Thanks for all of your support!

The time has finally come! I will be leaving for Merritt on Monday for the British Columbia Ambassador Program and I would like to express my deepest graditude for all of the support I've received throughout this candidacy. I hope that I can make Kamloops proud on August 17th and 18th during the British Columbia Ambassador Program pageant.This has been an amazing experience and I've learned so much about my beautiful City, myself and this amazing province. Thanks again for everything, stay tuned for updates on facebook.com/acaciaforbcambassador or twitter.com/@acacialeilani

Gearing Up...

What an amazing few weeks it has been. The City of Kamloops has been busy with events almost every week and I am so honored to have been a part of a few of them.


I spent the one evening at the Kamloops Foundation Community Gathering at Thompson Rivers University. The Kamloops Foundation gives money to local people and projects that are aimed at bettering the community. It was amazing to see some of the recipients and talk to them about how they are working to aid Kamloops.


Following that I went with Miss Kamloops, Emily Palladino, to the Zimmer Autosport Fashion Show which was a fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. All of the clothing was graciously donated by Jardines Domaine and it was just like being in New York at a famous, high-profile fashion show. It was a good thing I left my wallet in the car because I probably would've bought some of the clothes on the spot!





The very next day, the Miss Kamloops Ambassador Program candidates, royalty and I, went to the Communities in Bloom celebration at MacDonald Park. A brand new communtiy garden is going in the heart of the North Shore and it was great to be there during the grand opening!




At the end of this week, I went to the Telus ground breaking ceremony as Telus is investing in Kamloops, building a giant, environmentally friendly server, right here in Kamloops! Being on the Telus Thompson Okanagan Community Board has given me the amazing experience of being able to provide funding to local groups who are bettering the community. At this ceremony, we had MLA Terry Lake, MLA Kevin Krueger, Premier Christy Clark and the CEO of Telus Darren Entwistle ! I later got to meet Premier Clark at a barbeque which was an amazing experience.

Finally, welcoming July and celebrating Canada's Birth, I had a booth at the Riverside Park Canada Day festivities and it was great seeing thousands of Kamloopsians out! Throughout the day, I was giving away a tasty frozen treat if they answered questions about British Columbia correctly! Unforunately, my freezies quickly thawed but thanks to a gracious donation from Bill Sanesh Jr, of Bikini Bills, I was able to hand out lotions and giftcards!


The past few weeks have been so busy but so amazing and I'd like to take this time to thank the Miss Kamloops Ambassador Program for all of their love, support and guidance. Please remember to vote every day until August 17th! You can vote once a day, every day on a computer and on your smart phone!

Chamber of Commerce Trade Show

Last night I was around Kamloops helping at various events! During the day, I volunteered at Clean Air Day in Kamloops and it was amazing to see the many groups trying to improve Kamloops' Air! The Kamloops Ecosmart team did a fantastic job bringing the groups together and the morning ended off by Mayor Milobar planting a tree at our beloved Riverside Park. 

Later in the evening I was at the Chamber of Commerce trade show looking at all of the various business booths. I'd like to thank Deb, Lisa and Jamie for having me at the trade show and it was great getting to know the multiple businesses around Kamloops.

Gearing up for the British Columbia Ambassador Pageant, I have been busy promoting the program within Kamloops and preparing for the various judged events. As the Miss Kamloops candidates just recently completed their knowledge of Kamloops exam, I too have been preparing for the knowledge of British Columbia exam; cue cards are my new best friends! 

If you or your organization are in need of volunteers, I'd love to come help in any way I can. Feel free to send me an email and let me know! 

Thanks again Kamloops, I'm so honored to be representing this wonderful community.

~ Acacia Schmietenknop

Kamloops' Candidate in the 2012/2013 British Columbia Ambassador Program

busy, busy, busy!

Well, I am very happy to say that I have made it through the busiest week of my life! On May 3rd, the Miss Kamloops candidates presented their prepared speeches and did an AMAZING job. I'm so proud of each and every one of you and I'm so happy that I had the opportunity to teach your speech classes. May 4th was the Inaugural SIFE Thompson Rivers Gala where we presented our Nationals presentation to our program partners, alumni, friends and family. For a first time event, it was a great success and I look forward to being a part of the event in years to come. May 5th was the Kamloops Fusion Rotaract Murder Mystery which was also a great success! Being a part of the organizing committee was so much fun and I was so pleased with the turn out of the event. May 6th we departed for ACE Canada Nationals in Calgary. Our team has worked tremendously hard this year and being able to present to judges and other SIFE teams about what our team has accomplished was such an honor. Although we didn't make the top 5 teams, we won our opening round pool putting us as one of the top 10 SIFE teams in Canada - truly amazing. 

