Results
This year's Gold Panning Championships had an amazing turnout, with every age of panner, metal detector, claimstaker, and spectator arriving from all over Canada and around the world to participate in the fun. There were many memorable moments during this weekend, including Scott Rea from Quesnel BC winning his 6th World's Invitational "A" Panning Championship. Scott was the fastest to find the gold nugget in little over ten seconds during the final round to ultimately come out on top this year. Closely behind him him were Barry Scott in 2nd and Dave Coupland 3rd, each barely missing their chance at the title.
The winner of the Class "B" Championship, Dirk Vanderzalm, traveled all the way from Holland to compete in this year's event. Taylor Gejdos gets a special congratulations, for she continuing the Gejdos family tradition of gold panning, qualifying for Sunday's "A" Class event by finishing in 2nd place in the "B" Class Event, alongside Village on a Diet star Jordy "Hollywood" Doerksen. During the kick off event in the Celebrity/Media Championship, Karen Goodings out panned both Leah Black and Toni Archembault to "take home the gold".
The weather gods cooperated once again this year allowing for the Bannock Baking and Theater Under the Stars events to operate smoothly. It was a fantastic weekend overall, and Gold Panning Coordinator Sheena Taillefer & Director of Community Services Bryant Bird would like to thank all of the people who participated in the festivities that took place this weekend, as well as the numerous volunteers that came out to make this event happen. Without their generous hard work and dedication, along with the support of our community partners, this event would not have happened.
For a complete listing of weekend results, click on the event below:
Peace River Open Class "B" Adult
