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Tuesday, 04 March 2008 |
Apparently, there are still a lot of good kids left to recognize here in southern Alberta.
With the APEX Youth Awards a little over a month away, the organizing committee has been greeted with a wave of nominees for the 2008 event. When all was said and done, 28 young people, plus a local youth group, were nominated for this year's version of the awards.
All those nominations came in just under the deadline, according to Coleen Campbell, the APEX committee chairperson.
"The Monday before the deadline, we didn't have any nominations at all. But in the end, the Taber and Vauxhall areas came through. It's just really nice to know people still value this program and feel there are young people worth recognizing."
Those young people will be in Taber April 10 for the annual banquet. From the complete list of nominees, four will be selected to receive $1,500 bursaries. In addition to that, four more nominees will be selected to attend RYLA 2008, the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, a three-day program for students leaders in their respective communities.
Of the 28 individual nominees and the one youth group, seven are from the Vauxhall area, while one nominee hails from Grassy Lake. The balance of the nominees, which includes the youth group, are from the Taber area.
Campbell added it is nice to see the whole M.D. of Taber represented by the nominations.
"We always want every community eligible to recognize their young people. No matter how big or small their community is, there are always young people there who are working to make a difference."
As is the case every year, the focus of the annual APEX awards will be on the youth. Each nominee will be recognized at the event for their contributions. Campbell added while the focus will be on southern Alberta's young leaders, the APEX program could not be a success without the people who fill out the nomination forms every year, and the many businesses who sponsor the evening.
"It's just a great community event that brings everyone in the area together to highlight the contributions of some very important people."
This year, the APEX Youth Awards will feature guest speaker Martin DeVlieger, a local helicopter pilot, who also ran and completed the full Boston Marathon.
Tickets for the 2008 awards are still available, and can be purchased by calling Campbell at the Taber Times at 223-2266. The evening will begin with a reception from 6-6:30 p.m., followed by supper at 6:30 p.m.
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