By Justin Aufdermauer
Let’s think positive for a minute. This past year has thrown an enormous amount of curveballs at our community and it’s easy to get discouraged, especially as we adjust once again to shut downs and limitations. Instead of focusing on the negative, I am encouraging everyone reading this to think back on the last year and ask yourself: who (or what) has made a positive impact in my life?
I ask because we at the Chamber want to start the New Year by recognizing those people, businesses, development projects and programs that have gone the extra mile in 2020 and made a positive impact. We are now taking submissions for the Community Impact Awards over on our website, tillamookchamber.org/nominate. The form is very simple this year: just tell us who you are nominating and why. We will take the list of nominations and compile the majority of them into a Community Impact video that we will share out on our social media channels and other digital platforms.
This is your chance to say “thank you” to a local restaurant, a thoughtful shop owner, a first responder, an event or program that you enjoyed, a development project that made your life better, or a dedicated volunteer. Who took the time to make you smile, or meet a need that you had? The 10 most impactful submissions in each category – person, business, development project, or program – will be given highlighted in this year’s Community Impact video.
Traditionally we have always announced the winners of the Community Awards at our annual banquet, which has always been a highlight of the evening. We love being able to start the year off by recognizing the best of Tillamook County and celebrating the people behind the projects, the passion behind the business, the sweat and tears of development projects and the heart of our citizens. We don’t want to lose that celebration, even if we can’t gather together for a formal banquet quite yet. We believe it’s more important than ever that this year we don’t focus on a winner, but more so the positive things that have happened in Tillamook County during 2020.
There is no limit to the number of nominations a person can submit. Just visit our website, tillamookchamber.org/nominate and fill out the form before December 31, 2020. I think it will do us all a lot of good to focus on the positive impacts of 2020 and recognize those who made a difference in our lives. Let’s end the year on a high note and give a big (virtual) hug to those in our community who need it most.