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Sidny Zink named Citizen of the Year

Coldwell Banker is top business in 2014

The Durango Chamber of Commerce named Sidny Zink its Citizen of the Year on Thursday night during its awards ceremony at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.

Zink joins a select club, becoming only the sixth woman in 40 years to receive the honor. The previous female honorees were Jean Reid, Morley Ballantine, Patty Burkholder, Sheri Rochford Figgs and Katherine Roser.

“When I heard I was nominated, I thought, ‘Wow, how did I get here?’” she said. “Thank you for letting me be part of this community.”

Zink is currently a Colorado Transportation Commissioner for Region 8, and served on the Durango City Council for one term, including a year as mayor in 2007.

The award particularly noted Zink’s participation on numerous community boards of directors. She has been awarded several other honors, including both the Morley Ballantine and Barbara Conrad Leadership awards at previous chamber ceremonies, and the Everyday Heroes and Heroines from the Colorado Society of CPAs.

The other finalists for the award were Susan Lander and Steve Parker.

The second award of the evening was another rarity, both an award that is given only when the chamber’s board feels it’s merited, as well as being a posthumous award. Lela Boyer, who died in September, was honored for her tireless efforts on behalf of the Durango Public Library with the Outstanding Contribution to the Community Award.

“She had been on the board of the Durango Friends of the Library since she moved here 10 year ago, and in the last five years, Lela volunteered 800 hours,” said Friends President Nancy Peake. “That’s 800 hours each year.”

Boyer’s emphasis was on collecting, sorting and organizing book donations for sale in the library bookstore and overseeing four public sales each year. Peake said Boyer’s efforts were a significant part of the $110,000 the friends raised in the past 2½ years, money that went to support programs the library could not otherwise have afforded.

Boyer’s husband, Dr. Bob Boyer, and daughter, Charisse Reyes, accepted the award in her memory.

“I’m better known as Lela Boyer’s husband,” Bob Boyer said. “If I thought of her in one word, it would be ‘accompanist.’ Not only was she a fine musician, she saw her role as accompanying the library in its efforts.”

The previous posthumous award winners were Barbara Conrad and Dr. Tom Grams.

It may be hard to pin down just what the Spirit of Durango is, but you know it, when you see it. The award went to Vectra Bank on Thursday night.

The Durango Diplomats, who are goodwill ambassadors for the chamber and the community, recognize one of their own who has gone above and beyond each year. The Durango Diplomat for 2014 is Marily Berger.

Upwards of 300 nonprofits provide services in La Plata Community, so being selected as Nonprofit of the Year is an important recognition. Three finalists were named for the award, Adaptive Sports Association, Alternative Horizons and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Colorado.

Lynn Urban, president and CEO of United Way of Southwest Colorado, presented the award to Alternative Horizons.

“Their tireless and compassionate staff and volunteers have provided services in our area for many years to victims of domestic violence and their families,” Urban said. “Many victim/survivors have been able to keep their homes and lives in place because of the support and services they received from Alternative Horizons.”

Executive Director Kim Zook accepted for the organization.

“I have to thank the staff and volunteers who work the Crisis Hotline and wear pagers 24/7,” she said. “And we don’t say thank you to our families enough, because it’s often the middle of the night when those pagers go off. We must also say thank you to the families that trust us.”

County residents volunteer hundreds of thousands of hours each year, but only one resident is recognized with the Bill Mashaw Volunteer of the Year Award. The 2014 honoree, Ron Corkish, president of La Plata County Search and Rescue, has served with the organization for more than 25 years.

“His strong leadership, his ability to maintain a strong presence of mind in critical situations, said Simon Walls, a member of the Awards Committee, “his skill to organize complex application of resources and his talent for training each member to use the necessary skills to keep them safe while rescuing others has certainly earned him the respect of all who become involved.”

Corkish, who said he was humbled by being nominated with Janna Schaefer, who works on behalf of veterans, and Buck Skillen, who volunteers extensively to assure a fair election process and on maintaining the health of the Animas River, also took the opportunity to plug the organization’s upcoming fundraiser breakfast during Snowdown.

“I still remember that night just about 25 years ago when (county Office of Emergency Services director) Butch Knowlton gave me a call to see if I would help rescue four stranded snowmobilers, and I said one of my favorite four-letter words, ‘Sure,’” Corkish said.

The 85 Search and Rescue volunteers get calls at all times of the day and night, he said, so they often find themselves leaving work, finding rides for dining companions in restaurants or walking away from the hospital after a son’s surgery.

The Morley Ballantine Award is given to a woman who has worked to support women and girls in the community, demonstrates excellence in community leadership and leads with creativity. The honoree is selected by previous award winners, and the 2014 award winner is Beth Drum, senior vice president at Alpine Bank.

Among her many community activities, Drum is the co-chairwoman of the Women’s Resource Center board, has been instrumental in the center’s Women’s History Month activities, has served as chairwoman of the Mercy Health Foundation Board, and has guided the bank in donating more than $250,000 into community projects and nonprofits since 2006.

