this award when there are so many incredible women in the community. Thank you to Jen Cugnet for nominating me, I’m so honoured.”
She noted she still has one more year in her mechanical engineering degree program at the University of Saskatchewan.
When people ask her what’s next for her, she said her reply is, “I want to explore the world, but then I want to end up back in my hometown of Weyburn. Weyburn is an incredible community and I feel so fortunate to have been raised here. There are so many opportunities here, and I’m grateful for where this has taken me. We have such a strong community, from music festival to sporting events and extracurriculars, and this wouldn’t be possible except for a community of volunteers, family, friends, teachers and community members.”
In relation to her wish to explore the world, she will be working this summer in Montreal with the Canadian Space Agency. She had visited them as a member of the U of S Space Design team, which built Saskatchewan’s first cube satellite which went up to the International Space Station.
