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| 11/7/2007 1:11:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | BV Chamber names Citizens of the Year
Theresa Williamson
Times Copy Editor
The Buena Vista Chamber of Commerce named Joy Duprey Woman of the Year and Earl Richmond Man of the Year at the chamber's annual fundraising banquet Nov. 3 at Buena Vista Heritage Museum.
Duprey, a former mathematics teacher, is advertising manager at The Chaffee County Times and has been with the paper over eight years. Richmond, who grew up in the Los Angeles area, moved to Buena Vista in 2001, buying Colorado Kayak Supply, a company which does business worldwide and has a store on East Main Street in Buena Vista.
Chamber executive director Judy Hassell said this year during the traditional Citizen of the Year selection process, the chamber board decided to name two winners of the prestigious award.
"People were saying it was too hard to pick just one person. This has come up before and it was mentioned that other communities honor a man and a woman. The board voted to select two each year from now on - one man, one woman," Hassell said.
She said 120 people attended the Hawaiian-luau-themed dinner. A silent auction and live auction raised $3,464.50 for chamber projects.
"We will make over $5,000 for the whole event," Hassell said.
Both winners said they were completely surprised at being named for the awards. Durprey's husband, Randy, and Richmond's wife, Cheryl, helped keep the secret.
The chamber board considers community service in naming citizens for the honor.
"The crowd seemed to appreciate what we've done," Richmond said. "It's nice to be recognized in a small town like ours." He said many other people worked on the projects he is credited with - the annual Paddlefest kayaking event held in May and expansion of the Buena Vista whitewater playpark.
"I'm just one of the pieces of the puzzle," he said. He said it was nice to hear that his work has had a positive impact on the community.
Richmond serves on the Buena Vista Recreation Board. Chamber president Sue Barrille cited Richmond's efforts to promote Paddlefest and develop the whitewater playpark as having a "positive impact by boosting Buena Vista's economy and making more people aware of what our valley has to offer." Richmond also is a volunteer for the Collegiate Peaks Music Festival held in August in Buena Vista.
Duprey serves as co-chairperson of the Buena Vista Beautification Committee and spearheaded a successful project which markets a Buena Vista clothing line of T-shirts and other items. She was instrumental in the success of the recent "Fall in Love with Buena Vista" campaign, which featured a scarecrow contest.
Duprey is a member of the Art on Main Committee and chairs the chamber's Economic Development committee, and manages its major promotion, the Buy Buena Vista program. She was also instrumental in creating the local Secret Shopper program.
"I'm honored and I do the things I do for two reasons," Duprey said. "I love the town. I have lived all over Colorado, and Buena Vista is the best of all those places. And I believe that anyone can complain about things that are wrong, things that need to be fixed. But I don't believe you should be allowed to complain unless you are willing to work to fix those things." She thanked Merle Baranczyk, publisher of The Chaffee County Times and three other regional newspapers, for his support and for being at the banquet.
About his efforts to promote kayaking on the Arkansas through improvements to the playpark, Richmond said, "The river park is a great addition to our town and has allowed us to have some cool events ... and bring in a lot of people."
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