51st annual Civic & Community Awards winners announced
News Release
The winners of the 51st annual Civic and Community Awards were announced last night at the awards ceremony held at Kelowna Community Theatre. Congratulations to all finalists and recipients of the awards who helped shine a positive light on our city in 2025.
The 51st annual Civic & Community Award winners are:
Anita Tozer Memorial Award – bestowed by Mayor & Council
Shane Worman
Bob Giordano Memorial Award – Coach/Sport Administrator of the Year
Ashlee Davison
Bryan Couling Memorial Award – Athletic Team of the Year
UBCO – Women's Softball
Female Athlete of the Year Award
Kassidy Rutledge
Male Athlete of the Year Award
Finley Cashin
Augie Ciancone Memorial Award – Young Female Athlete
Layna Haggerty & Karina Haggerty
Augie Ciancone Memorial Award – Young Male Athlete
Haydn Bosma
Teen Honour in the Arts Award
Payton Bischoff
Honour in the Arts Award
Dr. Cole Mash
Central Okanagan Foundation’s Volunteer Organization of the Year Award
Central Okanagan Bursary and Scholarship Society
Corporate Community of the Year Award
Wilden Group
Champion for the Environment Award
Kelowna Chinese United Association
Fred Macklin & Sarah Donalda-Treadgold Memorial Award – Citizen of the Year
Dr. Paul Clark
Young Citizen of the Year Award
Dilynn Scott
The Young Citizen of the Year finalists will receive funding towards their post-secondary education through the Payton and Dillon Budd Memorial Fund Youth Scholarship. The award recipient will receive $2,000, while each of the two remaining finalists will receive $1,000. The recipient of the Teen Honour in the Arts award will receive a $500 entrance scholarship to the University of British Columbia Okanagan, courtesy of the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies.
In addition, the recipient for the Central Okanagan Foundation’s Volunteer Organization of the Year will receive a $3,000 donation from the Central Okanagan Foundation.
Special thanks to the sponsors of this year's event for their generous support: Peter’s Your Independent Grocer, Central Okanagan Foundation, FortisBC, The University of British Columbia Okanagan, KCR Community Resources, The Payton & Dillon Budd Memorial Fund, Crowe MacKay LLP, SK Architect, Arts Council of the Central Okanagan, Castanet, PacificSport, Vista Radio (including 101.5 GO FM, 99.9 Sun FM & AM 1150), Capital News and Okanagan Central School Athletics Association.
Nominations for the 52nd annual Civic & Community Awards will begin in the summer of 2026. Winners’ bios will be available online in the coming days.
To learn more about the Civic & Community Awards, visit kelowna.ca/civicawards.
