Best of Aylmer—Winners announced at bustling Awards Gala
Lily Ryan
Aylmer’s association and business leaders got all dressed up for a party, June 1. Attending the Awards Gala at the Gatineau Golf Club were some 300 people who managed to secure an invitation; only the finalists and a guest. With 51 categories, three finalists in each, the invite list needed to be adhered to.
The big winners: Restaurant Alpina won the Most Overall Votes, an award that attests to the popularity of this lovely restaurant at the corner of Mountain Road and Vanier Road. Alpina also won Best Patio and Best Breakfast. It was a finalist in the categories: Hamburger, Pizza and Poutine.
Hotly contest categories (high number of votes in a category and close number of votes for more than one finalist) are Best Poutine, Best Family-friendly restaurant, Best Place to go out for a date, Best Dentist, Best Mechanic and Best Customer Service.
See the results in this paper but the Bulletin vote counters can attest to the extra work needed in these categories to double-check the results are accurate.
The whole team at the Bulletin, not just the vote-counters, worked really hard to make the whole campaign a success. The planning started in February, the voting started at the beginning of April and the results were beyond expectations.
Offering a no-cost way for Aylmerites to share their love for local businesses is the goal behind the readers’ choice awards. Some businesses advertised during the vote campaign, urging voters to cast their ballots for them. And there are paid thank you ads in this edition.
These businesses purchase ads to help the Bulletin cover all the costs associated with the printing and distributing the paper, running the vote and then the gala itself, as well as publishing the results section. Modest sponsorship packages are available throughout the year to help with the campaign, APICA, the local business association assisted this way, and are available for purchase through our office. Mayor Frances Belisle addressed the gathered finalists, noting the close-knit community has provided for not only a healthy business environment, but the increasingly rare core of it; a local newspaper. She paid tribute to the late Micheline Lemieux who attended past galas as finalist in the Local Hero category from the start in 2012. Again this year, the Firefighters took the award.
Dear reader, please shop with the Bulletin advertisers! Tell them you saw their Best of Aylmer results, or that you voted for them and will again next time. Ultimately, shopping locally is the key to a vibrant Aylmer – both for the beloved local businesses, and this very newspaper.
Photo credits: Patricia Cassidy
