City announces Civic Awards finalists Mar. 05, 2012 Recipients revealed Thurs. April 19 The quality of entries for the 37th Annual Civic and Community Awards made the selection of this year's finalists very challenging. These awards are the City of Kelowna's premier awards event dedicated to recognizing volunteers, artists, athletes and business leaders through nine categories and 12 awards. "We have once again received exceptional nominations in each of our award categories," says Jim Gabriel, Director of Recreation and Cultural Services. "The success of this event relates directly to public participation and showcases how inspired we are as a community. Kelowna can be proud of its residents, businesses and organizations that have made a significant difference by enhancing the lives of others and making our city a better place to live." Due to the number and quality of nominations for the Corporate Community Award category, the City has spilt the category into two: small/medium business and large business. These categories will remain in place going forward. "We felt that to properly recognize the contributions of businesses across the city, it was necessary to split the category. Not only do we now get to recognize three additional businesses but it gives smaller companies, which tend to be owned locally, a chance to be recognized for what they do," says Gabriel. 2011 award finalists by category are: Teen Honour in the Arts Isabel Donati-Simmons Hayley Manlove Wyatt Slattery Honour in the Arts Nathan Flavel Sylvie Lange Julia Trops Young Female of the Year Tanveer Gill Heather Halperin Anna Leitch Young Male of the Year Terry Lee Mitchell McCullough Patrick Seitzinger The Central Okanagan Foundation, Volunteer Organization of the Year Inn from the Cold - Kelowna Kelowna Community Food Bank Now Canada Society Woman of the Year - Sarah Donalda-Treadgold Memorial Award Marie Ablett Doris Borkowsky Luciana Wilcox Man of the Year - Fred Macklin Memorial Award Fred Missal Paul Nesbitt Alex Recsky Corporate Community of the Year - Small/Medium Business CIBC Wood Gundy Quality Greens - Kelowna Store The Woman's Place Fitness Centre Corporate Community of the Year - Large Business BDO Canada LLP BMO - Kelowna Branch Cedar Creek Estate Winery Bob Giordano Memorial Award Dino Gini Richard Montgomery Tony Sodaro Bryan Couling Memorial Award Kelowna Christian School Knights Senior Girls Volleyball Team Kelowna Secondary School AAAA Volleyball UBCO Men's Volleyball Team Augie Ciancone Memorial Award - Female Justine Drosdovech Kaitlynn Given Rachel Penner Augie Ciancone Memorial Award - Male Mitchell Goodwin Michael Lee Trevor Swaisland Athlete of the Year - Female Malindi Elmore Kelsey Serwa Emma Tucker Athlete of the Year - Male Stephen Doege Keefer Joyce Robert LaRue Award recipients from each category will be revealed on Thursday, April 19 as part of the gala ceremony taking place at the Kelowna Community Theatre. Tickets will be available March 12 at a cost of $25 per person. To purchase tickets, please contact the Cultural Services office at 250-469-8811. For more information, visit kelowna.ca/residents.