Having Cremona/Water Valley named the ìPinkest Little Town in the Westî was ìthe pink icing on the cakeî for organizer Peggy Good.ìWe're pretty pink pleased to have won this honour,î said Good, spokesperson for Women Missing In Action, the group responsible for taking on the fundraising challenge presented by Wild Pink Yonder. ìThe hard work has paid off.îThe group's organizational efforts raised $43,556.94 for Wild Pink Yonder, a fundraising competition among villages and towns to raise money for breast cancer research. Communities are also judged on their display of pink pride.Earlier this year, when Cremona/Water Valley was named as one of the 23 stops along the way for Wild Pink Yonder, the members of Women Missing In Action decided to get involved.ìWe're an informal group of mainly rural members who have worked together on various projects in past years,î said Good. ìWe spent many hours at many meetings to orchestrate this great event.ìIt's impressive when I think of all the support we had.îThe group worked tirelessly at rodeos, music festivals and other events, raising money and awareness for the cause. ìWe were visible at every possible opportunity,î Good said. ìOur banquet with the silent auction was a huge success.îOther highlights of the fundraiser included: a five-kilometre run in June; hotdog and cookie days at Cremona School; and sales of pink T-shirts, lunch bags, custom bandanas and dog blankets.ìPeople painted their doors and steps pink and everybody planted pink flowers,î Good added. ìWe became a pink community.îVicki Richmond, the co-chair of Women Missing In Action, rode her 17-year-old bay quarter horse, Jackson, on the off-road trail ride with Wild Pink Yonder on Aug. 22.ìOur route travelled west and north of Water Valley, over the river and up some hills,î she said. Her husband, Dan, accompanied her, as well.ìIt was very special,î Richmond said. ìI felt lucky to be one of the few who actually rode.ìJust seeing the culmination of all these months of work was amazing. I looked at all these women and thought, ëIsn't this something? We really can make a difference.'îMountain View County Div. 2 Coun. Patricia McKean agreed. ìIt's encouraging to see how the communities worked together to earn this accomplishment,î McKean said. ìThe communities gave overwhelming support as they stood behind this group of ladies.îCremona mayor Leslie Abrams accepted the award on behalf of the group in Edmonton on Nov. 5, at the opening ceremonies of the River City Roundup.ìOur dedicated committee created so many fun ways to raise money and awareness in our communities,î Abrams said. ìThis was an opportunity to create community spirit, and we really displayed that.îA highway sign will celebrate the community's win, and a celebratory concert will be held, at a future date.The WPY's trail boss and founder, Jane Hurl, presented the Alberta Cancer Foundation with a cheque in excess of $177,000, representing monies raised by the 23 participating communities.ìThis exceeded our goal of $100,000 by far,î said Hurl. ìThis amount is triple last year's total.î
