Grande Prairie News 2012 - ARCHIVED
DiscoverThePeaceCountry.com features some of the news that changed Grande Prairie during the year 2012. Many were sad to see the Gaiety theatre finally being demolished as well BJ's Club and Sports Bar closed its door this year as well. Two other local businesses: Wild Bills Work and Western Wear along with Warrington's Jewelers in the Prairie Mall closed their doors for the final time.
MORE: Grande Prairie NEWS - 2001 To Present VIEW
GRANDE PRAIRIE NEWS - 2012
January 2012: Woody's RV World is opening their 4th location in Alberta, right here in Grande Prairie. They have purchased Leisureland Camper Village with the change over expected February 1st.
January 2012: Dogs Billiards and Service has closed its doors at 10015-100 Avenue Grande Prairie. Everything was sold off at a receivership auction. (enlarge picture)
January 2012: First it was a Liquor Store, then a Liquidation World Store, and now this building located next to the Curling Rink on 99 Avenue Grande Prairie has been renovated and has become the offices of Dr Senekal, eye specialist. (enlarge photo)
January 2012: Aquatera Head Office has moved to 11101-104 Avenue, just east of Home Depot. The billing department that was at City Hall is now at this new location.
February 2012: The Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce gave out the following awards: The Dan H. Minchin award for long-term business achievement was awarded to Crouse's Cleaners. Above and Beyond award to Trenton Perrott, Business Citizen of the year went to Dr. Brenda Millar, The Clem E. Collins award went to Greg Podmore. (Crouse's Cleaners picture)
February 2012: County of Grande Prairie Reeve, Everett McDonald won the PC nomination for the GP-Smoky riding. Replaces Mel Knight who retired.
February 2012: The Stonebridge Hotels and Grande Prairie Inn has just sold to the Pomeroy Group who have a number of hotels in Grande Prairie, Fort St John, Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Grimshaw, and Manning. The Stonebridge has hotels in Grande Prairie, Fort St John and Fort McMurray.
February 2012: City of Grande Prairie now officially has a population of over 55,000. That is a 16.8% increase over 2006.
February 2012: One of Grande Prairie's Landmarks on 100 avenue, the Gaiety Theatre, has been demolished. It operated from 1950 to 1991 as a 500 seat movie theatre. (enlarge photo)
March 2012: The Grande Prairie Dream Home is under construction. 10632-158 Ave, north Grande Prairie. You can Win a Dream Home by purchasing a ticket. Photos, prize list: Click here for more. (enlarge picture)
March 2012: Wild Bills is closing after 33 years. Bill Lilge says, his son Michael, who owns Fourward, will be moving from downtown Grande Prairie to take this spot later this summer. (enlarge photo)
March 2012: Falher Pirates won the 7th game final in Grande Prairie on March 25, 2012 against the Grande Prairie Athletics (NPHL).
Falher PARADES THE CUP View VIDEO> (4:48min)
More Falher Pirates VIDEOS Archived Videos
March 2012: Valhala Pure Outfitters store, downtown Grande Prairie is closing their store. The Franchise has 16 locations in Alberta and BC.
March 2012: After so little snow and warm temperatures, mother nature gave the Peace Country a dump of snow just days before the official first day of spring. Compare last years snow and the Spring of 2011. View VIDEO of Spring 2011 (1:15 min)
March 2012: Hollywood Video will be opening soon in the former Rogers Video location on 100 Street Grande Prairie. It will have around 8,000 videos for rent.
March 2012: Frontier Bus Lines will be discontinuing its schedule between Grande Prairie, Valleyview, Fox Creek, Whitecourt, Mayerthorpe and Edmonton effective March 31, 2012.
March 2012: The Grande Prairie Multiplex will now be called the Eastlink Centre after Eastlink has agreed to a 10-year commitment worth $3million in sponsorship to the facility.
April 2012: The Salvation Army Thrift Store in Grande Prairie will be closing May 19th because of financial difficulties. They have already stopped taking all dropped off donated items.
April 2012: An All-Candidates Provincial Election Forum for the GP-Smoky and GP-Wapiti will be held at the Grande Prairie College, April 18th, starting at 6:30pm
April 2012: Another RV dealer has come to Grande Prairie. Western RV Country is now open near McGoverns RV along 100 Street north Grande Prairie.
April 2012: Wiebo Ludwig, known for his confrontations with the oil companies, died at his home at Trickle Creek near Hythe, at the age of 70. He had become known world-wide for his opinions on sour gas wells.
