On July 29, the Arvada Chamber hosted the 69th Annual Awards Ceremony, a long-standing tradition in Arvada recognizing outstanding community involvement, generosity and overall impact. This year’s event was presented online for health and safety purposes. Read about the award winners below and watch videos of the Man and Woman of the Year, as well as a recording of the full event.
Man of the Year: Ed Tomlinson
Ed Tomlinson has served on numerous committees, supported our local schools and volunteered for many organizations such as the Arvada Festivals Commission, Adopt a Street and the Arvada Harvest Festival. He was twice-elected onto the Arvada Fire Protection District, the first non-fireman to serve on that board. Friends and colleagues describe Ed as benevolent and community-centered. Learn more about Ed and his contributions to Arvada in the below video.
Woman of the Year: Renee Nelson
The one word the nominator of this award chose to describe Renee is “CARING”. Renee seems to have endless compassion and passion for her community and those that live here ensuring it stays vibrant, alive and healthy from grass roots up. Renee frequently works around the clock on community projects and helping individuals in their hour of need, as well as helping injured animals. She’s typically spending her vacation days and any spare time making Arvada a more vibrant and enjoyable place to call home. She is a shining example of an individual with great integrity who selflessly and continuously devotes her time, energy and resources to help her community and those in need. Her passion for volunteer work started young as Renee became the youngest Chairman of the Arvada Harvest Festival Committee and just 9 years old! And she never stopped giving back. Learn a little bit more about Renee in the below video.
2019 Image Awards
Laraine Lockhart Borman. For 33 years, Laraine, as the director of outreach for the Mother’s Milk Bank, has been giving back to moms, dads, babies and now those babies’ babies through her efforts to educate families about the benefits of breast milk. She works tirelessly to continue to spread the word to local birthing centers, health clinics, midwiferies, pediatrics offices, hospitals and public health departments, building relationships along the way that have built a community of support around and for the milk bank in Arvada, Denver, Colorado and to dozens of donation and outreach centers that she established around the nation. She is one of the founding members of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America and actively sits on their board, helping to advance her cause nationally and across the continent. She is instrumental in shaping the lives of many, undoubtedly thousands of children, their children, and now their children’s children in Arvada, locally across Colorado and across the nation. She does all of this because it’s her biggest passion, her life’s work and her purpose.
Jed Ladd. The one thing that all Jed’s friends and colleagues can agree on is he cares very much about the City of Arvada. He works very hard at his job at the Lamar Street Center and helps promote the 9 Health Fair Hosted there. He volunteers for multiple local causes and always has a new idea for how to help out his neighbors. And, he has a great sense of humor and holds the claim to fame of Arvada’s Shortest Parade, held outside his restaurant, Laddy’s, when he was required to put in a sidewalk.
Toni and Larry Winkler. The Winklers own three local businesses, WL Contractors, Steel Affairs and the Lamar Street Center and employ over 100 people. The Winklers have given back by donating goods and services to beloved non-profits such as Food for Thought, Community Table, Ralston House, Police K9 Association, Morgan Adams Foundation and the Jefferson County Business Education Alliance. They have enriched the community by offering non-profit, military and political discounts. In addition, they host and support the 9Health Fair, which provides free and low-cost health services to the community.
2019 Arvada Young Professional Leadership Awards
Paige Brophy. Paige took over as director of the Outdoor Lab Foundation last January, completely rebuilt her staff, implemented a successful strategic plan and led her organization to have their largest-ever fundraising year in 2019! Her colleagues describe her leadership style as passionate and someone who leads by example. Through Paige’s effort to ensure that every student attends Outdoor Lab, regardless of ability or disability, including ability to pay, Paige is helping create the leaders of tomorrow for the Arvada Community. Paige serves 918 students in Arvada. 918 students have the opportunity to attend Outdoor Lab, the life-changing program that is creating the stewards and leaders of tomorrow.
Elisa Thurston. Elisa is described by friends and colleagues as passionate, caring and someone who works very hard to make her community a better place and we couldn’t agree more. Elisa works for the Denver-Area Council of Boy Scouts of America, managing volunteers and engaging donors and community relationships. In her free time, she volunteers with the Arvada Chamber and Life is Better Rescue and is constantly honing her leadership skills and giving back to the community.
2019 Rising Star Award: Zachary Marcolina
Zachary is extremely passionate about helping other people and making his community better. He has channeled this passion by spending much of his free time volunteering helping the homeless, tutoring fellow students and coaching youth soccer. He also organized a book drive and collected over 2,000 books for families in need. He’s also shown leadership by being the captain of his soccer team for all 4 years at Arvada West High School, serving as secretary of the National Honor Society as well as volunteering at numerous organizations around Arvada such as the library, Santa House, homeless shelters and much more. Today Zachary is receiving a $500 scholarship thanks to a sponsorship from Teri Stary at State Farm.
Watch the full Annual Awards Ceremony in the video below.
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