What a great night for business in Delta!
Last Friday, the Delta Chamber of Commerce held its annual Hats Off Awards gala, with a return to the Tsawwassen Springs ballroom.
And although it was a smaller event than usual, due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols, it was sure nice to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones.
The business community has taken it on the chin the past 20 months as they have had to pivot in so many directions in order to stay afloat. To have many of our businesses come together once again to celebrate their efforts was fantastic.
My hats off to all our winners, nominees and most importantly, the Chamber of Commerce for their efforts in hosting such a successful event.
The night was especially poignant, for all of us here at the Delta Optimist.
As many of you no doubt know, we lost our former general manager Dave Hamilton in April after a courageous battle with cancer.
The Chamber honoured Dave as this year’s Citizen of the Year.
I can’t think of anyone more deserving as Citizen of the Year than Dave.
He was a tireless advocate for business and for the community. In his decades with the Optimist, he always made sure there was a place in our pages for community organizations to get their messages out to the community.
His work with Rotary, the Chamber as well as the Beach Grove Golf Club and other organizations was outstanding.
If one was to look up in the dictionary the definition of “community” I’m pretty sure Dave’s picture would appear with that definition.
Dave was one of a kind and we miss him all dearly here at the Optimist.
Congratulations Dave on this amazing and long deserved honour.
We know you are looking down and smiling at all of us.
