February 25, 2015 6 VIEWPOINTS SUN TIMES


Senior Vice-President and Group Publisher: Mike Hertz Publisher and General Manager: Coleen Campbell Editor: Dave Sulz Circulation Director: Ryan Turner Website: www.lethsuntimes.com


EDITORIAL: Our opinion


Pat on the back for businesses


E


verybody likes to receive a pat on the back now and then, and apparently, people like to hand them out as well. This year’s Sun Times Best of the Best survey,


which offers readers an opportunity to pick what they feel are the best local businesses, and more, attracted a record number of votes — close to 150,000. That represents roughly a 50 per cent increase over the more than 97,000 votes that were received last year. Participation in the annual Best of the Best survey


has been climbing steadily, aided in recent years by an online voting system that makes it easier for people to vote. The number of categories has also been growing and now numbers 115, 15 more than in 2014. As readers will see in this special Best of the Best issue, the categories cover the full gamut of the local business community, from retail stores to auto dealers, and from restaurants to assorted specialized services. The growth in the number of categories testifies to


Scientists discovered DNA structure in 1953


Feb. 22 On this date: In 1630, colonists in America got their first taste of


popcorn. In 1819, Spain ceded Florida to the United States. In 1959, the inaugural Daytona 500 race was held in


Daytona Beach, Fla. Although Johnny Beauchamp was initially declared the winner, the victory was later awarded to Lee Petty.


Feb. 23 On this date: In 1836, the siege of the Alamo began in


San Antonio, Texas. Mexican troops under Gen. Santa Anna eventually wiped out the American garrison. Among those killed was frontiersman Davy Crockett. In 1893, the Stanley Cup was awarded for


the first time to the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association team. In 1970, the first public presentation of


the Junos, the annual awards of the Canadian recording industry, took place in Toronto.


Feb. 24 On this date: In 1446, the earliest known lottery was


IN HISTORY this week


drawn in Bruges, Belgium. In 1821, Mexico declared its independence from Spain. In 1938, nylon was produced for the first time in


Arlington, N.J., for use as toothbrush bristles. It also quickly became popular in women’s stockings. In 1981, Prince Charles became engaged to Lady Diana Spencer. They were married that July 29th.


Feb. 25 On this date: In 1723, British astronomer and architect Sir


Christopher Wren died. He’s best known for designing St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. In 1918, McGill University received a $1-million grant


from the Carnegie Foundation. In 1940, the New York Rangers beat the visiting Montreal


Canadiens 6-2 at Madison Square Garden in the world’s first televised hockey game. It was aired on Westinghouse station W2XBS. In 1964, Cassius Clay, who later changed his name to


Muhammad Ali, became world heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Sonny Liston in Miami Beach.


Feb. 26


On this date: In 1815, Napoleon escaped from the island of Elba.


Within three weeks, France had rallied to its former emperor. The battle of Waterloo on June 18 ended Napoleon’s last bid for power and the British government banished him to the Atlantic island of St. Helena. He died there in 1821 at the age of 52. In 1915, flame throwers were used in battle for the first


time, by German troops against the French lines at Malancourt during the First World War. In 1935, Babe Ruth was released by the


New York Yankees and signed by the Boston Braves. In 1979, a total solar eclipse cast a moving


shadow 281 kilometres wide as it travelled across the U.S. into Canada. The next total solar eclipse visible from Canada is not until April 8, 2024.


Feb. 27 On this date: In 425, Roman Emperor Theodosius II


founded the first university in the western world in Constantinople (now Istanbul), Turkey. In 1917, women in Ontario won the right


to vote in provincial elections. In 1933, Germany’s parliament building in


Berlin, the Reichstag, burned down. The Nazis, charging a Communist plot, used the fire as a pretext for suspending civil liberties. In 1977, Keith Richards of “The Rolling Stones” was


arrested at the Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto on heroin possession charges. He was eventually found guilty. In lieu of a jail sentence for Richards, “The Rolling Stones” played two concerts for the blind at the civic auditorium in Oshawa, east of Toronto, in April, 1979.


Feb. 28 On this date: In 1860, an oil gusher was discovered in Enniskillen,


Ont., a town later re-named Petrolia. In 1931, the Canadian Rugby Union adopted the forward


pass in football. In 1944, Dutch Christian Corrie ten Boom and her family


were arrested by Nazi secret police for harbouring Jews, who managed to escape. Corrie was the only member of her family to survive the Holocaust. In 1953, scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C.


Crick announced they had discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule that contains the human genes.


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the growth in the city’s business landscape, which features an impressive array of services for residents of Lethbridge and area — and even beyond. As Sun Times advertising manager Brian Hancock notes in this week’s cover story, Lethbridge businesses these days are dealing with distant customers, too, including some in other continents. That speaks volumes about the quality of the local business community, that it has become a player in the international marketplace. The breadth of businesses on the Lethbridge scene is


certainly a benefit to local residents, who can generally find the products and services they seek without having to venture to bigger centres. That benefits the local economy, too, since the lion’s share of retail money stays in the community. There’s more to topping a Best of the Best category


than having products and services to sell. People still value good, old-fashioned customer service, and the businesses which you see listed in these pages are adept at providing it. That’s what enables many smaller, independently owned businesses to successfully compete with corporate giants. Some of these Lethbridge businesses earn Best of


the Best plaques year after year, a testament not only to their continued emphasis on serving their customers, but to the customer loyalty that has been built up as a result. The success of numerous downtown businesses in


the Best of the Best survey also demonstrates the strength and vibrancy of Lethbridge’s downtown core. Aided by the efforts of the city’s “Heart of Our City” revitalization program, the downtown is once again a healthy “heart” pumping dollars into our local economy. The Best of the Best showcases some of Lethbridge’s


outstanding businesses, and it serves as a well- deserved pat on the back to the community’s dedicated business operators.


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