The Snow Lake Chamber of Commerce’s first annual Chuck Davidson Golf Day kicked off at the Snow Lake Golf Course at 11:30 am on June 24, with the man himself at centre stage in the clubroom.
Chamber president Gerard Lamontagne opened the day by giving an overview of the event and why it carried the former Snow Laker’s name.
“It came about as something to honour Chuck Davidson, who is one of Snow Lake’s favourite sons,” said Lamontagne. “Chuck’s had a hell of a career in Manitoba politics. He was the reason the Snow Lake chamber got started up again and it’s been a success thus far. This has definitely been because of the guidance of Chuck and the help we get from him… so this day is to honour you, buddy!”
With that, chamber secre-tary Peter Purves presented Davidson with a framed black and white Garry Zamzow photograph of Wekusko Falls.
Davidson thanked Purves and Lamontagne and had some words of appreciation for his old hometown. “When Gerard told me about this idea to do the golf day I was humbled by it… I’m not Snow Lake’s favourite son – I’m not even my mother’s favourite son,” he joked. “I think I’m third on that chart after both my brother and sister.
“I really appreciate this gesture though… it’s great,” he continued. “I always look for a reason to come back to Snow Lake. When I took over as the CEO for the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce we had 63 chambers and we now have 69. I said when I came in, the first one I want to get up and running is in Snow Lake. That was important to me. Seeing what the chamber has been doing here and starting a tournament like this… it’s really the Snow Lake Tournament, and if I can come up and support it, that’s something I would do as a regular occurrence.
“A big part of what I get to do in my job is go around the province and talk to business owners, make sure that the importance of the business community, as well as the community itself is front and centre. Northern Manitoba has always been a special place for me… it doesn’t matter where I am, who I’m talking to, if I’m giving a speech and someone asks where I’m from – it’s Snow Lake. Nobody knows where it is, but I always talk about the great opportunities growing up here.”
He said growing up in the community formed his work ethic and that took him to where he is today. Davidson also paid tribute to his late father, Pat Davidson, saying that he really would have enjoyed the day and the opportunity to spend time in the company of friends.
The day was more about camaraderie than winners and losers. “A day to have fun out on the course,” Purves described it. “It was open to both chamber members and non-members. It was a day to get out, and through the use of a best-ball format, let everyone of any skill level come out and just have some fun on our local course. Boasting aside, there were in fact no trophies, pronouncements, or announcements after the game as we wanted to keep with the format of a fun day on the course.”
My Take on Snow Lake is published Fridays.
