For years, Lucille Woolridge would collect tourists from the airport and drive them around the Island in her taxi.

The 84-year-old never imagined she’d be honoured for the service, however on a recent trip to Canada she received high praise from Calgary Tourism.

The group acknowledged her efforts with a White Hat Ceremony, a long-standing tradition that symbolises Western hospitality and good cheer.

She was also gifted with a white Smithbilt hat — celebrities and dignitaries visiting the city have received them since 1948 when the tradition was started by then-Calgary Mayor Don MacKay.

“I was very much surprised when I saw all these people gathering around me in Calgary,” Mrs Woolridge told The Royal Gazette.

“There were six or so people dressed in white hats, as well as a lot of other people coming in at the airport looking at us to see what was going on.

“I was speechless really and didn’t know what to say. But I know that the more I do for others the greater my reward from the Lord.

“I don’t have to tell anyone what I do for other people, God knows what I do. Still it feels good and I feel proud of myself when people go out of their way for me.”

As part of the ceremony Mrs Woolridge was asked to extend a special brand of Western hospitality to people she meets.

The decree she pledged to adhere to read: “I, Lucille Woolridge, having just arrived in the only genuine Western city in Canada, namely Calgary, will be duly treated to exceptional amounts of heart warmin’, hand shakin’, tongue-loosenin’, buck-slappin’ Western spirit. [And] do solemnly promise to spread this here brand of hospitality to all folks and critters who cross my tail hereafter.”

After the ceremony she was given a certificate that named her an Honourary Calgarian.

Mrs Woolridge was honoured after a long-time friend and frequent visitor to Bermuda, Dora Ferguson, told Calgary’s Tourism Department about her dedication to the Island’s hospitality. The two met when Mrs Woolridge took her on a tour nearly 26 years ago.

She went above and beyond the call of a duty of a normal taxi driver and even helped Ms Ferguson and her husband find a home on the Island.

“One day while I was driving her we started talking and I told her I would find her a house. Dora said ‘Well, who is going to look after it?’ And I said, No problem, I would take care of the house for her while she was away. And she ended up owning ‘Bacardi on the Rocks’ for many years.

“After that we kept in touch and when she brought in a group of golfers and paid for them to come to Bermuda, I took them all on tours of local golf courses and even took them to my home and entertained them with Swizzle and hors d’oeuvres.”

Mrs Woolridge and Mrs Ferguson still talk over the phone about two or three times a week — which led to last month’s trip to Canada.

During her visit, Mrs Woolridge saw the Calgary Stampede 2014, an event aimed at promoting western heritage and values.

She described it as similar to the Bermuda Day Parade, but said it featured a lot of horses and had close to 50,000 spectators.

Mrs Fergusson’s daughter took Mrs Woolridge to see the Ford Steel Factory in Alberta and the Rocky Mountain Springs Lodge.

The Bermudian, who retired about five years ago, said she helped promote the Island while on her travels. “I took these Bermuda wristbands, pins and maps with me and I gave them all to some people I met at golf shops and other places,” she said.

“There were a group of people that I talked to who called themselves Bowliff Seniors’ Golfers and I invited them all to come to Bermuda.”

She said no matter where she goes people are always interested in the fact she comes from Bermuda and they always have questions about the Island. She also meets many people who recognise her from the airport or driving her taxi.

Her motto was to always treat everyone who sat in her car like a VIP.

“Everyone who [got] into my taxi [was] made to feel special,” she said. “I treat people with kindness and hospitality, no matter who [got] into my taxi.

“I don’t treat people any differently because you don’t know who is sitting in your care. My husband Arnold [Victor] Woolridge worked at the old Castle Harbour and he drove Churchill, Eisenhower and Truman.

“I just hope more taxi drivers will learn to do more for the tourists. One of our main industries is tourism and if you take care of the tourists they will come back.”