Chamber banquet celebrates worthy award recipients
A huge crowd of Holmes County Chamber members came to Berlin Encore Hotel to celebrate the 2024 Holmes County Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau’s award banquet recipients on Nov. 14.
The more things change, the more they stay the same, and for the Holmes County Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau, the sameness was evident at its recent annual meeting and banquet, where it had the difficult task of sifting through countless qualified businesses, organizations and individuals to dole out its annual awards.
A new batch of recipients were honored at the annual awards banquet at Berlin Encore Hotel & Suites on Nov. 14, where a reported record number of attendees enjoyed an evening celebrating the accomplishments of its award winners and hearing a state of the union from local government and the chamber.
Among the six recipients of this year’s awards were Star Laser, Small Business of the Year; Tekton Engineering LLC, Medium Business of the Year; Berlin Garden LLC, Large Business of the Year; OneEighty Inc., Community Service Award; Jeff and Renee Woods, Educators of the Year; and Bob Porter, Lifetime Achievement Award.
Killbuck Savings Bank sponsored the Small Business of the Year Award, and Star Laser owner Wes Schmucker gave a heartfelt thanks for the community’s support.
“I consider this a real honor,” Schmucker said. “To say that I’m grateful would be a major understatement. I feel truly blessed.”
He ended by saying he is grateful for the county in which he was born and raised because of the faith values and the support.
“Even if I didn’t have a dime to my name, I’d be a rich man,” Schmucker said.
Rea & Associates sponsored the Medium Business of the Year Award, and Tekton Engineering President Robert Miller accepted the award on behalf of his team.
Miller thanked family and community and said it was an honor to accept this award on behalf of his entire staff, noting he owes a debt of gratitude to competing companies that were willing to work with his team.
“That’s part of a blessing in Holmes County that I don’t think you often see in other communities,” Miller said.
The Large Business of the Year Award was sponsored by Millersburg Financial Services, LPL Financial.
Berlin Gardens President and VCEO Sam Yoder accepted the award and said it is humbling to be singled out among such a large number of deserving companies in the county.
“As I was reflecting this afternoon, I thought of a song I used to sing at boys camp that said, ‘No man is an island, and no man stands alone,’” Yoder said. “That is so true because of all of the good employees we have, as well as families and community. We have a lot of businesspeople sitting here tonight that have helped us be successful.”
OneEighty was honored as the Community Service Award recipient, and the award was sponsored by Commercial & Savings Bank.
Presenter Eddie Steiner said OneEighty provides invaluable services in the area, and OneEighty representative Tina Zickefoose said it was heartwarming to know people respect everything the organization has done.
“I feel we are a needed, vibrant agency in this county, and I’m blessed and thankful to work for them,” Zickefoose said of an organization that works closely with individuals struggling through domestic violence and drug, alcohol and mental health issues.
Longtime educators and spouses Jeff and Renee Woods are both retiring at the end of this school year in 2025, both having become integral parts of the West Holmes School District, Jeff as a principal at West Holmes Middle School and Renee as the principal at Millersburg Elementary, and both served in many other capacities.
Their educator award was sponsored by Holmes County Education Foundation.
Both expressed joy and gratitude for their time in the district and raising their family in Holmes County, and each talked about the importance of sharing their educational lives together.
“There’s no way I could have done this for as long as I have if I could not come home and share it with Jeff,” Renee Woods said. “We share our frustration, our challenges and our rewarding moments.”
“Ditto,” Jeff Woods said, bringing plenty of laughter.
Finally, Hummel Group sponsored Lifetime Achievement Award winner Bob Porter, whose fingerprints are all over Holmes County including his time as a history teacher at West Holmes High School, serving with the Lions Club, as a board member of the Killbuck Valley Museum, as chair of Holmes County Share-A-Christmas and more.
“Lifetime Achievement is for those who have lived a lifetime of generosity and giving back,” presenter Vaughn Troyer of Hummel Group said. “This room is filled with those type of people who give tirelessly, so this award is the pinnacle of generosity, and Bob Porter has been at the heart of being there for those who need help.”
Porter expressed his thanks for the honor, noting he never did any of it to bring honor to himself, but rather because others simply needed help.
“I really appreciate the award, but I don’t really feel like I deserve it because there are so many other people who do,” Porter said.
He went on to focus on Share-A-Christmas because of the important work it represents in serving others and the way it encompasses all of Holmes County’s compassion and generosity.
“I am simply a voice,” Porter said. “I have all of these other people who do the work.”
That put the wraps on another chamber year that saw its award winners accepting the honor each so richly deserved.