April 2012: The Alberta Provincial Election will be held April 23, 2012 and the candidates list has been finalized. Grande Prairie-Smoky: Wildrose-Todd Loewen, Conservatives-Everett McDonald, NDP-Mary Dahr, Liberals-Kevin McLean, Independent-Andrew Muise. Grande Prairie-Wapiti: Wildrose-Ethane Jarvis, Conservatives-Wayne Drysdale, NDP- Paul Anderson, Liberal-Alya Nazarali, Independent- Anthony Barendregt. In the Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley: Wildrose- Kelly Hudson, Conservatives- Hector Goudreau, NDP- Nathan Macklin, Liberal- Carole Carby. In Peace River: Wildrose- Alan Forsyth, Conservative- Frank Oberle, NDP - Wanda Laurin, and Liberals- Remi Tardif.
April 14, 2012: Snow Storm Hits the Peace Country. Many had put away their snow shovels and started booking their tee times at the local golf courses, but Mother Nature gave us another taste of winter. Highway conditions were slippery through-out the Province and a number of vehicles ended up in the ditch. Highway 43 from Whitecourt to Grande Prairie is featured in this video. View VIDEO> (4:48min)
April 2012: The Progressive Conservatives win the Alberta Provincial Election held April 23, 2012. In the Peace Country the Conservatives are elected , GP Smoky: Everett McDonald. GP Wapiti: Wayne Drysdale, Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley: Hector Goudreau , and Peace River: Frank Oberle.
May 2012: Alberta minimum wage is increasing to $9.75 per hour as of September 1, 2012.
May 2012: Tab Pollock, Grande Prairie Businessman, has been appointed as chairman of the Alberta Chamber of Commerce which includes 124 Chamber of Commerces across Alberta. In the past, Tab has been Director and Past Chair of the Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce.
May 2012: Menzies Printers (Menzies Graphics Group owned by Grant and Jamie Menzies) has been sold to a Vancouver company, Westkey Graphics. Westkey Graphics is based out of Vancouver, with additional offices in Victoria, Kelowna, Edmonton and Calgary. Besides purchasing the Grande Prairie Menzies location, they also purchased the Menzies, Kamloops, Edmonton and Calgary locations as well. Westgate Fire Station is now open on the west side of Grande Prairie, near Future Shop. This will reduce response times to fires on the west side.
May 2012: Rock City in Grande Prairie changes its name again. The new name of Spurs Cookhouse and Dance Hall will return it to its country routes. At one time they were known as the Corral.
May 2012: A new Firehall on the west side of Grande Prairie (near Future Shop) will have its Grand Opening May 25, 2012.
May 2012: New name for the Prairie Art Gallery, renamed Art Gallery of Grande Prairie. Another downtown Grande Prairie Store is closing its doors. Celebrations, a ladies clothing store will close
May 2012: CASH & CAMPING LOTTERY The Swan City Rotary Club is hosting the Cash & Camping Lottery again this year with more than 600 prizes. Main prize is a 2012 Ford F-350 4x4 XLT. Final draw July 6, 2012.
May 2012: Kelseys Restaurant, west on 100 Avenue (near Staples) has been closed for a number of years but finally renovations have begun. It will open later this year as a Swiss Chalet.
June 2012: New information released by Statistics Canada indicates that Grande Prairie is the youngest city in Canada with the median age of 30.3 years old.
June 2012: A new Grande Prairie Care Centre officially opened, located at 97 Street and 94 Avenue. The facility has 60 beds for long term care.
June 2012: The QE2 Foundation received 3 million dollars from the estate of local auctioneer Robert Scott, the largest gift ever received by the Foundation.
June 2012: Winner of the Grande Prairie Dream Home Draw is Corrine McDonald and Wayne Petrowich of Grande Prairie who farms near Hines Creek. Winner of the 50-50 prize of $100,000 was David Holmes of Grande Prairie. See interior photos of the Dream Home. Click here for more.
July 2012: Grande Prairie STREET FESTIVAL. This 3-day event took place downtown Grande Prairie with over 20 acts providing entertainment for thousands of people. Wayne Ayling Co-Chairman of the Festival, talks about the event on this video. View VIDEO> (2:00min)
July 2012: Over a hundred entries took part in this years Canada Day Parade. Thousands of people of all ages filled the streets to watch the parade which was about an hour long.
