GRANDE PRAIRIE NEWS - 2003

January 2003: Menzies Printers moved to a new building in early January to 9917-97 Avenue. Menzies Printers started operation in 1946 in Sexsmith Alberta, later moving to the Downtown location on the corner of 100 Avenue and 102 Street. Menzies Printers also has locations in Edmonton, Alberta and Kamloops, British Columbia. Royal LePage Realty Grande Prairie moves its offices next to Menzies Printers.
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January 2003: Carnelly's Restaurant and Pub closed its doors. It was located along the Highway Bypass at 10214-116 Avenue Grande Prairie.
February 2003: Bud Country 3 Day Festival is scheduled for July 4-6 at Evergreen Park. Some main headliners include, Sawyer Brown, Ronnie Milsap, Chris Cummings, Blake Shelton and more.
February 2003: Home Depot confirms it will be coming to Grande Prairie. Watch for their store just north of the Quality Hotel (Golden Inn) along 100 Avenue, Grande Prairie opening sometimes this fall. 62,000 sq ft building, 19,000 sq ft covered area, 20,000 sq ft lumber yard.
February 2003: Jim Hansen's Gateway Ford Lincoln Sales has moved, and left their downtown location for a new building on the west side of Grande Prairie (Gateway Power Centre area). Located north of Quality Hotel (Golden Inn).
February 2003: Chamber of Commerce 2003 Business Citizen of the year award went to Tom Shields of Tom Shields Realty Inc. Fletcher Bootle won the Clem Collins Award for outstanding volunteer contributions. Peace Air Ltd, won the Dan H. Minchin Award for its long term business and community achievements. Bud Laverick of Re/Max named Realtor Of The Year. Lesley Craig of Century 21 was named Rookie Of The Year.

February 2003: Builders' Expo 2003 was held at Evergreen Park February 21-23, 2002. It is a trade show organized in partnership with the Grande Prairie Home Builders Association, Grande Prairie Construction Association and the Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce. More than 190 exhibitors displayed their wares in the Largest Construction based Builders' Show in Northern Alberta.
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March 2003: Little Caesar's Pizza will be coming to Grande Prairie locating in the new development south of the Royal Bank. Junction Point Village and Railtown is located along Resources Road around 98 Avenue.

March 2003: 18th Annual Peace Country Classic usually attracts close to 20,000 people was held over 4 days this year at Evergreen Park. March 5,6,7,8. Free admission, seed fair, showcase and horse sale, cattle show and auction, bison and elk show and sale, variety of demonstrations. Over 250 displays and exhibits. Very cold weather affected the attendance figures.
March 2003: The Bank of Montreal has closed its downtown location as well as the Prairie Mall location and have amalgamated to a new location at the West Side Plaza. (area east of Northern Metalic) Their new address is 10705 West Side Drive.
March 2003: A construction material recycling centre officially opened by the name Northwest Re-Build Industries around 104 Street and 98 Avenue.
March 2003: Also the Gaiety Theatre located downtown Grande Prairie has re-opened and operated by the Living Christ Youth Mission Fellowship Group. On opening night the main attraction was a Christian rock band with more concerts planned.

March 2003: 6th Annual Grande Prairie Sports Expo, an annual event at Evergreen Park was held March 21, 22, 23. Attractions included the 21 foot climbing wall, the 60 foot houseboat as well as boats, RV's, ATV's, archery and fishing equipment, truck accessories, pool tables, paintball accessories and more.
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April 2003: The TD Canada Trust has moved to the West Side Plaza, right across the street from The Bank of Montreal. The downtown location and Patterson location have closed and amalgamated at this new location at 10704 West Side Drive.
May 2003: Health Region 8 is now officially called the "Peace Country Health Region". The Peace, Mistahia and Keeweetinok Health regions merged early this year to provide health care for over 130,000 people.
May 2003: Johnny Macdonald Arena has moved to the twin-ice arenas, known as the Coca-Cola Centre located on the south side of the City. The Wall of Fame has been moved as well which includes photos of Johnny Macdonald "the father of hockey in Grande Prairie". enlarge picture
May 1, 2003: The official launch of DiscoverThePeaceCountry.com, a new website that features the Peace Country. After approximately 2 years in the making, this one-of-a-kind website features approximately 20 towns and villages as well as parks and lakes in the Peace Country with over 350 pictures. More communities will eventually be added to the site. "DiscoverThePeaceCountry.com" is featured on the most viewed websites in the area which includes the Daily Herald-Tribune website in Grande Prairie, the Fairview post website and the Peace River Gazette website.
June 2003: The County Office and Municipal Shop has moved to a new location and new building, north of Grande Prairie along Highway 2, approximately 1 km north of the Four Mile Corner.
June 2003: Mary Brown's Restaurant, closed its doors. It had been only open for about a year on the west side of the city next to Visions in the Gateway Power Centre.(along 100 Avenue and 110 Street).
July 2003: Another 21 feature pages have been added to DiscoverThePeaceCountry.com. Includes: Donnelly, Falher, Girouxville, High Prairie, McLennan, Nampa, Tangent...also British Columbia towns in the Peace Country: Charlie Lake, Chetwynd, Dawson Creek, Hudson's Hope, Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, Taylor, and Tomslake. Also Alberta Parks: Figure 8 lake, Queen Elizabeth Park, Winagami Lake and BC Parks: Moberly Lake and Swan Lake. These pages accessible from the pull-down menu at the top of this page.
July 2003: Canadian Western Bank under construction next to Home Depot in the Gateway Power Centre (west end of Grande Prairie.) This will be the 28th location in western Canada, scheduled.

July 2003: Canfor fire creates state of Emergency in Grande Prairie. Water bombers and firemen brought in the fight the blaze and finally brought under control in a few days. 20,000 cubic metres of wood had burned. The last Canfor fire happened in 1978.
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