Being involved in so many wonderful community organizations is such an honor. It shows that Kamloops is a community that is fueled by volunteerism and a community that I am so proud to represent.

Now it's back to the grind and preparing for the British Columbia Ambassador Program. I will be looking for events to promote the program and also other fundraising initiatives until August. Please feel free to support me as People's Choice Ambassador. http://www.bcambassador.com/peoples-choice-ambassador

 Thanks for all of your continued support! 

xox ~ Acacia Schmietenknop  

People's Choice!

Have you voted today? 

 Help me in promoting Kamloops in the British Columbia Ambassador Program! 

http://www.bcambassador.com/peoples-choice-ambassador

remember to select, Acacia Schmietenknop! 

Distinguished Service Award

Kamloops is a City that is fueled by volunteerism. With so many events, conventions, tournaments and functions, our community truly comes together to make Kamloops a better place. It was with great honor that I accepted an award from the City of Kamloops this past Wednesday. Myself and 3 other amazing individuals were honored with the Distinguished Service Award from the City of Kamloops for our efforts in making Kamloops a better place.

How can one not help!? Kamloops is amazing, the people are great and we're always thriving with events. Thank you Mayor Milobar and Council for the honor.

Promote, Promote, Promote!

One new feature to the British Columbia Ambassador Program is the promotion mark! Here is where candidates are judged on how well they promote the British Columbia Ambassador Program in their respective communities. I have already launched  a social media campaign and would appreciate greatly if you could help me out!

Facebook - please "like" my facebook page: www.facebook.com/acaciaforbcambassador
               - another helping hand would be to share my facebook page on your walls to gain more followers and spread more information
Twitter - please use the "hashtag" #acaciaforBC
I will also be at many events around Kamloops wearing my "candidate banner" promoting the program and telling people about my campaign. Already, I've been at 2 Kamloops Storm games and 1 Miss Kamloops and 1 community function spreading the word. If you have any ideas for me to promote the British Columbia Ambassador Program in Kamloops I would love to hear them. Please contact me at acacia.schmietenknop@gmail.com or 250-851-5622.

I'm very excited about this part because I feel that more and more people should know about the British Columbia Ambassador Program and what it does to foster leadership in Youth around our beautiful province.

Dragons Den Auditions!

On March 22nd, I was volunteering with the producers of Dragons Den during their auditions in the City I love, Kamloops. When I asked to get a photo with them, they had all sorts of questions asking about the British Columbia Ambassador Program and they were so excited because they had never heard of a program like it before.

There were many great ideas from the citizens of Kamloops so hopefully we'll see some of them this upcoming season!

~ Acacia

March, 21st 2012

From now until August 17th and 18th I will be campaigning eagerly in preparation for the British Columbia Ambassador Program. For many who are unaware of this program, it is open to any young man or woman age 17 to 23, who has previously held an Ambassador/Royal title in British Columbia.  Each year, three members are chosen to represent the youth of our province. As part of their duties, they travel throughout the province promoting our mandate of Education, Motivation, and Self-Esteem.

The various components of the British Columbia Ambassador Program include: Prepared Speech, Community Speech, Talent Presentation, Knowledge Exam, Interview, Promotion and Impromptu Question. Fortunately with the support of my community program, the Miss Kamloops Ambassador Program, I will be able to showcase all of my presentations throughout the year with our 2012 Miss Kamloops candidates.

The role of an ambassador is not all what many think it entails. It is job, representing the Youth of our province and leading other community leaders to achieve greatness and betterment in their respective communities.

And it begins again,

I am Acacia Schmietenknop and I am proud to represent Canada's Tournament Capital, Kamloops, in the upcoming British Columbia Ambassador Program pageant in August 2012.
I had the honor of representing Kamloops in 2008-2009 as Miss Kamloops. I thoroughly enjoyed my reign and have continted to volunteer with the Miss Kamloops Ambassador program, which I now serve as Vice President.

Miss Kamloops has served as a first step for me and I now will represent Kamloops in the British Columbia Ambassador Program.

I have grown up in Kamloops for 18 of my 20 years and have loved every minute of it. Currently, I am involved in many volunteer groups including, SIFE (Students in Free Entreprise) Thompson Rivers, Kamloops Fusion Rotaract, and the Miss Kamloops Ambassador Program. I also serve as a director for the Kamloops YMCA/YWCA and the Telus Thompson Okanagan Community Board. I am a second year Business Administration student at Thompson Rivers University and work at Royal LePage Kamloops.

I have commenced fundraising in Kamloops and am actively looking for more fundraising opportunities. Regardless of how my candidacy unveils in August, I am extremely honoured to represent the City I love on a large scale.

Thank you for your support and I look forward to these upcoming months!