Chamber Gives Five 2010 Awards

DAYTON - Columbia REA, Pastor Steve Edwards, Theater Manager Reid Hel­ford and Singer Cougar Henderson were winners of this year's Community Awards given out at the Day­ton

Chamber of Commerce's Annual Banquet.

They won their recogni­tion for Business of the Year, Citizen of the Year, Employ­ee of the Year and Youth of the Year respectively.

The fifth award for His­toric Preservation was split by Puget Sound Energy for the restoration of its down­town office in the commer­cial category and by the Richardson-Donohue home in the residential category.

In praising this year' Busi­ness of the Year, Chamber director Lisa Ronnberg said Columbia REA "takes great pride in participating and be­ing

part of our community. They have responded to com­munity emergencies whenev­er asked. When called upon they willingly have donated equipment, labor, money, support and enthusiasm." Presenting Helford with his award as Employee of the Year, presenter Sal Benavi­dez said the Liberty Theater manager "has raised the quality of the business he works for in every aspect and continually strives for more."

Youth of the Year Hender­son "has shown tremendous dedication to the community by giving of his time and tal­ents so generously year after year," said Molly Payne, who won the award last year. Family members accepted the Citizen of the Year award on behalf of Steve Edwards, who passed away Saturday and is remembered else­where

in these pages. He was described as "a person who empowers those around him, encourages them to be their very best and always be themselves." The 2010 banquet was sponsored by Columbia REA.