ABRAM-VILLAGE – Oct. 25, 2024 – The 81 students who took part in the 2024 edition of the “My Favorite Business or Co-op” drawing contest were delighted Friday, not only because they had the opportunity to discover businesses and co-operatives, but also to demonstrate their artistic talents by drawing them. Another reason for their joy was that the organizers of this popular Co-op and Small Business Weeks event presented each of them with a small thank-you gift for their participation.
Judging by the width of their smiles, three of the young artists from Évangéline School were particularly happy on Friday at lunchtime when they were told they had won the contest’s top prizes, selected by random draw. Grade 4’s Leah Richard won first prize: a beautiful Gskyer telescope donated by the Wellington Co-op. Grade 5’s Luke Gallant won a basketball shootout set, while Grade 5’s Samuel Arsenault received a set of Lego blocks; both of these prizes were donated by MacDonald Insurance and Investments. Samuel was thrilled to have his name drawn two years in a row as one of the top prize winners.
The other youngsters received gifts such as school bags, backpacks, tote bags, Frisbees, slime, travel mugs, coloring pencils, sleds, markers, bracelets, play dough, bandanas, toques, footballs, a construction set, and other promotional tools or small toys.
THE CONTEST
The bilingual contest was launched in early October. All children from kindergarten to Grade 6 were invited to submit a drawing to the Wellington Co-op by Oct. 19. All the drawings, the vast majority of which came from Évangéline School, were displayed on the store’s walls from Oct. 21-25 for the public to admire. The youngsters had drawn everything from gas stations and garages to the local skating rink, plumbers, construction companies, the post office, stores and the credit union, to name but a few.
Contest partners then gathered in Wellington on Friday, Oct. 25, to conduct the draws. These partners are Wellington Co-op, MacDonald Insurance and Investments, Provincial Credit Union (Évangéline branch), the Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce, RDÉE PEI, the Conseil scolaire-communautaire Évangéline and Wellington Rural Action Centre.
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PHOTO 1: Winners of the top three prizes in the drawing contest (front row), with prize presenters (back row), are, from left, Samuel Arsenault (Grade 5), who received his set of Lego blocks from Annette Richard of the Conseil scolaire-communautaire Évangéline; Luke Gallant (Grade 5), winner of a basketball shootout set, who received his prize from Alecia Arsenault of the Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce of PEI; and Leah Richard (Grade 4), who received her telescope from Chris O’Brien of the Wellington Co-op.
PHOTO 2: Among the sponsors of the 2024 “My Favorite Business or Co-op” drawing contest were, from left, Dan MacDonald from MacDonald Insurance and Investments, Annette Richard from the Conseil scolaire-communautaire Évangéline Alecia Arsenault from the Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce of PEI, Diane McInnis from Provincial Credit Union (Evangeline Branch) and Chris O’Brien from Wellington Co-op.
For further information, please contact:
Chris O’Brien
Manager
Wellington Co-op
wellingtoncoop.storemanager@gmail.com
902-854-2951
Raymond J. Arsenault
Manager
Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce of PEI
raymond@rdeeipe.org
902-960-1285