OACDG Hold 130th Annual Meeting
Diplomat President Teri Cirbo presents the Golden Dipper Award to Vicki Jones at the 130th Annual Meeting of OACDG
The Peppertree Restaurant, just North of Oskaloosa, was buzzing with chatter, handshakes and some excitement last evening.
The evening opened up with a social hour that went from 5:30 to 6:30. Guests mingled, talked business, joked and enjoyed some refreshments before the main portion of the evening got started.
At 6:30, Jon Sullivan started the evening off by introducing Jeff Morris, from Imagine the Possibilities, to conduct the Invocation. Dinner followed, where guests could choose between Chicken Cordon Bleu or New York Strip Steak.
Barb Finney, OACDG Board Chair gave the welcome speech and introductions for the evening. She gave a brief speech about Oskaloosa, and harkened back to what a Chamber meeting may have been like 100 years ago. She also challenged the group to imagine 100 years into the future.
The awards ceremony and presentations started off with Teri Cirbo, Diplomat President
- Old Oak Award – Mahaska Drug
- Acorn Award – Smokey Row
- Golden Dipper Runner Up – Pat McCulley
- Golden Dipper – Vicki Jones
Vicki Jones was next to present awards for her category in Commerce Committee
- Retail Business of the Year – Shady Lodge
- Chuck Russell Historic Preservation Award – John R. Jacobs
- Up and Comer Award – Charlie Comfort
The next segment of awards was presented by Cassie Riley, also with Commerce Committee
- Service Business of the Year – Wells Construction
- Educator of the Year – Todd Hafner
Mahaska County Agricultural and Rural Development (MCARD) awards were presented by Miranda Johnson
- Industry of the Year – Cablevey
- Community Improvement Award – Carl Drost
OACDG Chair Barb Finney presented awards for the Chamber
- Business Person of the Year – David Ahmad
- Citizen of the Year – Ed Sullivan
Karen Hafner, Events Director for the Chamber, presented what was listed as the final 2 awards of the evening.
- Main Street Volunteer of the Year – Sue Lynn
- Main Street Special Award – Kevin Molyneux
One last special award was given to Jon Sullivan for his dedication to Oskaloosa and helping to promote our town.
The evening ended with that last award, and a quick closing from Sullivan who had promised to have it completed by 8:30. He nearly achieved his goal, as it was 8:31 when he read the time aloud and the event came to a close.
