Thank You for Your Support During the Pandemic

I don’t think its any secret that I love this town. I wasn’t born here. My wife and I worked hard to be able to move here in 2013 and now raise our family here. I mean, look around - who wouldn’t want to live here? Amazing mountain views everywhere you look. The opportunity to get outside and explore the best things Mother Nature has to offer and they are all just outside our doors! What we didn’t know before we moved here was just how amazing the people of this town are!

The past year has brought many challenges to all of us. I think we all have a better appreciation of the isolation that many who are unable to get out feel. We have made sacrifices of seeing family and friends. We have home-schooled our children. We have had the stress of having to shut our business doors and hope that we have the support of the community to re-open them.

Support - physically, mentally and financially of our people and local businesses, that’s where the people of this town really shine! I wanted to take a minute to thank all of you who have gone above and beyond to keep us safe and healthy both physically and mentally.

Our Healthcare Heroes - Thank you just doesn’t seem adequate when we think about the doctors, nurses, technicians, first responders and support staff who have bravely stood, even when we had very little information on the pandemic and how best to treat, support and prevent spread of infection. You are true heroes and should be recognized as such.

Grocery Store Employees - You have been placed in high-risk situations and have continued to show up at work, even when most of us were mandated to stay at home. Your patience when dealing with nervous, scared and cranky customers has emphasized how by treating each other with kindness we can help each other get through tough times.

Postal Employees and Delivery Drivers - what would we have done without you? Many of us turned to on-line shopping when we could no longer visit our favourite stores. I can’t imagine how things would have been if you didn’t continue to work tirelessly to ensure that we all received both needed supplies and contact with the world.

Of course, the Rocky Mountain Outlook - thank you for your coverage of local news and events in our community. What happens today in our community is tomorrow’s history. Our history is a very important part of our community and I thank you for helping to preserve it.

There are so many people like the gas station attendants and auto mechanics whose contributions throughout this past year have been invaluable - thank you all!

Our schools - teachers and staff. We briefly had to home school our children.My appreciation of you and your efforts has grown enormously - we could not have done it without you!

Let’s not forget about the businesses in town. Obviously I can’t list them all, but I am grateful for the sacrifices you made. I applaud the creative thinking as you re-imagined your businesses to make things work.

One that stands out for me is Cafe Books on main street. At a time when an escape into a good book was most appreciated, they found a way. The owners turned to online and phone orders and created a ‘Book-Mobile’ out of their personal vehicle and spent hours each day delivering books that were ordered by phone or online.

Bella Crusta is another. They started selling bread and take-n-bake pizzas as they could no longer have people in the restaurant. They learned to take orders by text and took the time to grow their online and social media presence so we knew they were there!

The owner Mark Trofinuk also teamed up with the owner of Stonewaters, Mike Gordon, to do something pretty amazing. They got together and started delivering care packages to seniors who were shut in. They included a box of chocolates from Jacek Chocolates, a candle from Stonewaters, a loaf of bread from Bella Crusta and of course, the ever-popular roll of toilet paper! They delivered 70 of these packages around town. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and your kindness in these challenging times.

The acts of kindness, the drive to keep providing much needed services to this town, and the effort put forth by so many when faced with uncertainty, fear and risk are what make Canmore such an incredible place. It’s easy to look at the scenery and love Canmore but if my time living here has taught me anything, it’s that the people of Canmore are what makes it really special.

So thank you again to all the heroes - the ones who have so obviously been putting themselves at risk for our benefits and the ones who have been quietly doing amazing things in the background.

On a personal note, I would like to thank all who have supported me and my business.

Canmore truly is an incredible place filled with amazing people I am proud to call my friends and neighbours!

Devin Stephens