Awards & Honours

Awards & Honors

Vernon Winter Carnival would not happen without the help of our amazing community. Annually the Vernon Winter Carnival Society presents prestigious awards to well deserving recipients who have been instrumental in the growth of Carnival.

Order of Jopo

The Order of Jopo is the highest honour that the Vernon Winter Carnival can bestow. Through the City of Vernon, it has been presented to visiting dignitaries, long time Carnival supporters, past Chairmen and honoured cities around the world. All recipients have shown tremendous Community Spirit and Commitment to Carnival and the community.

Longtime Carnival Supporters & Past Chairmen

1974 George Melvin (1st Chair)
1974 Mike Kowaluk (Past Chair)
1974 Vince Lilley (Past Chair)
1974 Bill Oxley (Past Chair)
1974 Frank Oliver (Past Chair)
1975 John Ladyman (jointly)
1975 Evelyn Tebo (jointly)
1976 Dorothy Sawicki
1977 Harold McDonald (Past Chair)
1978 Bob Adsched (Past Chair)
1980 Stuart Fleming (jointly)
1980 Petie Kaulback (jointly)
1980 Sharon Shaw (Past Chair)
1981 Norm Stevenson (Past Chair)
1982 Stella Andrews
1982 Fernand Desroches (Past Chair)
1983 George Zimmerman
1984 Patrick Nicol (Past Chair)
1985 Fern Makarenko
1986 Marie Morris (Past Chair)

1987 Tom Fletcher (Past Chair)
1988 Ken Little
1989 Evelyn Lerose (Past Chair)
1990 June Rigby
1991 Bill Martin (Past Chair)
1992 Lil and Ken Nistor
1993 Carol Williams (Past Chairman)
1993 Bob Williamson (Past Chair)
1994 Don Weglo
1995 Ross Simpson
1995 Derek Hall (Past Chair)
1999 N. Ok.Amtr Radio Club
2000 Phyllis DeBoice
2000 Donna Mihalcheon (Past Chair)
2002 Ursula Gohmann
2003 Glen Taylor (Past Chair)
2003 Lettie Maloney
2004 Christel Cam
2005 Claudia Brown
2006 Carl Rigby

2006 LeRoy Peterson
2006 Duaine Brown
2007 Donna Hall (Past Chair)
2008 Brenda Fletcher
2009 Ingrid Baron
2009 Dorothy Lindley
2010 Sandi LaFleche
2012 Wayne Emde
2013 Mary Andersen
2014 Dave Fletcher (Past Chair)
2015 Calvin Hoy (Past Chair)
2016 Jack Gareb
2017 Feather Fanciers
2018 Margaret Hogan (In Memorial)
2020 Teresa Durning Harker
2021 Deb White
2022 Ruth Hoyte
2023 Laurell Cornell

Ruth Hoyte

Vernon Winter Carnival Director & 2022 Recipient of the Order of Jopo

Order of Jopo Dignitaries & Honoured Cities

1974 The Hon. George R. Pearkes, VC Lieutenant-Governor of BC, The Hon. David Barrett, Premier of BC, Muni Evers, Mayor. New Westminster. Ron J. Monier, CBC-TV Vancouver

1976 Walter Owen, Lieutenant-Governor of BC. Tom Constable, Mayor, Burnaby 1977 Michael Young, Mayor, Victoria 1978 Pierre E. Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada and Ken Curle, Mayor, Red Deer, Alberta

1979 The Hon. Henry Bell-Irving, Lieutenant-Governor of BC, George Furguson, Mayor, Abbotsford and Bob Neil, Mayor. Vernon

1980 Donald A. Ross. Mayor. Surrey

1981 Andy Anderson, Mayor. Lethbridge, Alberta and Neil Davidson, Mayor, Vernon 1982 Ed Schreyer. Governor General of Canada and Derrick Humphreys, Mayor, West Vancouver

1983 Charles Lakes, Mayor, Trail

1984 Ethel Winger, Mayor, Williams Lake and The Hon. Robert G. Rogers. Lieutenant-Governor of BC

1985 The Hon. Claude Richmond. Provincial Minister of Tourism

1986 Michael Harcourt, Mayor, Vancouver 1987 Lyall Hanson, MLA & Past Mayor, Vernon and Ralph Klein. Alderman, Calgary, Alberta

1988 Jack Hebner, Councillor. Spokane. Washington

1989 Cliff Branchflower. Alderman. Kamloops

1990 James H. Stuart, Mayor, Kelowna 1991 Anne Clarke, Past Mayor, Vernon, Pat Jordan, Past MLA and Geoff Battersby, Mayor, Revelstoke

1992 Wayne McGrath, Past Mayor. Vernon 1993 Rollie Rose, Mayor. Ladysmith

1994 Stephen D. Wallace, Mayor, Quesnel 1995 Richard A. Lang, Mayor, Modesto, California

1996 Kathy Watson, Mayor, Whitehorse, Yukon and Garde Gardom. Lieutenant-Governor of BC

1997 Jeff Griffen, Mayor, Reno, Nevada 1998 Larry McNabb, Alderman, Nanaimo and Vancouver Firefighters Band

2000 Guy Boissy, Mayor, Saint-Lambert, Quebec

2001 Brian Postill, Mayor, Coldstream 2002 Glen Everitt, Mayor, Dawson City, Yukon

2003 David Laird, Mayor. City of Merrit 2004 Ron McCrae, Mayor. Kimberely 2005 Ellen Woodsworth, Councillor, Vancouver

2006 David Perry, Mayor, Penticton 2007 City of New York

2008 George F. Ferguson, Mayor, Abbotsford

2009 Mayor Melamed, Whistler 2010 Wayne Lippert. Mayor, Vernon 2011 Paul Kuehn, President of Modesto, California Sister City Committee

2013 Sharel Shoff, Deputy Mayor of Drumheller. Alberta

2019 The City of Vernon

2023 Marti Giroux

Jessie Ferguson Award

For more than 60 years, Vernon Winter Carnival has celebrated all that is winter in the North Okanagan. At its heart, Carnival is all about celebrating community: the uniqueness, the people, and traditions in Vernon.

Annually the Vernon Winter Carnival Society presents prestigious awards to well deserving recipients who have been instrumental in the growth of Carnival. The Jessie Ferguson Memorial Trophy is presented to a person or group in the community who has shown years of dedication to Carnival through support of events and/or volunteerism.