Fellowship, dinner and awards - Haxtun's Chamber of Commerce banquet drew businessmen and women, volunteers and community members together Friday night, April 30 at the Haxtun Community Center. The annual banquet highlighted the Chamber's year in review while also honoring those who serve in the Haxtun community.

The Haxtun Chamber of Commerce is led by Executive Director Jenn Oberle and board members Julie Thayer, Jim Helfer, Kindra Plumb, Debby McBride and Gay McDaniel. The organization recently formed a 501c3 and while doing so, developed the following mission statement: To be a progressive and aggressive Chamber, helping our community make prudent economic growth decisions while assuring that we maintain the lifestyle and atmosphere that we cherish.

Oberle opened the evening's program outlining 2021 goals for the Haxtun Chamber of Commerce, including increasing membership within the organization as well as at monthly member meetings. She said the Board also hopes to focus on grants to help fund Chamber projects.

Member benefits include weekly business spotlights, weekly membership emails, lunch and learn events and shop local campaigns. Oberle said the Chamber of Commerce is currently rolling out a new newsletter platform and offers text message capabilities for all members.

Oberle also announced the receipt of the Ogallala Commons Internship, which will allow high school student Tanley Andersen to join the Chamber over the summer as she has the past few years. Andersen will work from May to August and will be responsible for marketing and promotional pieces for Chamber-sponsored events such as Old-Fashioned Saturday Night. She also hopes to focus on the shop local campaign and increase engagement on the Chamber of Commerce Facebook page.

In working with youth, Oberle said she has begun including student leaders in monthly member meetings in addition to weekly involvement with the CTE Bulldog store. She also represented the Chamber as a judge for the district Future Business Leaders of America event.

Over the past year, the Haxtun Chamber sponsored big events such as Corn Festival and Old-Fashioned Saturday Night as well as Haxtun's Country Christmas. The Chamber also has a hand in new dollar plaques, welcome plants for new businesses, scholarships for Haxtun High School seniors, after prom gifts, the economic incentive policy, Haxtun health and fitness initiative and youth outreach. The Chamber also sponsored music in the square over the summer, a 4th of July bike ride and box car drive-in movies as the Haxtun United Methodist Church. Summer night events will resume in June on the second Tuesday of the month.

The Chamber of Commerce also helped with several community service projects last year, including a food drive that brought in $1,000 for the local food banks in addition to over 500 pounds of food. Over the holidays, the Chamber helped raise $1,000 to supply 10 holiday meal boxes, 10 $25 gift cards and over $300 worth of toys, games and toiletries to the needy in Haxtun.

Oberle and the Chamber also had a significant hand in the Help Haxtun campaign, which brought in $25,000 to help businesses impacted by the COVID-19 shutdown last year.

Award ceremony

As traditionally done, the Haxtun Chamber of Commerce also honored businessmen and women in the community as well as volunteers during the annual banquet. Business Person of the Year went to Wilson's Repair, Austin and Valarie Wilson.

"It gives me great pleasure to nominate Wilson's Repair to be considered for the Business Person of the Year award in recognition of their tireless efforts and outstanding leadership in the Haxtun community. The Wilsons started a new business that meets a critical need in our community," the nomination letter read. "Austin is the first person to help when anyone needs a repair. I continually see Austin at his shop late in the evening and on the weekends, which allows people to get their repairs done quickly and at an extremely fair price. Wilson's Repair also generously donates to any organizations and events that the Haxtun community hosts."

This year's Employee of the Year award went to Melinda Groshans at the Haxtun Post Office. "Melinda is the best choice for Employee of the Year because she is always willing and ready to help a lending hand," her nomination letter said. "She spends countless hours helping with Triple R Saddle Club. She is always cooking for those in need, whether there is a reason - such as sickness/death - or not. In my opinion, Melinda has done so much that has gone unrecognized. She also goes above and beyond with her duties at the Post Office to make sure everyone receives their packages in a timely manner. Whether she is sick, tired or injured, Melinda is always ready to help those who need it and give back to the Haxtun community."

The recipient of the Volunteer of the Year award this year is Jim and Bobbie Helfer.

