HAY RIVER - Mike Wood's goal is to make Hay River an attractive community to both tourists and future residents alike.

As the president of the Hay River Beautification Committee, he encourages projects that make Hay River more visually appealing.

Mike Wood, a co-owner of The Woodshed Gift and Garden Centre, is also president of the Hay River Beautification Committee. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

However, that is a step towards a larger objective.

"It's to make Hay River a destination location for tourists and a choice of residence," Wood said. "That's the big goal."

The appearance of the town is important to visitors and potential residents because first impressions are lasting impressions, he explained.

Wood helped create the Hay River Beautification Committee out of the former Hay River Horticultural Society, which had existed since 1972.

In October of 2005, he was elected president of the horticultural society. Along with the executive, he considered ways to encourage participation by the public.

One step was to change the organization's name to the Hay River Beautification Committee in July of last year.

Wood noted horticulture is a specific discipline and some people didn't connect with it.

Beautification is a concept everyone can get behind, he said. "It's so wide. It's so practical. Everyone can connect to it."

Another step was to change the organization by creating subcommittees, which operate independently to a large extent.

Wood explained that has attracted more volunteers interested in particular areas of beautification.

"They'll have more freedom to do their own thing," he said.

The four existing subcommittees are creating a community garden, reviving the fall fair, running the annual Yards in Bloom competition, and introducing an Adopt a Spot program.

Wood said more subcommittees can be created in the future.

One good thing about the subcommittee structure is that it doesn't stretch volunteers too thin, he noted. "It is working out well."

The 42-year-old Wood, who is originally from Ontario, first arrived in Hay River 17 years ago with the Pentecostal Sub-Arctic Mission.

For two years, he was executive assistant to the CEO at the community's hospital.

After that, he left for a decade to go to seminary, and work as a licensed minister in Edmonton and with the healthcare system in Calgary.

However, Wood said he tired of the rat race in the city and five years ago returned to Hay River. He explained he wanted to live in a community where everyone knows everyone else, he said. "What people have to realize is we're a family, like it or not."

Wood, along with his brother and sister own The Woodshed Gift and Garden Centre. Two other members of his family also work at the business.

Wood said he became involved in the beautification committee partly because of his business, even though it doesn't directly benefit.

"It's what we do," he said. "It's a way to give back to the community."