Community awards show our unity

Good choices.
That was the consensus opinion last week after the Jay County Chamber of Commerce’s expanded Jay Community Awards were presented.
In a departure from previous years, the chamber added new categories, had its board select finalists among the nominees, then let chamber members vote to determine the winners.
And the process worked.
Community developer Ami Huffman was named Citizen of the Year. Pastor Randy Davis received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Chuck Rife received the Dunkirk Community Commitment Award. Newcomer TLS By Design, which has rehabilitated an old industrial site in Portland as the home of its furniture design and building business, was named Industry of the Year. The Ritz Theatre was named Business of the Year. Jay County Special Olympics was named Non-Profit Organization of the Year. Ramon Loucks of IOM Grain received the Innovator of the Year Award. And Matt Glentzer of Portland Motor Parts/NAPA was named Young Professional of the Year.
Those were particularly good choices from a strong field. (Full disclosure: The Commercial Review was a finalist for Business of the Year, and its editor Ray Cooney was a finalist for Young Professional of the Year.)
It was especially gratifying to see Randy Davis recognized by a countywide organization for his tireless efforts to help those in need, whether it’s military service veterans receiving a gift card to McDonald’s or those struggling with addiction getting heartfelt, ongoing support.
It meant a lot that his endeavors won recognition not only from those in the Dunkirk and Redkey areas but from the entire county.
Sometimes we talk about being a countywide community more than we actually behave that way. This time, the county spoke with a single, unified voice in its selection for the Lifetime Achievement Award. In other words, our actions lived up to our words. —J.R.