Understandably, after living in the Twilight Zone for the past nine months, there’s been a burning and collective desire to turn the page on 2020. Of course, none of us has the ability to know whether 2021 will be a better year or a continuation of more of the same. Still, based on what the medical community tells us, we can expect that the next six months will be tough. So, let’s buckle up and ready ourselves with steely determination to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
While the holidays will be markedly different this year for all of us, with government-mandated restrictions still in full force, we can only make the best of a bad situation. Closer to home, our annual Pinnacle-Awards program has been temporarily put on hold this year, leaving us to pivot accordingly. For the first time in 32 years, we will not be shining the spotlight on excellence in foodservice-and-hospitality business operations. Still, while we cannot host and welcome 500 industry executives this year to the Royal York, we can continue to salute excellence, albeit in a different format and fashion.
Coincidentally, when we launched the Pinnacle Awards in the late 1980s, one of its core tenets was a strong focus on community involvement. What better way to highlight this tenet than through this month’s Hospitality Heroes (see profiles starting on p. 23) featuring a well-deserved tribute to the people and companies that went above and beyond to lend a helping hand when COVID-19 unleashed its fury. Across the country, there are numerous displays of individuals, operators and suppliers, big and small, that put aside the day-to-day challenges spurred by the pandemic and galvanized their teams to help those at risk, those who lost their jobs, the vulnerable, one another and thecommunity at large. And, while we may not be able to meet face to face this year on December 4th, on what would have been the date for this year’s Pinnacle Awards, we’ll be able to share in the heartwarming and compassionate stories of these remarkable Hospitality Heroes through a virtual roundtable discussion featuring heroes from both the restaurant and hotel community.
Given that hotels and restaurants have been amongst the hardest hit by the pandemic, this month’s stories are particularly heartwarming and speak to the industry’s ability to put the needs of others ahead of its own. Of course, that’s not news to anyone who has consistently witnessed the generous hospitality of this industry in the past. After all, this is an industry that is woven into the fabric of Canadian lives; this is an industry with heart.