"There are so many words to describe Jim and Bobbie Helfer. If you're unaware of who they are, they own the Haxtun Building Center on main street. They have countless hours of time that they donate to our school, main street events and our community. This past June a storm swept through our town, damaging and destroying many homes, buildings and primarily our cemetery," the Helfer's nomination read. "Jim with a few other people rallied up their ladders and tools and helped repair roofs, chop down trees, hauled them away. After everything was said and done, they also found a way to help those in financial need. They were able to collect donations and the supplies used to help others in our community were then considered a debt paid in full. They continued to work throughout the community that week. Jim and Bobbie, are there for every street event we host here in Haxtun. First ones there to help set-up and first ones up the next day to help clean-up. We call them the cleaning fairies. I cannot recall a time that we have called upon them and the answer was no. I'm sure that there were many times that they were strapped themselves but the call never went unanswered. I firmly believe that this award is well deserved. We are grateful to have them in our community."

The Help Haxtun committee, made up of Oberle, Ross Edwards, Trisha Herman and John Chapdelaine received the Golden Star award, traditionally given to outstanding Chamber members.

"Because of its role in creating a fund that provided much needed financial assistance to businesses that had to shut down during the initial pandemic mandates in 2020, a Golden Star Award nomination for the Help Haxtun Committee is warranted," read the nomination. "Committee members include Jenny Oberle, Ross Edwards and John Chapdelaine. Together, these individuals marketed, advertised and executed this program and volunteered their time to coordinate and raise funds that were redistributed to the employees and owners of businesses that had to shut their doors due to the Covid-19 state mandates. $25,000 was raised to help these affected industries. This program inspired the Haxtun community to support each other during these dire times. This program was able to resonate a helpful message of generosity and compassion throughout our community."

Tanley Andersen earned this year's Youth of the Year award from her nomination: "If you asked me to describe Tanley Andersen, there would be numerous words I would use. Creative, passionate, caring but most importantly driven. Tanley, is always buzzing around town. Whether it be FBLA, cheer or doing activities with our local Chamber. She always encourages peers to look and think outside of the box. She creates the best possible scenario regardless of the obstacle. This past year she was forced to be inventive. She still managed to succeed. She is the Haxtun FBLA President, she holds a State Officer position for FBLA, she also qualified as a Spirit Athlete in the 65th All State Games this summer. COVID-19 pandemic never slowed her efforts down. As a State officer, she was tasked with organizing the District 4 conference, she competed and placed first in Future Business Leader of America at the district level. The list could go on and on. Tanley Andersen, is an exceptional student, community member and I have no doubt she will succeed at any capacity."

This year's Employee Group of the Year award went to the crew at Haxtun Super's. "This last year was unprecedented and many organizations stepped up to ensure our community's needs were met. This nomination is for the employees of one of those organizations, our local grocery store, Haxtun Super's. This group had to undergo significant operational changes to include, the addition of plexiglass, cleaning protocols, mask wearing, etc. In the midst of all of these changes, they knew they were essential and worked tirelessly to ensure the store stayed open and we all had a local store to provide our grocery needs. They also stayed so positive throughout this ordeal. Going to the store brings me joy as I'm always greeted with a smile, quality conversation and laughter. I don't know if they realize just how important their role was, but I hope they do now! Thank you all so much! I encourage all involved to award the Haxtun Chamber Employee Group of the Year to the wonderful employees at Haxtun Super's!"

The Haxtun Lions Club was honored as Volunteer Group of the Year. The Club's nomination letter read, "The Club was chartered in February of 1954 and has been actively serving the Haxtun Community for 66 years. The Club has two major fund raising events every year. The Chuckwagon Dinner & Show and the Corn Festival Hamburger stand. The majority of the proceeds from these fund raisers are donated locally as needs arise. The Covid-19 pandemic made it impossible for the group to have a normal year, however, the club stayed active and communicated via email. Luckily, the Club was allowed to serve a delicious hamburger meal to locals and visitors at the 2020 Corn Festival."

Prairie IT, downtown Haxtun business, took home the Fix-Up, Paint-Up award Friday night.

"Many memories were made in the American Legion. Prairie IT was able to revitalize this important building to bring a new look to Haxtun's main street," the nomination read. "The original Prairie IT building also received a facelift. Both buildings are located on the main street of Haxtun. Mark and Dottie place a high importance on their business being in Haxtun, and their local town pride shines bright in their efforts to restore Haxtun's main street."

First Dollar Plaques were presented to the Haxtun Lions Club, Eastern Colorado Community Fund, Kay's Life of the Party, Kelley Law Firm, LLC, The Daily Grind, PAK Enterprises and the Snip-N-Style.

For more information the Haxtun Chamber of Commerce, contact Oberle at (970) 467-0194.

(Herald photo by Candie Fix)

FIX-UP, PAINT-UP award winners Prairie IT, (l-r), Monty Phillips, Mark Oman and Adam Oman.