Oskaloosa Chamber Honors Area Businesses and Volunteers
Jeff Morris prepares to honor this years recipients at the 131st OACDG Awards Banquet
Oskaloosa, Iowa – It’s a yearly tradition, stretching back 131 years. The Oskaloosa Area Chamber & Development Group held it’s annual meeting Thursday night at the Peppertree with around 130 people in attendance.
The social hour began at 5:30 pm with members greeting each other, sharing stories and renewing friendships.
Dinner was served starting at 6:30 pm, where guests had the choice of prime rib, lemon pepper salmon, or cranberry pork medallions.
Introductions then started around 7:15 pm with Jon Sullivan, OACDG Director, getting everyone’s attention in preparation of keynote speaker Jeff Morris. Morris, who has been the OACDG President during the past year, prepared to hand out this years awards. Nominations for the awards were accepted until April 16th. After that, the board then voted on its selections.
The winners are as follows:
OACDG Board
1.Outgoing Board Member – Doug Yates
Diplomat Awards
2. Old Oak Award – Mahaska Bottling/ Pepsi
3. Acorn Award – H & S Feed Country Store
4. Golden Dipper, Runner Up – Cindy Reed Shull
5. Golden Dipper – Pat McCulley
Commerce Awards
6. Retail Business of the Year – Leighton Locker – Calvin Groenendyk
7. Service Business of the Year – Oskaloosa Vision – Dr. Craig Cohen and Dr. Molly Walker
8. Industry of the Year – Ideal Ready Mix – Tom Alexander
9. Business Person of the Year – Ken Allsup – Oskaloosa News
10. Community Improvement Award – Miranda Johnson
11. Educator of the Year – Gale Vermeulen
12. Special Award – Tom Rielly
13. Citizen of the Year – Steve Brown
Main Street Awards
14. Chuck Russell Historic Preservation Award – Antique Peddler, Dave & Kerri Boender
15. Main Street Volunteer of the Year – Bette Dilley
If you missed the awards, or would like to see the awards ceremony, it will air on MCG Channel 12, Thursday, May 17 and May 24. The show will air at 5:00 pm and 9:30 pm both days.
Some upcoming Chamber events include the first Friday After Five on June 1st with the band ‘Fatal Addiction’. Art on the Square is June 9th and Sweet Corn Serenade August 2nd.
For more information about the Oskaloosa Area Chamber and Development Group, you can visit their website at http://www.oacdg.org/ or by calling them at 641.672.2591
