The Huntsville Business Improvement Area’s (BIA) annual general meeting last Wednesday had a G8 Summit flavour to it.
Not only was Parry Sound-Muskoka MP Tony Clement presented with the Friends of the Downtown award for his work in bringing the international meeting to Huntsville, but one of the co-chairs reminded members of the importance of putting their best foot forward during the summit.
“We are very lucky as it looks like we are going to see a great deal of press and that type of coverage cannot be purchased with our BIA budget,” BIA co-chair Terry Glover reported to those gathered at Partners Hall for the annual meeting. “This G8 press is the best way to attract visitors and travellers to downtown Huntsville, and a great way to handle this type of thing is to try to answer questions with a positive spin.”
He stated that during this time of great uncertainty tourists and seasonal residents will be looking for a friendly town.
“As you face the different countries’ questions find the positive in our town and lift up our image as much as possible. This will send a positive message to our public and that will come back to you in travel dollars.”
Glover urged BIA members to express their patronage and display a Canadian flag for the summit and the tourists alike.
“2010 should have a strong positive effect on our town and Muskoka,” he said. “The G8 is a very rare event to host in Huntsville. We know that there will be a lot of last-minute planning and I urge you all to get involved and support your BIA board of management as much as you can. We will need your talents to properly present our downtown to the world.”
The members also approved the new directors for the 2010-2011 term. They include Steve Campbell, Mary Jane Fletcher (council representative), Glover, Kathy Groh, Kevin Knox, Helena Renwick, Debbi Miller, Kathy Sheridan, Britt Stevens, Mike Taylor and Ingrid Van Vlymen.
Other award winners on the night included: Top Of The Town Award to Glover for outstanding effort by a BIA member; Squeaky Clean Award to Huntsville’s Hometown IDA Drugstore for a member business noted for care around their building; Touch of Brilliance Award to Sheridan for having an idea/concept beneficial to the downtown; Shadow Award to Renwick for going beyond the call of duty for the BIA; and the Corporate Support Award to RBC Royal Bank for outstanding support for BIA projects.