July 2012: Jim Hansen dies at the age of 78 years. Years ago, he was a Grande Prairie City Alderman, and owner of a number of Car Dealerships. (Trumpeter Pontiac, Hanson Ford). - Princess Auto had its Grand Opening of their new store on the west side of Grande Prairie. 99avenue and 120 Street, west of Peavey Mart.
January 2012: Woody's RV World is opening their 4th location in Alberta, right here in Grande Prairie. They have purchased Leisureland Camper Village with the change over expected February 1st.
January 2012: Dogs Billiards and Service has closed its doors at 10015-100 Avenue Grande Prairie. Everything was sold off at a receivership auction. (enlarge picture)
January 2012: First it was a Liquor Store, then a Liquidation World Store, and now this building located next to the Curling Rink on 99 Avenue Grande Prairie has been renovated and has become the offices of Dr Senekal, eye specialist. (enlarge photo)
January 2012: Aquatera Head Office has moved to 11101-104 Avenue, just east of Home Depot. The billing department that was at City Hall is now at this new location.
February 2012: The Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce gave out the following awards: The Dan H. Minchin award for long-term business achievement was awarded to Crouse's Cleaners. Above and Beyond award to Trenton Perrott, Business Citizen of the year went to Dr. Brenda Millar, The Clem E. Collins award went to Greg Podmore. (Crouse's Cleaners picture)
February 2012: County of Grande Prairie Reeve, Everett McDonald won the PC nomination for the GP-Smoky riding. Replaces Mel Knight who retired.
February 2012: The Stonebridge Hotels and Grande Prairie Inn has just sold to the Pomeroy Group who have a number of hotels in Grande Prairie, Fort St John, Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Grimshaw, and Manning. The Stonebridge has hotels in Grande Prairie, Fort St John and Fort McMurray.
February 2012: City of Grande Prairie now officially has a population of over 55,000. That is a 16.8% increase over 2006.
February 2012: One of Grande Prairie's Landmarks on 100 avenue, the Gaiety Theatre, has been demolished. It operated from 1950 to 1991 as a 500 seat movie theatre. (enlarge photo)
March 2012: The Grande Prairie Dream Home is under construction. 10632-158 Ave, north Grande Prairie. You can Win a Dream Home by purchasing a ticket. Photos, prize list: Click here for more. (enlarge picture)
March 2012: Wild Bills is closing after 33 years. Bill Lilge says, his son Michael, who owns Fourward, will be moving from downtown Grande Prairie to take this spot later this summer. (enlarge photo)
March 2012: Falher Pirates won the 7th game final in Grande Prairie on March 25, 2012 against the Grande Prairie Athletics (NPHL).
Falher PARADES THE CUP View VIDEO> (4:48min)
More Falher Pirates VIDEOS Archived Videos
March 2012: Valhala Pure Outfitters store, downtown Grande Prairie is closing their store. The Franchise has 16 locations in Alberta and BC.
March 2012: After so little snow and warm temperatures, mother nature gave the Peace Country a dump of snow just days before the official first day of spring. Compare last years snow and the Spring of 2011. View VIDEO of Spring 2011 (1:15 min)
March 2012: Hollywood Video will be opening soon in the former Rogers Video location on 100 Street Grande Prairie. It will have around 8,000 videos for rent.
March 2012: Frontier Bus Lines will be discontinuing its schedule between Grande Prairie, Valleyview, Fox Creek, Whitecourt, Mayerthorpe and Edmonton effective March 31, 2012.
March 2012: The Grande Prairie Multiplex will now be called the Eastlink Centre after Eastlink has agreed to a 10-year commitment worth $3million in sponsorship to the facility.
April 2012: The Salvation Army Thrift Store in Grande Prairie will be closing May 19th because of financial difficulties. They have already stopped taking all dropped off donated items.
April 2012: An All-Candidates Provincial Election Forum for the GP-Smoky and GP-Wapiti will be held at the Grande Prairie College, April 18th, starting at 6:30pm
April 2012: Another RV dealer has come to Grande Prairie. Western RV Country is now open near McGoverns RV along 100 Street north Grande Prairie.
April 2012: Wiebo Ludwig, known for his confrontations with the oil companies, died at his home at Trickle Creek near Hythe, at the age of 70. He had become known world-wide for his opinions on sour gas wells.
