As Covid vaccines roll out and active case numbers slowly diminish, Brandon First is looking forward to helping safely restart our events hosting industry. We have added an Upcoming Events section to our website menu to keep you informed on what’s happening in our city as things start to reopen. We know you’re as excited as we are to start attending events again; it is important we still keep in mind all social distancing, gathering number restrictions, public health ordinances and event safety guidelines as we begin to do so. The more we pull together the sooner we can fill the stands and gather together like we used to. USPORTS Nationals are Coming Back to Brandon. 
After the 2021 U SPORTS Men’s National Volleyball Championship, scheduled to happen at the Brandon University Healthy Living Centre were cancelled, it is exciting to say that BU will host the same event in 2025! Brandon last hosted a national volleyball event with the CIS Women’s National Volleyball Championships in 2016. For the full story and more information see the article from gobobcats.ca here.
There are no upcoming events confirmed for July or August just yet. As Manitoba reopens please keep checking our “Upcoming Events” section for new events as they are announced. Food Truck Warz is scheduled to take place September 16-19, 2021, and the Provincial Exhibition has announced that they will host Ag Ex October 27-30, 2021. Both of these events will only take place if public health restrictions allow and will adhere to all Covid safety recommendations.
Postponed 2021 Events:
It is unfortunate to note that the 2021 Softball Canada U14 Girl’s National Fast Pitch Championships has been postponed. This event was to take place in August at the Ashley Neufeld Softball Complex
We are, however, looking forward to attending this great event when they are able to safely come to our city!
Every June Brandon First hosts its Annual General Meeting. This year, due to Covid, the AGM was held completely virtually via Zoom.
Financial statements were presented by our auditors, BDO LLP followed by a Year in Review by our Board Chair Chris Heide. Check out the year in review portion below:
Several board members were confirmed to new two year terms:
- Brad Danielson – Benmarks of Brandon
- Katrina Sigurdson – Fusion Credit Union
- Jeff Schumacher – Keystone Centre
- Carla O’Greysik – Assiniboine Community College
- Chris Heide – CAA Manitoba
- Shonah Rathwell – Limitless Events
We encourage you to join us in welcoming Katrina Sigurdson of Fusion Credit Union and Jeff Schumacher of the Keystone Centre to our Executive Committee for the Brandon First Board of Directors. Katrina and Jeff were confirmed to the roles of Secretary and Treasurer respectively. These positions are two year terms and eligibility is open to any board member in good standing. Congratulations Katrina and Jeff and welcome to the Executive. If you are a stakeholder and are interested in joining our Board of Directors to help bring the best events to Brandon, contact board chair Chris Heide or Development Coordinator Jenn Watson for more information.
We are hopeful that this is the last virtual event we will host and that we can get back to doing what we do best by autumn!
At our Annual General Meeting June 30th we made a draw for a prize package we originally intended to give out for Night of Delight, our annual stakeholder appreciation evening. The winner of that draw was Canada Moving and Storage!!! Jenn will be touching base to arrange pickup or delivery of your awesome prizes!
This year Brandon First is reaching out to our existing members individually to discuss membership benefits and 2021 invoicing. Thank you for your patience if you haven’t heard from us yet, we will be continuing our outreach in the fall; it is our stakeholders’ ongoing support that helps us bring the best events to Brandon and we will be reaching out to you soon.
If your business is not yet a Brandon First stakeholder and you would like more information you can call our office at 204-729-2156 or click here for details on membership.
Do you have an event in mind you’d like to see come to Brandon in 2022, 2023 or 2024?
Let us know! info@brandonfirst.com or 204-729-2156
