February 18, 2010

Dear Chamber of Commerce,

Well…I do believe it has all set in but it’s still so unreal!! I would just like to take the opportunity to say thank you. Thank you for doing what you do to promote businesses and encourage local shopping in our community. And, of course, thank you for creating such an adventurous and interesting contest.

It is with my deepest sincerity that I thank you for the opportunities to meet some very great people and to learn about 25 excellent businesses and services in my community. The adventure started for me on February 1st after reading the Examiner over the weekend and having the contest advertisement keep calling my name!! I began calling businesses that day and had three appointments set up for that night and 6 others spread out over the week. Everyone was very accommodating and excited to meet and promote their business.

After meeting with Jeff of Parkland Furnace, I was hooked!! He was such a great person and he not only taught me about his business but also gave some suggestions on how to improve my home with just a few simple steps. I had to shuffle him out of the house so I could zoom off to meet with Michelle of Bride Aides and I stopped off at Jack’s Drive In to fill out the ballot before returning home that night.

Since the first night went so well I was very excited to head to my appointments on the Tuesday with Barb Baxter and Norm of Hear by Request. Learning about the home based businesses was the best experiences for me. It was great to see how people in my own community were contributing to the world with their talent and skills. Who knew that someone from Spruce Grove has DJ’d for the Juno red carpet?? It was still early after meeting with Norm that one of my sisters and I went to Gentle Touch Massage Therapy, Electric Rodeo, IGA and The Green Tea Frog. Once we got going we didn’t want to stop!!

As we met with the different businesses we kept being asked…Have you been to Romantic Notions??!! Several of the contestants were saying how detailed their ballot was. It made us nervous but we were up for the challenge. Having shopped there before, I didn’t think it was going to be a problem…how hard could it be? With two sisters and a mom in tow, we headed to Romantic Notions. I would have to say that of all the businesses, it was the most difficult to answer the questions but in the end, we learned more than we ever knew about the company and their products. I have already suggested to two of my friends to check it out for their wedding attire needs!

With Romantic Notions under our belt (no pun intended), I felt that nothing could get in our way! We hit up CD Computers, Exit Realty, Ihear Unicare Inc, Music Centre Canada, Branded Sign & Promo and Konbrio Software all in one afternoon. Who knew all these businesses were out there?? I didn’t….but I know now! It just goes to show you don’t need to head to Edmonton to get stuff done. From computers with websites to promotional items to drums and guitars and a house to put it all in….Spruce Grove has it all!!

Phone calls led to emails which led to my crazy schedule getting in the way sometimes. Companies like Budget Blinds, Discovery Toys What Motivates You and The Plumbing Guys shared their experience and services over the telephone and were accommodating to my need to get my ballots in. Although weary about not filling out the ballot myself, I did appreciate that I could put my mind at ease that I trusted these dedicated people to enter my name. (Shayna from The Plumbing Guys even drove a ballot out to my house for me to look over, call her to discuss the following day and fill out, and then she picked it up again!)

One of my sisters had an appointment already booked at Salon Montage on the 4th, so getting in to fill out a ballot was quite simple as that is our salon of choice!! From beauty to beautiful scents, we met with Rosie of Scent Sations at her home and discovered a new, more natural way to make my home smell nice! Keeping on the “natural” track, we left Rosie’s to visit Darlene Rice (Norwex) to learn of the new, up and coming way to clean and stay clean.

Thinking we had it all done, we began to relax only to find on Tuesday night that we had missed two!! I took Wednesday morning off work and visited Selmac Sales and Dynamic Printing. I don’t know how I skipped over these two but I am glad now that I took the time to check them out.

So, on Wednesday, February 10th at 10:30am, I finished the whirlwind tour of the Spruce Grove and area and then just waited for Thursday night to come. I lost some sleep over whether or not all the questions were answered right but was pretty confident that we had done the best that we could.

When my name was announced on Thursday night I nearly lost the use of my knees!! It was truly an out‐of‐body experience. It has been a week now and I am still smiling! I cannot get over what we accomplished, and to be awarded with the prize is amazing. Every time I go thru the prizes I find something I didn’t see the first time and am so excited to take advantage of it all.

I have lived in Spruce Grove all of my life and promote our “little town” to a lot of people. I am proud of what we accomplish as a city and am grateful to have a safe, modern community to live in. On that note, I would just like to say thank you to the Chamber and congratulations to you for creating such a fun, exciting and interesting contest for me to be a part of. Thank you to the 25 businesses that participated and know that I will be encouraging friends and family to look you up and visit your shops and websites, etc. I look forward to using up all of the gift certificates and services over the year.

Look out 2010….here we come!!

Sincerely,

Megan LIndmark