Buhl, VW Fed earn top Chamber awards

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Fox Sports Ohio’s Allie Clifton talked about the importance of community during her keynote speech at the Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony on Thursday, while those chosen for this year’s top Chamber awards epitomized the concept of community, and community service.

Clifton, a Van Wert native who is Fox Sports Ohio’s sidelines reporter for the Cleveland Cavaliers, talked about the sometimes tough decisions she had to make to get where she is today, including having to tell her parents, local educators Bill and Kim Clifton, that teaching was not for her.

Clifton also talked about the excitement that arose when LeBron James, arguably the greatest active player in the NBA, decided to return to northeast Ohio after winning two NBA titles with the Miami Heat, noting that his love for his Ohio community is similar to her love for Van Wert, her hometown.

“LeBron James and I have something in common,” Clifton said, talking about how, like King James, she feels community — and her love for her hometown — is very important to her.

After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Toledo, while also being a standout player for university’s women’s basketball team, Clifton said she had to undergo adversity — and much rejection – before being hired as the Cavaliers’ sidelines reporters by Fox Sports Ohio.

She also remembered, with emotion, the day that LeBron James made the announcement that he was returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers because of his love for the northeast Ohio community and his wish to bring a championship to Cleveland, after winning two titles with the Miami Heat.

“The moment I’ll never forget in my life … July 11, 2014 … LeBron James, the world’s greatest athlete … decided to come home, saying ‘it’s bigger than basketball’,” Clifton said. “Being here today is my championship; this is what I’ve worked day in and day out to do … Van Wert is my home, it’s what I think about every time I go on air and step in front of the camera, it’s the motivation from a small hometown such as this that drives the inner self of me … I hope you will always know that I am proud, and will always be proud, to call Van Wert my home.”

Clifton’s pride in her community also shone in the Chamber’s two major award winners: Ray Miller Award winner Edd Buhl and Crystal Image Award winner Van Wert Federal Savings Bank.

Buhl, now retired from Central Insurance Companies following a 41-year career, while also deeply involved as a volunteer in a number of community organizations, including United Way and Van Wert Rotary Club, first praised the other Ray Miller Award nominee, retired United Way executive director Deb Russell, noting her contributions to the Van Wert community, while also saying how honored he was to earn the award.

“I’m humbled, I’m honored and extremely grateful,” he said of earning the award. “I’m a very blessed individual: blessed with a wonderful family, blessed to work for an unbelievable organization for over 40 years, blessed to live in a community with organizations like those in this room; but more importantly, blessed to live in a community with people like you in this room, who every day strive to make this a better place for us all.”

Van Wert Federal Vice President Mark Schumm, who accepted the Crystal Image Award on behalf of his company, spoke highly of the other award finalist, Braun Industries, and its impact on the community, while also saying how Van Wert Federal, which celebrated its 125th year in the community this past year, was honored to join an elite list of companies and organizations honored by the Chamber.

“It is truly an honor to be recognized alongside these organizations,” Schumm told a standing-room-only crowd at Willow Bend Country Club. “At Van Wert Federal Savings Bank, we take great pride in being locally owned and being able to give back to this wonderful community.

“We’re pleased not only to do so through monetary donations, but, more importantly, through the difference that our employees make by leading and serving in local organizations,” he added.

Van Wert Federal has been a major contributor to a number of community projects, including the Niswonger Performing Arts Center, Van Wert County Hospital’s Emergency Room project, Wassenberg Art Center, The Salvation Army, all three county public school systems, the YWCA’s Summer Food Program, the Van Wert Tennis Association and the Business Development Corporation’s current fundraising drive.

In addition to the major awards, a number of businesses and organizations were also honored for completing major expansion or renovation projects, or for celebrating longevity milestones.

Those receiving the Golden Shovel Award for completed projects include Braun Industries, Advanced Biological Marketing (ABM), Ridgeview Behavioral Hospital, Lee’s Ace Hardware, the Kenn-Feld Group, and StateWide Ford Lincoln.

Those earning a Milestone Award include the following: A & A Mechanical (five years), Brand-It Marketing Communications, Home Health Care Solutions and Main Street Van Wert (10 years), Leland Smith Insurance (30 years), Lee’s Ace Hardware (35 years), Bebout & Houg (40 years), the YMCA of Van Wert County (100 years), Van Wert Federal Savings Bank (125 years), and The Times-Bulletin (170 years).

Outgoing Chamber board members Brian Mercer, Kurt Schalois and Dave Mosier were also given certificates of appreciation.