April 2012: The Alberta Provincial Election will be held April 23, 2012 and the candidates list has been finalized. Grande Prairie-Smoky: Wildrose-Todd Loewen, Conservatives-Everett McDonald, NDP-Mary Dahr, Liberals-Kevin McLean, Independent-Andrew Muise. Grande Prairie-Wapiti: Wildrose-Ethane Jarvis, Conservatives-Wayne Drysdale, NDP- Paul Anderson, Liberal-Alya Nazarali, Independent- Anthony Barendregt. In the Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley: Wildrose- Kelly Hudson, Conservatives- Hector Goudreau, NDP- Nathan Macklin, Liberal- Carole Carby. In Peace River: Wildrose- Alan Forsyth, Conservative- Frank Oberle, NDP - Wanda Laurin, and Liberals- Remi Tardif.
April 14, 2012: Snow Storm Hits the Peace Country. Many had put away their snow shovels and started booking their tee times at the local golf courses, but Mother Nature gave us another taste of winter. Highway conditions were slippery through-out the Province and a number of vehicles ended up in the ditch. Highway 43 from Whitecourt to Grande Prairie is featured in this video. View VIDEO> (4:48min)
April 2012: The Progressive Conservatives win the Alberta Provincial Election held April 23, 2012. In the Peace Country the Conservatives are elected , GP Smoky: Everett McDonald. GP Wapiti: Wayne Drysdale, Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley: Hector Goudreau , and Peace River: Frank Oberle.
May 2012: Alberta minimum wage is increasing to $9.75 per hour as of September 1, 2012.
May 2012: Tab Pollock, Grande Prairie Businessman, has been appointed as chairman of the Alberta Chamber of Commerce which includes 124 Chamber of Commerces across Alberta. In the past, Tab has been Director and Past Chair of the Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce.
May 2012: Menzies Printers (Menzies Graphics Group owned by Grant and Jamie Menzies) has been sold to a Vancouver company, Westkey Graphics. Westkey Graphics is based out of Vancouver, with additional offices in Victoria, Kelowna, Edmonton and Calgary. Besides purchasing the Grande Prairie Menzies location, they also purchased the Menzies, Kamloops, Edmonton and Calgary locations as well. Westgate Fire Station is now open on the west side of Grande Prairie, near Future Shop. This will reduce response times to fires on the west side.
May 2012: Rock City in Grande Prairie changes its name again. The new name of Spurs Cookhouse and Dance Hall will return it to its country routes. At one time they were known as the Corral.
May 2012: A new Firehall on the west side of Grande Prairie (near Future Shop) will have its Grand Opening May 25, 2012.
May 2012: New name for the Prairie Art Gallery, renamed Art Gallery of Grande Prairie. Another downtown Grande Prairie Store is closing its doors. Celebrations, a ladies clothing store will close
May 2012: CASH & CAMPING LOTTERY The Swan City Rotary Club is hosting the Cash & Camping Lottery again this year with more than 600 prizes. Main prize is a 2012 Ford F-350 4x4 XLT. Final draw July 6, 2012.
May 2012: Kelseys Restaurant, west on 100 Avenue (near Staples) has been closed for a number of years but finally renovations have begun. It will open later this year as a Swiss Chalet.
June 2012: New information released by Statistics Canada indicates that Grande Prairie is the youngest city in Canada with the median age of 30.3 years old.
June 2012: A new Grande Prairie Care Centre officially opened, located at 97 Street and 94 Avenue. The facility has 60 beds for long term care.
June 2012: The QE2 Foundation received 3 million dollars from the estate of local auctioneer Robert Scott, the largest gift ever received by the Foundation.
June 2012: Winner of the Grande Prairie Dream Home Draw is Corrine McDonald and Wayne Petrowich of Grande Prairie who farms near Hines Creek. Winner of the 50-50 prize of $100,000 was David Holmes of Grande Prairie. See interior photos of the Dream Home. Click here for more.
July 2012: Grande Prairie STREET FESTIVAL. This 3-day event took place downtown Grande Prairie with over 20 acts providing entertainment for thousands of people. Wayne Ayling Co-Chairman of the Festival, talks about the event on this video. View VIDEO> (2:00min)
July 2012: Over a hundred entries took part in this years Canada Day Parade. Thousands of people of all ages filled the streets to watch the parade which was about an hour long.