The Young Professional of Durango Award is only in its third year because YPOD also is a relatively new organization. The first person honored with the award for 2012, YPOD President Mandi Davis, presented this year’s award to Paul Eckenrode.

“He has two mottos:” Davis said, “‘Always act as if,’ and ‘Stay under the radar.’ After Thursday night, that last one is going to be hard to do.’”

The Barbara Conrad Leadership Award was created by Leadership La Plata in 1996 after Conrad died. The honoree is selected by previous award winners.

The 2014 award went to Laura Lewis Marchino, the assistant director of the Region 9 Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado, where she administers enterprise-zone designations. Lewis also volunteers extensively with area nonprofits.

“When I first came to Durango 24 year ago, I was on the board at the Durango Arts Center when we hired Barbara Conrad as executive director,” she said. “She was a tremendous mentor and friend.”

Both Marchino and Drum said the mystery of why family members who normally would have no interest in an event like this had insisted on coming was now solved.

Mountain View (Total Life Concept) and its owners Kevin Dehlinger, Dr. Kirsten “Kicki” Searfus, Judith Vanderryn, and Lisa B. Smith, with their comprehensive approach to health care, were named Entrepreneurs of the Year on Thursday.

“Allowing for significantly more time during each visit to address a patient’s medical issues and recognizing the need to explore nonmedical factors helps their patients achieve optimal health and well-being,” said presenter Karen Thompson.

The other finalists for the award were Lindsay Abshagen, owner of Eppich Photography, and Steve Eccher of Eccher Design and Planning.

If small businesses build a community, then the three finalists for Small Business of the Year are a solid part of Durango’s foundation. CJ’s Diner, Sachs Construction and Tafoya Barrett and Associates all support nonprofits and activities while in the trenches keeping their businesses thriving. Tafoya Barrett and Associates is the honoree for 2014.

“Their values of integrity, honesty, balance and community service go beyond how they conduct their business,” presenter Joe Lloyd said. “They extend into how they interact within their neighborhoods, schools, town, environment and the world in which we live, work and play.”

The final award of the evening is one of the most prestigious the chamber gives, Business of the Year.

Coldwell Banker Heritage House Realtors received the recognition for 2014, not only for its strong service to clients who are making one of the biggest decisions of their lives but for its support of more than 40 organizations in the community, presenter Christi Zeller said.

“Every morning I wake up thankful to live in Durango,” Broker/owner Gina Piccoli said. “And I am so proud of the people I work with. I look forward to going to work every day.”

The other two finalists were Kroegers Ace Hardware and Durango Motor Co.

abutler@durangoherald.com

This story has been modified to clarify Ron Corkish’s statement about how Search and Rescue volunteers are willing to interrupt their lives at any time when they get the call. It has also been modified because the incorrect number of previous female winners was given to the Herald. Five women had been named Citizen of the Year before Sidny Zink. Jean Reid was an early Citizen of the Year in the late 1970s.

Past winners of Citizen of the Year

2014: Sidny Zink

2013: Richard Ballantine

2012: Peter Marshall

2011: Katharine Roser

2010: Joe Colgan

2009: Sheri Rochford Figgs

2008: Dr. Richard Lawton

2007: Jerry Martinez

2006: Pat Murphy

2005: Patty Burkholder

2004: Ed Zink

2003: David Eppich

2002: Fred Klat

2001: Don Mapel

2000: Bill Mashaw

1999: Bob Dolphin

1998: Amos Cordova

1997: Joel Jones

1996: Leonard C. Burch

1995: Duane Smith

1994: Leonel Silva

1993: Frank E. “Sam” Maynes

1992: Ron Pettigrew

1991: Bill “Beatle” Abshagen

1990: Morley Ballantine

1989: Don Whalen

1988: Bill Sageser

1987: John Zink

1986: Stan Allan

1985: Dr. Leo Lloyd

1984: Jackson Clark

1983: Rexer Berndt

1982: Fred Kroeger

1981: Bob Beers

No year given: Jean Reed and Cy Scarborough

Durango Chamber of Commerce2015 awards winners

Barbara Conrad Award: Laura Lewis Marchino

Young Professional of the Year: Paul Eckenrode

Morley Ballantine Award: Beth Drum

Outstanding Contribution to the Community: In Memory of Lela Boyer

Diplomat of the Year: Marily Berger

Spirit of Durango Award: Vectra Bank

Bill Mashaw Volunteer of the Year: Ron Corkish

Nonprofit of the Year: Alternative Horizons

Entrepreneur of the Year: Mountain View TLC (Kevin Dehlinger, Dr. Kicki Searfus, Dr. Judith Vanderryn and Lisa Smith)

Small Business of the Year: Tafoya Barrett and Associates

Business of the Year: Coldwell Banker Heritage House Realtor

Citizen of the Year: Sidny Zink



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