2025 Winner of the
Bowl of Hygeia Award:
Michael Vercaigne
Biography:
Michael Vercaigne (Mike) was born in Deloraine MB and was raised on a dairy farm. Mike graduated from pharmacy in 1984 and went directly to Gladstone Manitoba where he has worked for 40 years to this very day!
Mike initially worked at Gladstone pharmacy for 10 years at which time he bought and co owned the business for 20 years. In 2014 the business was sold but Mike has been managing Gladstone pharmacy and will retire from the management position this summer.
From the very start Mike became involved in community promotion and community service. Rural towns exist and grow because of the volunteer input of their citizens. Initially Mike became a member of the kinsmen club of Gladstone through out the 1980s with many projects successfully accomplished in that time. At the same time Mike was also a member and chairman of the Ducks Unlimited Big Grass Marsh Association which raised substantial funds for DU wildlife habitat and management in the area.
In the mid 1990s Mike started coaching hockey and continued coaching for 20 years. He coached many kids and young adults from squirt hockey all the way to AAA midget.
Mike became a board member on the Austin Credit Union in the 90’s and during this time the credit union grew and prospered immensely . Mike always believed that if you want your community to prosper then you must do what ever you can to promote and facilitate this growth. Infrastructure was built and new jobs created to help support the ever growing area. Ultimately Mike was involved in first amalgamating Portage and Austin Credit Unions into Stride Credit Union and then once more amalgamated with Beautiful Plains Credit Union in Neepawa to further strengthen Stride Credit Unions position in the region.
One of Mikes personal favorite endeavours was purchasing and saving the Galloway building which was a turn of the century Canadian national historic site as well as a Manitoba historic site. Over 5 years he built the 16,000 square ft building back to its original glory. He restored the whole outside of the building back to its original look and then built a brand new building inside of the shell. 8 affordable senior apartments were constructed as well as 2,500 square ft of commercial space.
Mike says it’s hard to remember every thing a person does in their community because it’s just a part of living in a small town . People just donate their time unselfishly and don’t need recognition for everything they do. As a business owner it is very satisfying to donate your time back to a town and area that supports your enterprise over so many years.
Mike also wanted to say that his life has been so positively affected by running his pharmacy clinic at Sandy Bay First Nation for 40 years also - together he and countless friends and co workers have strived to make health care accessible to every one at Sandy Bay and make sure no one goes with out healthcare necessities.