"Best of Awards" presented by the Birch Run / Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce January 14th, 2015

I was busy at the cup cake table so I sadly missed the introduction of our local area dignitaries by Mr. Mike Szukhent.
Video starts with the introduction of the newly crowned Miss Bridge Fest Chelsea Nedrow.
Inspirational Guest Speaker Eric Thomas segment starts at 7:02
Andy Suski, Chamber Chair, speaks at 32:30
The awards ceremony starts at 37:25

I had shared this video on my blog back in February but I did not have the time to talk about the event then so I am re-sharing it now (only two months later, Sorry!).  I think this fits in nicely with today's DDA Board Meeting.

This event was the "Best of Awards"  presented by the Birch Run/Bridgeport Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau, and held at the Candlelite Banquet Center in Bridgeport.  The event was wonderful!  Good Food, Good Company!  My two favorite parts of the evening were - the Guest Speaker, Eric Thomas and the sinful cupcakes from SugarHigh Bakery!
Eric Thomas is truly a inspiring man and entrepreneur.  He has a website and several facebook pages I would like to share with everyone:
Website - http://ezawareness.com/
EZ Awareness Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ezawarenessbydesign/timeline
Inspire Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ezawarenessinspire
I could never tell his story like he does.  You can see him in the video and check out all that he does on his sites.  I love his Inspire initiative!

Here is the Chamber's website and the Birch Run/ Bridgeport Happenings Facebook page:
Website - https://birchrunchamber.org/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BirchRunHappenings/timeline

The awards presented that night were:
Chamber of Commerce Service Award - Outgoing President Kurt Kendziorski
Birch Run Student of the Year - Joe Okopien
Birch Run Educator of the Year - Wendy Holt
Bridgeport Student of the Year - Emilie Zissler
Bridgeport Educator of the Year - Chantel Eisenhauer
Birch Run Firefighter of the Year - Tom Mitchell
Bridgeport Firefighter of the Year - Jerry Childs
Taymouth Twp Firefighter of the Year - Cody Fritzler
Village Police Officer of the Year - Manuel Trevino
Village Employee of the Year - Mike Setzer
Village of Birch Run Partnership Award - McDonalds
Birch Run Twp Employee of the Year - Brad Thomas
Bridgeport Twp Employee of the Year - Steve Dobis
Birch Run United Methodist Church Volunteer of the Year - Chad Morse
Birch Run Moose Lodge #2426 Volunteers of the Year - Karl & Linda Eastman
Birch Run Knights of Columbus Volunteer of the Year - Kenneth E. Bezemek
Birch Run Rotarian of the Year - Louie Schultz
Fleschner Memorial Library Volunteer of the Year - Sandy Bearup
Birch Run Business of the Year - General RV
Birch Run Citizen of the Year - Mike Braun
Bridgeport Business of the Year - Subway
Bridgeport Citizen of the Year - Heather Wilson

A Belated Congratulations to all the award recipients!! 

I am looking forward to next years event and hope to see more people and businesses from Bridgeport involved with this.  It is a fantastic community event and with the Birch Run and Bridgeport Chambers merging, it could be an even larger event next year.  There are many people here in Bridgeport who do so much for the community and get little or no recognition.   We have plenty of businesses here in Bridgeport that could help sponsor this event.
List of this years event sponsors -