Sydney Bone and Kennedy Pazurik will soon be marking the halfway point of their year-long tenure as the ambassadors of the Arrow Lakes for the B.C. Ambassadors Program.
The pair were crowned on June 25, 2016 and were the first ambassadors for Nakusp in four years.
Bone said being part of the program has opened up a lot of experiences for herself and Pazurik. These experiences include travel, bursaries, and the chance to create friendships they wouldn’t have otherwise had the opportunity to create.
“You meet such great people,” she said. “We have some pretty good friends from this program, and you can really connect on a personal level with these girls. It’s more than just a pageant, it’s a good experience.”
Pazurik agrees.
“During the summer we went to one almost every other weekend in August — you basically get to see them on a weekly basis, so you ask them how their past week was and what they did,” she said. “You know a lot about them and get to make personal connections with them.”
After being crowned it was go, go, go for the duo.
Their first appearance as ambassadors was on July 1, taking part in the Canada Day parade followed by a trip to Kamloops for one of the bigger pageants in the program, which gave them the chance to meet ambassadors from other parts of the province including Oliver, Merritt, Revelstoke, and more.
One thing they enjoyed was being able to offer advice to the pageant participants in other cities.
“We all have our own little tips or tricks that we tell them,” said Pazurik. “If they get nervous, like during the impromptu questions, if you can’t think of something just pretend you’re coughing a little.”
Besides travelling the province, taking part in the program has enabled the two to help out with local charities, such as the Protecting Animal Life Society (PALS), and the Nakusp Food Bank.
Though they have enjoyed travelling to various cities and meeting various people including MP Richard Cannings who is very involved in the Ambassador Program in Oliver, Bone and Pazurik have really enjoyed taking part in events in Nakusp. These events include the pancake breakfast at the emergency services building on Canada Day, the annual PALS Helping Hands Craft Fair, and more.
Because they’re enjoying their time with the program, Bone and Pazurik would really like to see it continue and potentially help mentor any new candidates who sign up.
Though their time as ambassadors will eventually come to an end, the two are glad to have been able to participate.
“It’s an honour to represent Nakusp,” said Bone. “Even if I had not been crowned, just getting the life lessons and the confidence that you get and the friendships you make with the girls, it’s really remarkable.”