NEWS PHOTO COLLIN GALLANT
Tempo on Highway No. 3 is "the place to be" -- as the citation reads from 2018 store decorating contest judges -- after the location's decorations won first-place among retail stores in the annual contest. Managers Tracy Clarke (left) and Vanessa Jurasek pose in the station's cafe on Tuesday, July 24, 2018.
Medicine Hat News
The reviews are in with judges in the Medicine Hat Stampede store decorating contest handing out ribbons Monday for best displays of Western spirit.
Perennial winner Cypress View Veterinary Clinic again won its category of non-retail offices, with Fairway Village (institutions), Investors Group (banks), Tempo on Highway 3 (retail stores), and McDonald’s restaurant on Dunmore Road also winning their categories.
Animal Medical Centre South in the hamlet of Dunmore was selected as best in the new entry class.
For Cypress View, winning accolades has become an almost annual event.
The office’s efforts usually place high in judging, not only in store decorating, but also in judging of parade floats, which takes place Thursday morning prior to the procession through city centre.
This year’s Old West casino and saloon theme, which includes a roulette wheel for deals, wanted posters of staff and gaming decor, is the work of office manager Tammy Duggan and others.
“It can be kind of a stressful place to work,” explained Duggan. “We get to work with kittens and puppies, but they’re not always well.
“We set aside July to have some fun, and view it as a team building experience.”
Fairway Village, an adult condo complex looking over Connaught Golf Course near 13th Avenue, wins the “institutional/community service” class for the sheer totality of Western themed memorabilia and corny jokes posted around the facility.
The ground-level patios of the courtyard are decorated as shops on a main street of a Western town.
Organizers say just 20 official entries were judged.