July 2012: Jim Hansen dies at the age of 78 years. Years ago, he was a Grande Prairie City Alderman, and owner of a number of Car Dealerships. (Trumpeter Pontiac, Hanson Ford). - Princess Auto had its Grand Opening of their new store on the west side of Grande Prairie. 99avenue and 120 Street, west of Peavey Mart.
GRANDE PRAIRIE NEWS - 2012
August 2012: One of Grande Prairie's oldest buildings has been demolished. Northern Bottling located on 102 Street was torn down to make way for new businesses. VIEW Demolition VIDEO> 2:12min.
August 2012: Swiss Chalet Rotisserie & Grill has opened in Grande Prairie in the old Kelseys location, near Staples on 100 Avenue.
August 2012: ANNUAL TIREPRO MUD BOG. This event kicked off with a Show and Shine at the Casino and then continued for two more days at the Grande Prairie Airport for the Mud Bog Competition. You can see some of the action of the Mud Boggers as they make their way in the mud pits in this video. View VIDEO> (5:58)
August 2012: Totem in Grande Prairie will be changing its name to Rona in early 2013. The store will also carry some exclusive Rona products.
August 2012: Alberta Premier, Alison Redford was in Grande Prairie to take part in the Evergreen Park's 100th Anniversary Celebrations.
August 2012: BJ's Q Club and Sports Bar in Grande Prairie will be closing. Long and McQuade Music has purchased the building and will be taking possession in October.
August 2012: Fourward, has now opened its store in the old Wild Bills Location, in Grande Prairie along 100 Street.
August 2012: New Smoking Bylaw in Grande Prairie now restricts smoking in or within 10 metres of any city playground or athletic field. -The Philip J Currie Dinosaur Museum to be built at Wembley, Alberta has raised 17 million dollars so far with 10 million dollars to go.
September 2012: Grande Prairie STORM 2012-2013 Hockey Season Starts. At the first home game of the season, we saw the introduction of the team as each player made their way to centre ice. In this video, you can see the first goal of the first home game plus other hockey action (Sept 14, 2012). View VIDEO> (4:25min)
September 2012: Home Hardware has purchased the Woodland Tim-Br Mart Store, 100 Avenue in Grande Prairie and even though the signs have not changed, are operating it as Woodland Home Hardware Building Centre. This has resulted in management change.
September 2012: Cyril Gurevitch, senior partner of the law firm Gurevitch & Burnham, has been named the Canadian Bar Association - Alberta Branch President (The Canadian Bar Association represents over 5,000 layers, judges and law students in Alberta and 38,000 members across Canada)
October 2012: The Art Gallery of Grande Prairie had its grand opening of the newly restored building. In March 2007, the roof collapsed under heavy snow and did major damage to the gallery, which is the historic 1929 Grande Prairie High School.
October 2012: After 2 1/2 years of being the Morning Man at 104.7 Free FM, Uncle Scotty has left Grande Prairie to do the morning show at 99.7 The River, In Campbell River on Vancouver Island. This radio stations is part of the same company, Vista Radio.
October 2012: The Royal Canadian Legion celebrated its 85th Anniversary at the end of September, There was a parade and guest speakers.
October 2012: A new Tim Hortons will be opening at 68 avenue and poplar Drive Grande Prairie. This will be the 6th location in the city.
October 2012: Warrington's Jewelers, Prairie Mall Grande Prairie is closing its doors after close to 50 years in business. Orm Shultz was the sales manager at the Daily Herald Tribune before opening the jewelry store. He also has a second jewelry store called Jonathan's
October 2012: The Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce handed out its awards that included Best New Business: I.T. Partners, Employee of the Year: James Melmoth (CCSI), Employee of Choice: Baron Oilfield Supply, Business of the Year (Less than 10 employees): Western Air Rescue, Business of the Year (20+ employees): CCSI, Young Entrepreneur of the year: Tenille Nadkrynechny.
October 2012: Grande Prairie has been named Canada's Top Entrepreneurial City in a survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. It is partially because of the high business start-up rate. This is the 3rd year that Grande Prairie has placed first.
November 2012: Another Edo Japan and a new Second Cup have both opened in the South 40 Shopping Centre, Grande Prairie. More construction continues in that area with more businesses scheduled to open.
November 2012: Ward Livingston (Q99 FM Radio announcer) will be taking on the position of Business Manager of the Grande Prairie Storm. He replaces Don Moon.
