2022 Winner of the

Bowl of Hygeia Award:

Pierce Cairns

BIOGRAPHY

Pierce Cairns grew up in small town Grandview, Manitoba in a family full of pharmacists.  His grandfather Ross (University of Manitoba, Class of 1954) moved the family to Grandview in 1972 after purchasing the pharmacy there.  Father Blaire (Class of 1982) and aunts Kim (Class of 1979) and Brenda (Class of 1985) all followed in Ross’s footsteps.  Pierce carried on the tradition and graduated from the University of Manitoba Faculty of Pharmacy as valedictorian for the Class of 2009.  During his studies, he was awarded the Procurity Pharmacy Services Award in 2006, the Novopharm Award in Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics in 2008, the Wyeth Award of Excellence in 2009, and the Dean’s Honour List in 2007 and 2009.

After graduation, Pierce took a staff pharmacist position with Safeway Pharmacy in Kenora, Ontario until the department was replaced with a much more profitable meat cooler.  Between his practice in Manitoba and Ontario, he was conferred a 2010 College of Pharmacists of Manitoba Young Leader Award, the same year his father Blaire received the Bowl of Hygeia.  Pierce and fiancé Amy elected to move home to Grandview after their time in Kenora and purchased the local pharmacy from Pierce’s parents in 2012.  They also purchased the Gilbert Plains Pharmacy from Brenda Cairns in 2015 and operated it until late 2020.

Once home in Grandview, Pierce involved himself in various aspects of the community, including the Chamber of Commerce (President 2012-14), the Curling Club (President 2013-18), the Kinsmen Club (Vice-President 2016-2020, President 2018-2020, Treasurer 2020-present), the Physician and Nurse Recruiting Committee, the Kinsmen Mud Bog Committee (Co-chair 2015-present), and Grandview Homecoming Committee (Secretary 2021-present).  He seasonally spends an inordinate amount of time at the hockey arena with his three sons Atticus, Lexington, and Harrison, who seem to have inherited more athleticism than their dad.  In 2019, he was presented with a Community Futures Parkland Volunteer Award for his local efforts.

For his pharmacy practice in Grandview, Pierce has kept it simple, attempting to maintain the intimate small town feel from generations past while modernizing processes and expanding services.  He and his colleague Alia Marcinkow introduced an Opioid Replacement Therapy program which sees clientele from across the Parkland and saves them from having to relocate away from family supports to larger centers. 

Aside from directly volunteering, Pierce and Amy also support their community organizations through donations.  Over the years, they have happily contributed to Grand Plains Minor Hockey, Grandview Curling Club, Gilbert Plains Super League Curling, Grand Plains Minor Baseball, the GP/GV Agricultural Society, Watson-Crossley Museum, Gilbert Plains Golf Course, Tiny Treasures Daycare, Royal Canadian Legion, Grandview Fire Department, many Kinsmen and Lions projects, the Grandview and District Recreation Commission, Grandview Sport and Leisure, High School sports and year-book, Grandview and Gilbert Plains Christmas Hampers, Chamber of Commerce, Grandview and Gilbert Plains Community Foundations, Gilbert Plains Community Hall, as well as many other worthy causes and special projects.

In 2017, Pierce and a group of partners incorporated the Grand Vieux Liquor Company (GVLC), which has recently completed renovations on the former Manitoba Hydro office in Grandview and operates as an automated liquor manufacturing, precision analysis, and co-packing facility.  They hope that this will breathe new industrial life into their small town and foster economic growth and tourism for generations to come.  Shameless plug: try their flagship Hard Shot Vodka and keep an eye open for new products in the next several months! (www.gvlc.ca)

In what little spare time he has, Pierce enjoys curling, target shooting, reading classic literature, and playing piano or video games.  He is incredibly honoured and humbled to have been considered for the Bowl of Hygeia and hopes that he has done his family and community proud.