GREEN RIVER — On Wednesday, April 15th, the Green River Chamber held their monthly Lunch and Learn and presented several awards, such as: Red Carpet of the Year Award, Chamber Volunteer of the Year Award, and two Distinguished Citizen Awards. The 2014 Red Carpet of the Year Award went to Jeska Lyons and Linda Scott, the Chamber Volunteer of the Year Award went to Brian Taylor, and the Distinguished Citizen Awards went to Randy Walker and Dennis Freeman. See below for a detailed description of each award winner. Each award winner is an asset to our community, and we appreciate all that they do!
The first award presented was the 2014 Red Carpet of the Year Award.
Customer service is vital to any organization. Customer service is important to an organization because it is often the only contact a customer has with a company. Some customers spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars per year with a company and they expect good service in return. Customer Service can also help differentiate an organization from their competitors. It can be something that will give an organization a competitive advantage. Also, with excellent customer service a company is more likely to get repeat business. The Green River Chamber knows the importance of excellent Customer Service and recognizes individuals with outstanding customer service every month. The Chamber compiled the list of all the 2014 winners and the membership voted on the 2014 Red Carpet Customer Service Award winner for 2014: Jeska Lyons and Linda Scott with the Sweetwater County Courthouse Clerk’s Office
Jeska and Linda were nominated by Angela Shutran and she had this to say about them, “Linda and Jessica were very helpful in helping out a client with an auto loan with US Bank. The client’s title work was misdirected and the Courthouse did not have the client’s plates for the client to obtain and we had to hurry and correct this error on a busy Friday at the end of the month in order for the client to drive their vehicle the next day for a long awaited vacation. As we stood in line we waited a while and came across a few different obstacles. Linda was very patient and told my banker and the client to take their time and that she would call whomever they need to call to get the paperwork. Jessica stepped in noticing the difficulties and offered her help as well. Both of these ladies were patient and incredibly helpful to not only my loan officer but to the client. With their assistance we were able to obtain the bill of sales from the dealership and file our lien on the vehicle so the client was able to obtain her license plates and drive their car on the long awaited vacation. After being in lending for 20 years now I understand that things can go wrong every now and then. It was really great to have two dedicated individuals willing to step up on a busy Friday and help us out rather than send us on our way. It also helped my new loan officer to handle the situation while I was unavailable.”
Congratulations Jeska and Linda!
The second award presented was for the Chamber Volunteer of the Year.
Volunteers are the life-blood of Chamber work, without dedicated volunteers the Chamber would not be able to accomplish as much as we do. Each year we recognize an individual that has volunteered above and beyond for the Chamber. This year we recognized Brian Taylor as Chamber Volunteer of the Year.
Brian was a member of the Green River Chamber board for five years from 2010 to 2014. Brian served as President of the Board from 2012-2013. He served on several committees as a board member, such as: Adopt-A-Tree, Finance Committee, and Executive Committee. He also serves on the Community Chest Board and on the Overland Stage Stampede Rodeo Committee. Brian is currently employed with Williams as the Manager of Land—Tactical Projects and Technical Services. Thank you to Brian for your loyalty, dedication, and partnership with the Chamber.
Rebecca Eusek, Director of the Green River Chamber said this, “Brian was the Chamber President when I first began working for the Chamber about 3 years ago. Brian mentored me through my first year at the Chamber and without his guidance and support I would have been lost. He spent hours talking to me and helping me through issues that arose. I could always count on him to drop everything he was doing and pick up the phone to help me out. It is with a sincere, heartfelt thank you that this award goes to Brian.”
Tom Arnold, Chamber Board member and Hole in the Wall Gang President said, “Brian was a great asset to the board when we were in the hiring process for a new chamber of commerce director. He was the president of the board that year and went above and beyond while we were hiring and was a great person to have in that transition period.”
Chamber Board Vice- President Angela Shutran said, “Brian was a great board President. He always kept his nose to the grind stone keeping the chamber board on track. He led the recruitment effort to replace Janet Hartford the previous Chamber Director. This was not an easy task as Janet had been the Chamber Director for 13 years so the board had not been through this process. Brian was successful in leading the chamber board to find a new Chamber Director that has proven to be a great asset to the Chamber Board. I have personally always appreciated Brian’s ability to wordsmith. He is a very well worded individual that articulates his thoughts well in writing.”