November 2012: Westgate Centre is under construction on the west side of Grande Prairie (north of Costco). Some of the businesses to open in the spring are Bed Bath & Beyond, HomeSense, Pier 1 Imports, Dollar Tree, plus others.
December 1, 2012: Grande Prairie Santa Parade. It was a chilly Sunday afternoon as many people of all ages gathered downtown Grande Prairie for the Santa Parade. DiscoverThePeaceCountry.com has again captured this event on video. View VIDEO> (11:00min)
December 2012: Aarons Furniture has opened in Grande Prairie in the old Sports Traders building just east of Doug Marshall Motor. They are a franchise store with many locations in the United States.
December 2012: Shawna Miller (Subway/Taco Time) is now the Chair of the Board of the Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce. She replaces Rob Neil (Neil & Associates).
December 2012: The Lyric Theatre has closed after operating for 30 years in the Prairie Mall, Grande Prairie. The Jan Theatre operated by Landmark will remain open in its downtown location.
December 2012: Maclean's Magazine has named Grande Prairie the 2nd richest City in Canada (based on per capita income) and fueled by the energy sector. The top 5 were all from Alberta. Top was Fort McMurray 3rd was Calgary, 4th was Edmonton, and 5th was Red Deer. 6th was Ottawa.
December 2012: According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Grande Prairie now has a 1.95% vacancy rate. In 2011 it was 3.9% and in 2010 it was 10.5%. Usually when the supply of rental units is down, is when the rental rates are higher.
December 2012: Home sales in 2012 now has surpassed 2,500 units in Grande Prairie. This is the first time it has reached this number in the last 5 years.
Many more VIDEOS have been added to DiscoverThePeaceCountry.com.
Includes the Beaverlodge Motocross Races: View VIDEO> (2:17min)
South Peace Museum Autumn Festival (near Beaverlodge): View VIDEO> (3:10min)
North Peace Hockey including the Grande Prairie Athletics: View 2011-2012 NPHL Season Archived
Kiskatinaw River Bridge: View VIDEO> (1:05min)
Winagami Lake Provincial Park: View VIDEO> (1:30min)
August 2012: One of Grande Prairie's oldest buildings has been demolished. Northern Bottling located on 102 Street was torn down to make way for new businesses. VIEW Demolition VIDEO> 2:12min.
August 2012: Swiss Chalet Rotisserie & Grill has opened in Grande Prairie in the old Kelseys location, near Staples on 100 Avenue.
August 2012: ANNUAL TIREPRO MUD BOG. This event kicked off with a Show and Shine at the Casino and then continued for two more days at the Grande Prairie Airport for the Mud Bog Competition. You can see some of the action of the Mud Boggers as they make their way in the mud pits in this video. View VIDEO> (5:58)
August 2012: Totem in Grande Prairie will be changing its name to Rona in early 2013. The store will also carry some exclusive Rona products.
August 2012: Alberta Premier, Alison Redford was in Grande Prairie to take part in the Evergreen Park's 100th Anniversary Celebrations.
August 2012: BJ's Q Club and Sports Bar in Grande Prairie will be closing. Long and McQuade Music has purchased the building and will be taking possession in October.
August 2012: Fourward, has now opened its store in the old Wild Bills Location, in Grande Prairie along 100 Street.
August 2012: New Smoking Bylaw in Grande Prairie now restricts smoking in or within 10 metres of any city playground or athletic field. -The Philip J Currie Dinosaur Museum to be built at Wembley, Alberta has raised 17 million dollars so far with 10 million dollars to go.
September 2012: Grande Prairie STORM 2012-2013 Hockey Season Starts. At the first home game of the season, we saw the introduction of the team as each player made their way to centre ice. In this video, you can see the first goal of the first home game plus other hockey action (Sept 14, 2012). View VIDEO> (4:25min)
September 2012: Home Hardware has purchased the Woodland Tim-Br Mart Store, 100 Avenue in Grande Prairie and even though the signs have not changed, are operating it as Woodland Home Hardware Building Centre. This has resulted in management change.
September 2012: Cyril Gurevitch, senior partner of the law firm Gurevitch & Burnham, has been named the Canadian Bar Association - Alberta Branch President (The Canadian Bar Association represents over 5,000 layers, judges and law students in Alberta and 38,000 members across Canada)
October 2012: The Art Gallery of Grande Prairie had its grand opening of the newly restored building. In March 2007, the roof collapsed under heavy snow and did major damage to the gallery, which is the historic 1929 Grande Prairie High School.
