Community award finalists announced

The finalists are set.

Jay County Chamber of Commerce on Monday announced the finalists for the Jay County Community Awards, with several former honorees up for The Spirit of Vicki Lifetime Achievement Award and Citizen of the Year.

“Each finalist is deserving of this recognition; and in their own way, contributed to our Jay County communities,” said chamber executive director Tabby Sprunger in a press release. “They make Jay County resourceful, strong and so proud.”

Award winners will be announced during a banquet May 13.

The four finalists for The Spirit of Vicki Award include two with strong ties to Arts Place in former executive director Eric Rogers and former board member Jack Ronald, who had a 40-plus year career as president, editor and publisher of The Commercial Review. Also up for the award are Dale Ainsworth for his decades of volunteering including with Jay Community Center’s after-school program and former teacher and coach Glen Bryant who has been involved with a variety of local service groups including Portland Lions Club.

Rogers (2003) and Ronald (2007) are both previous Citizen of the Year winners.

Citizen of the Year finalists this year are Troy and Krista Muhlenkamp, who spearheaded the Jay County Hometown Heroes program to hang banners honoring local veterans, Debi Gillespie, who organized and distributed donations from Peyton’s Northern in Bluffton to a wide range of local organizations, and Portland Fire Chief Mike Weitzel, who is heavily involved with Portland Main Street Connect and other organizations.

Weitzel was the 2020 Citizen of the Year and Gillespie was part of the Cruis’n the HoliJay Lights at the Fairgrounds win for 2021 Innovator of the Year.

Like The Spirit of Vicki, there are four finalists in several other categories, including Business of the Year. Contenders for that award are Brigade Electronics, Key Diner, Living in JOY and Sculpt Fitness.

FCC (Indiana), Joyce/Dayton Corp. and Priority Plastics are finalists for industry of the year.

Finalists in other categories are as follows:

Not-for-profit of the Year — Jay County Fair Association, Jay County Special Olympics, Portland Lions Club

Dunkirk Community Commitment — Duane Marcum and Tim Ritchey, Kenci Grasyon, and Rock and Kathy Fuqua

Small Community Commitment — Donna Skinner, Dottie Quakenbush, LeRoy Brown and Tom and Crystal Laux

Young Professional of the Year — Aaron Loy, Cassie Alexander and Travis Richards

Community Group of the Year — Jay County 4-H Council, Jay County Baseball Club, Kids Purpose Project and Truth Builders Jay County

Innovator of the Year — Gary and Angie Clark, Good-Rich Brewery, Jay School Corporation with Jack and school resource dog and school resource officer Cody Jessee, and LeRoy Brown

In addition to Rogers, Ronald, Weitzel and Gillespie, several more nominees include former winners — Rock and Kathy Fuqua won the 2015 Dunkirk Community Commitment Award and were the 2018 Lifetime Achievement winners; FCC has won Industry of the year three times, most recently in 2017; Jay County Fair Board won Citizen of the Year in 1990; and Jay County Special Olympics was the 2014 Not-for-Profit of the Year.