Age Friendly awards program returns with new community directory in hand

By Ian MacKay

Copies of the latest Age Friendly community directory of local services were available during the organization’s Business Awards of Excellence presentations.

“It’s got just about everything and anything that you’d want to know about Rosetown and where to call and so on,” MC Hugh Lees said about the directory last Tuesday in the United Church lower hall.

Rosetown’s business awards program began around 2000, with the business, employee and student employee of the year honoured. The event became a gala evening staged by the Rosetown Chamber of Commerce, Lees recalled. Other awards joined over the years before the chamber stopped holding the program after the 2016 awards.

Age Friendly decided to bring it back, with Lees explaining that local groups go to businesses for donations to their causes. Members saw a need “to show recognition” to the businesses and “the employees that make the businesses successful,” he said.

An independent judging panel chooses winners “based on the information received” from nominators, Lees said, adding that the program is for “any business, any employee” in Rosetown.

Three “mystery shoppers” had mostly “positive” visits to businesses and other operations. They rated most establishments between eight and 10 on a scale of one to 10, Lees said.

“Very important” in their eyes were having a place where customers could sit, the availability of public washrooms and ease of access for people using wheelchairs and other mobility aids, he said. Having knowledgeable, helpful and friendly staff also ranked highly, Lees said.

Meanwhile, people involved with Age Friendly overlooked the organization’s 10th anniversary two weeks earlier, noted Crystal Storey, who presented the employee of the year award.