October 2012: After 2 1/2 years of being the Morning Man at 104.7 Free FM, Uncle Scotty has left Grande Prairie to do the morning show at 99.7 The River, In Campbell River on Vancouver Island. This radio stations is part of the same company, Vista Radio.
October 2012: The Royal Canadian Legion celebrated its 85th Anniversary at the end of September, There was a parade and guest speakers.
October 2012: A new Tim Hortons will be opening at 68 avenue and poplar Drive Grande Prairie. This will be the 6th location in the city.
October 2012: Warrington's Jewelers, Prairie Mall Grande Prairie is closing its doors after close to 50 years in business. Orm Shultz was the sales manager at the Daily Herald Tribune before opening the jewelry store. He also has a second jewelry store called Jonathan's
October 2012: The Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce handed out its awards that included Best New Business: I.T. Partners, Employee of the Year: James Melmoth (CCSI), Employee of Choice: Baron Oilfield Supply, Business of the Year (Less than 10 employees): Western Air Rescue, Business of the Year (20+ employees): CCSI, Young Entrepreneur of the year: Tenille Nadkrynechny.
October 2012: Grande Prairie has been named Canada's Top Entrepreneurial City in a survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. It is partially because of the high business start-up rate. This is the 3rd year that Grande Prairie has placed first.
November 2012: Another Edo Japan and a new Second Cup have both opened in the South 40 Shopping Centre, Grande Prairie. More construction continues in that area with more businesses scheduled to open.
November 2012: Ward Livingston (Q99 FM Radio announcer) will be taking on the position of Business Manager of the Grande Prairie Storm. He replaces Don Moon.
November 2012: Westgate Centre is under construction on the west side of Grande Prairie (north of Costco). Some of the businesses to open in the spring are Bed Bath & Beyond, HomeSense, Pier 1 Imports, Dollar Tree, plus others.
December 1, 2012: Grande Prairie Santa Parade. It was a chilly Sunday afternoon as many people of all ages gathered downtown Grande Prairie for the Santa Parade. DiscoverThePeaceCountry.com has again captured this event on video. View VIDEO> (11:00min)
December 2012: Aarons Furniture has opened in Grande Prairie in the old Sports Traders building just east of Doug Marshall Motor. They are a franchise store with many locations in the United States.
December 2012: Shawna Miller (Subway/Taco Time) is now the Chair of the Board of the Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce. She replaces Rob Neil (Neil & Associates).
December 2012: The Lyric Theatre has closed after operating for 30 years in the Prairie Mall, Grande Prairie. The Jan Theatre operated by Landmark will remain open in its downtown location.
December 2012: Maclean's Magazine has named Grande Prairie the 2nd richest City in Canada (based on per capita income) and fueled by the energy sector. The top 5 were all from Alberta. Top was Fort McMurray 3rd was Calgary, 4th was Edmonton, and 5th was Red Deer. 6th was Ottawa.
December 2012: According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Grande Prairie now has a 1.95% vacancy rate. In 2011 it was 3.9% and in 2010 it was 10.5%. Usually when the supply of rental units is down, is when the rental rates are higher.
December 2012: Home sales in 2012 now has surpassed 2,500 units in Grande Prairie. This is the first time it has reached this number in the last 5 years.
Many more VIDEOS have been added to DiscoverThePeaceCountry.com.
Includes the Beaverlodge Motocross Races: View VIDEO> (2:17min)
South Peace Museum Autumn Festival (near Beaverlodge): View VIDEO> (3:10min)
North Peace Hockey including the Grande Prairie Athletics: View 2011-2012 NPHL Season Archived
Kiskatinaw River Bridge: View VIDEO> (1:05min)
Winagami Lake Provincial Park: View VIDEO> (1:30min)
GRANDE PRAIRIE NEWS - 2012
MORE: Grande Prairie NEWS PAGES - 2001 To Present VIEW
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Legal Notice - Terms and Conditions: All pictures, images, videos and information on DiscoverThePeaceCountry.com are protected by copyright which means it is unlawful to reproduce any picture, image or information in whole or part on any other media (that includes websites, facebook, twitter etc) without a licensing agreement. By using a copyright image without a licensing agreement, you agree to pay DiscoverThePeaceCountry.Ltd $10,000 per photo for the usage. © Copyright 2003-2025. Contact: PeaceCountryINFO@gmail.com