The search is over.
Red Deer’s 100,000th resident is little Arlo MacKay.
The seven-month-old was born to parents Colleen and Matthew MacKay just a day shy of the city’s contest deadline.
Earlier this summer, the city embarked on a mission to find the citizen who helped Red Deer reach the historic milestone.
Red Deer is the third city in Alberta to crack 100,000, and the first of the mid-sized cities in the province. The spring 2015 census revealed that Red Deer has a population of 100,807, up 2,222 people or a 2.2 per cent increase from 2014.
Mayor Tara Veer said holding the contest was a way to allow the community to celebrate.
Arlo received a City of Red Deer goodie bag and $1,000 in gift cards from Parkland Mall.
“Arlo was born in our own Red Deer Regional Hospital on Jan. 30 this year,” said Veer. “We’re so excited to acknowledge his presence and his life in our community. We look forward to all the great things that he will do in Red Deer in the years to come.”
To qualify, entrants either had to have moved to Red Deer or be born in Red Deer between Nov. 1, 2014, and Jan. 31, 2015, and must still live in Red Deer.
There were 108 eligible entries in the contest.
The city’s newest celebrity was selected by a random draw.
Colleen, 29, and Matthew MacKay, 30, said they were thrilled that their first child has made such an impact already in his young life.
“It will be his claim to fame for the rest of his life,” joked Matthew.
They said it was a challenge to keep the good news a secret.
About four years ago, Colleen moved to Red Deer from Regina to take a job as a dietician at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. She is also a coach at Pure Fitness Crossfit. Matthew, who is also from Regina, works at Nova Chemicals. They have been married for about two-and-a-half years.
She said they love everything about Red Deer, especially the trails, the river and the park system.
“It’s a really good community here,” she said. “We just really like it here.”
Colleen said her son is anything but shy and enjoys being around people.
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com