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Volunteer added to city’s looks |
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Friday, 09 November 2007 |
By ANNIE ZELM
Staff Writer
For one local man, volunteering was a natural way to stay active after retirement, he says.
Bill Roth, 64, accepted the 2007 “Volunteer of the Year” award from the Wapakoneta Area Chamber of Commerce Thursday evening for his countless contributions to the completion of the Wapakoneta Community Development Center.
The building now houses the chamber, the Wapakoneta Area Economic Development Council and several other businesses and organizations.
A number of groups, businesses and individuals donated time and money to the center while working with Executive Director Dan Graf on the project, Chamber President Tom Finkelmeier said, but Roth went beyond the call of duty.
“He would come to the Chamber office asking, ‘Well Dan, what needs to be done today?’ ” Finkelmeier said as he read the
nomination for Roth. “He would work many hours by himself at the Center.
“He may have even put in a couple 30-hour weeks working there and was there so often that we even gave him his own key.”
As a longtime friend of Chamber members, Roth said he enjoyed spending his time there because everyone was so easy to work with.
He credits his wife, Carol, and his parents, the late William Roth and his mother Rita, who survives, for teaching him the value of service.
“My wife always volunteered for different things, so she encouraged me, and my mother and father were always the ones to help people out, always there for other people,” Roth told the Wapakoneta Daily News after Chamber’s annual awards banquet.
A native of Wapakoneta, Roth retired after 42 years of service at G.A. Wintzer & Son and said his caring and generous employers made it easier to remain active in the community after he left the company. He and his wife have two daughters, Deborah and Rebecca, and three grandchildren.
Roth said he plans to remain involved in renovating the Community Development Center through its completion because he feels it is an important asset to the city.
He also volunteers his time in other ways by serving on the boards at St. Joseph Catholic Church, where he is a parishioner and usher. He plucks chicken for the Knights of Columbus and this year accepted an appointment to the Auglaize County Board of Elections.
In addition to the “Volunteer of the Year” and “Citizen of the Year” awards, the Wapakoneta Area Chamber of Commerce presented six other awards to those who have made distinctive contributions to the community in the past year.
The 2007 “Most Improved Residential Property” award was presented to Sandi Evans for her home at 501 W. Benton St., which was restored with new yellow siding, white shutters and white picket fencing.
The 2007 award for “Most Improved Commercial Property” was presented to CTL Engineering Inc., 102 Commerce Drive, for its decision to remain committed to Wapakoneta as it considered future growth and expansion. An addition to its current offices doubled the building in size, adding extra office space, a laboratory, conference room and storage area.
The 2007 “Outstanding Employee” award was presented to Kirk Azbell for his exporting efforts at G.A. Wintzer & Son.
Yvonne Shaffer, of Fifth Third Bank, received the 2007 “Outstanding Business Person Award” for commitment to the bank since 1998 and her management of the Wapakoneta Bellefontaine Financial Center.
The 2007 “Non-Profit Organization of the Year” award was presented Les Chiles, manager of the Wapakoneta’s American Legion Post 330 for the legion’s many contributions to the schools, municipalities, civic groups, people in need and medical research.
The organization presents sizable donations each year to the Dayton Veterans Hospital from proceeds at its annual WingFest and has pledged $25,000 during a five-year period toward renovations and maintenance of the baseball diamond at Wapakoneta Middle School.
The 2007 “Ambassador of the Year” award was presented to Dr. Thomas Freytag, who has served the community for 26 years and was appointed by Gov. Taft to a state task force focused on researching and preventing abuse and neglect of the handicapped.
He was also recognized throughout the state when the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians presented him with the 2007 “Family Physician of the Year” award. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 09 November 2007 )
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