Another victory for Mayor Chichak in the annual Mayoral Challenge in support of the Christmas Hamper

 

Another year, another challenge, and another Whitecourt win! This year’s Mayoral Challenge, part of Boom 96.7’s annual Holiday Hangout in support of the Whitecourt Christmas Hamper, was another hilarious close call between Rennie and Chichak.

Event host and Whitecourt team member, Boom’s Mary Rose Jensen, said that holding the event for the hamper is very important. “It’s a beautiful local organization. It provides a Christmas for people who need it the most. It’s very important this time of year to remember that there are those in need even though we have such a lavish lifestyle compared to others. It’s good to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.” The Mayoral Challenge is just one part of the day as they accepted donations at multiple places and will continue to accept them at the radio office until December 14.

In the past, both leaders have taken part in baking competitions, a gingerbread-building contest, and a sliding race at Dahl Drive hill. This year, it was all about darts. Whether you call it Scram or Around the World, the contest was on point. Get it? Ha-ha! Okay, that was a bad joke but, thankfully, the competition was anything but. There were still just as many questionable attempts at sabotage between the two groups which had everyone in stitches.

Woodlands Mayor Jim Rennie brought along councillors Ron Govenlock and Bruce Prestidge while Mayor Maryann Chichak had newly-elected councillor Ray Hilts and a last-minute addition, Boom announcer, Mary Rose. The group met at the Whitecourt Legion at 10 a.m. on December 8 and the smack-talking was out in full force as usual.  Rennie dubbed his team “the champions” and both teams tried mixing up the other by calling out the wrong numbers to aim for.

Half way through, they were squared up at nine apiece and Woodlands was able to pull ahead for a bit with quite a sizeable lead, but you can never count out Whitecourt as they quickly clawed back, scooping the victory thanks to a sniper of a bullseye from Maryann. In fact, she ended up with two bullseyes back to back.

Speaking with both afterwards, Chichak said that everybody is a winner. “We all do cash donations to participate in this and it’s heartwarming to take part because the less fortunate in our community are the ones who are the biggest winners out of this. It’s a fun day that puts money towards a great cause.”

Having taken part in several competitions now, Rennie said he relishes in having such a fantastic relationship with the town. “I love the competitive nature between us but at the end of the day we’re all serving the same people so we work together on that.”

Congratulations to Maryann, Ray, and Mary Rose on a great team win which gives Whitecourt a 4-1 lead for wins since the event started in 2013. “It’s only 365 more days until the next competition and I’m already looking forward to it. We will win… eventually,” laughed Mayor Rennie.