Thank you Brian for you commitment to the Chamber and for all of your volunteer efforts.
The third and fourth awards presented were for the Distinguished Citizens Awards. This year the awards committee decided to present two winners with the Distinguished Citizen Award due to the number of nominations received in that category. To qualify for the distinguished citizen award the individual has to have demonstrated a long history of civic involvement in the community. This person is passionate about Green River and is continually volunteering and is behind the scenes working for the betterment of our city.
The first Distinguished Citizens Award was presented to Randy Walker.
Randy was nominated by Perri Rubeck. Perri said, “In my opinion, to be considered for this award the recipient needs to be passionate about helping others find their successes in life and Coach Walker is the epitome of a motivator of others. Coach Walker has more passion for swimming and seeing young people succeed than any person I have ever known. His passion is almost an obsession and he truly inspires everyone he encounters. His passion for swimming has helped to bring a state of the art aquatics center to our community and his passion for Green River athletics helped the local school district receive an activities grant from the state of Wyoming.
Coach Walker started his coaching career in Newcastle, Wyoming in 1976. In 1979 he landed in Green River where he was the backbone of Green River High School Swimming until 2006. Coach Walker coached both the boys and girls high school teams during his tenure and earned 19 Conference Championships and three State Championships along with coaching 30 individual state champions along the way.
In addition to coaching, Mr Walker spent more than a decade as a civic leader in the community both as a City Councilman in Green River as well as a County Commissioner for Sweetwater County. During his time on these boards his passion for water and his passion for Green River were both felt as he was instrumental in building strategic plans and visions for the city. These visions were the foundation for what became the White Water Park located on the Green River and also set the basis for discussions for what became the New Aquatics Center recently opened at Green River High School.
Mr. Walker was a key person responsible for School District Number Two applying for and receiving an Activities Grant offered by the state legislature. This activities grant has allowed the Green River community to fund a new Multi-Use Turf Field located at Lincoln Middle School. Money from this grant is also used for the funding of maintenance and upkeep of the aquatics center.
Randy Walker has positively impacted the lives of people in Green River for over 35 years and tonight as I write this I am witnessing a man as passionate about the sport of swimming and the development of children as any man can be about anything. He is cheering for an eight year old boy like he were about to receive an Olympic Gold medal but in reality this is just the enthusiasm he shows every weeknight at swim practice where I initially had the pleasure of meeting such a passionate man.”
We would like to congratulate Mr. Walker and we thank him for his commitment to the City of Green River over the years. The City is lucky to have you.
The second Distinguished Citizen Award was presented to Dennis Freeman.
Dennis has worked for Sweetwater County School District #2 since 1990 and is currently the assistant principal at Green River High School. Dennis was instrumental in organizing the Senior Hallway at the High School and was the Student council Advisor at the time when the GRHS Student Council adopted Make-A-Wish as a primary service and charity program. GRHS now collects around $40,000 a year for Make-A-Wish! Current Principal at Green River High School Darren Howard said this, “Anything Dennis does is first class. Dennis does a nice job of bringing the schools into the community. I also can’t say enough about his scout group. Whenever Dennis does something it is done well. Dennis has a lot of legacies and you couldn’t be giving this award to a better person.”
Dennis is also involved with the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church serving on the Parish Council, Master Planning Committee, Liturgy Commission, Lector, RCIA teacher and other volunteer roles. He also served as a Chapter Advisor for the Seedkadee Chapter 15, Awaxaawe’ Awachia, order of the arrow.
Dennis has also been involved with Boy Scout Troop 312 since 2000. He has been the scout master since 2010. Dennis spends hours organizing activities for the assistant scout leaders and he spends A LOT of time with his 20 plus scout troop including lots of weekends and nights. Dennis makes the kids feel like they are important. Dennis is different than other scout leaders because his scout group is very involved in organizing their own events. Dennis makes sure that the kids help with the organization of the events. His scout troop volunteers for all types of community events including the River Festival and Clean-up Day.
Dennis does not do what he does for the glory; he is in it for the improvement of the kid’s experience. He gives credit to the scouts and the student council and shows extreme humility. He continues to work behind the scenes improving the lives of Green River students and residents every year. He is an asset to our community and we are thrilled to be able to present him with this award.
We would like to congratulate all of our award winners and thank them for everything they do!
