Tickets are now available for the annual banquet recognizing a Citizen of the Year in Western Wayne County.
New Day Kiwanis organizes the annual event, which surprises someone who has worked hard to help the community.
The gathering begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, in Golay Community Center, 1007 E. Main St., Cambridge City.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance by calling Nathan Ulerick at 765-914-5403.
Ulerick is also seeking $25 sponsors to help offset the event’s costs.
Citizen of the Year has been presented annually since 1961, originally by the Evening Kiwanis Club. The New Day Club took over in 2021 when the Evening Club dissolved.
The first honoree was Charles Golay in 1961. Winners are chosen by a committee that includes the last seven recipients.
Recipients since 2003 include many recognized names, such as Verne Clingenpeel, Patty Hersberger, Jim and Jill King, Jodi Johnson, Don Conyers, Barb and Charlie Ringwald, Kathy Meal, Laurie Griffin, James and P.A. Cohen, Amy Engle, Bud Hatfield, Mike Cerqua, John Engle, Nancy Alford, Alan Austin, Mick Fowler, Ken Newton, Dr. James and Norma Bertsch, Silvia Bowman-Hamilton, and Ulerick and Julia Henderson.
Last year’s honoree was Beth Leisure. Along with her family’s business interests, she worked at reshaping downtown Cambridge City during more than a decade as the Cambridge City Chamber of Commerce president, served as the town’s representative on Wayne County’s Economic Development Corp. board, and became president of Wayne County Convention and Tourism Board. In 2018, Leisure was elected to Wayne County Council, for which she is finishing another year as its president.
Additional community groups have assisted with previous Citizen of the Year presentations, including the community choir, Lincoln Middle/High School Key Club members, and Scouts from Pack 6 and Troop 6.
The Kiwanis Club welcomes visitors and prospective members. It meets for breakfast at 6:45 a.m. Fridays, usually in the Golay Center.
A version of this article appeared in the November 27 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.