OBSERVER Photo by Jo Ward Front, left to right: Lucille Miller, Jamestown Community Service Award recipient; Bruce Erickson, Person of the Year Award recipient and Jean Dibble McCausland, Westfield-Barcelona Community Service Award recipient. Back, left to right: Todd Tranum; president and CEO of the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce; John Farrell, Dunkirk Community Service Award recipient on behalf of his late father; Sam Bova, Hanover Community Service Award recipient; Rusty Hardenburg and John Crandall of the Mayville Fire Department accepting the Mayville-Chautauqua Community Service Award on behalf of Bob and Joyce Mathews; Chris Anson and Hugh Graves of Lakeside Precision Inc., Economic Development Award recipient; Larry Fiorella, Fredonia Community Service Award recipient and Brian Bugaj, Board Chairman.

One of the highlights each year for the business community countywide took place last week at the State University of New York at Fredonia Williams Center. The Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce honored major community contributors at its annual banquet.

Chase Anson and Hugh Graves of Lakeside Precision Inc. in Dunkirk represented this year’s business of the year. “We’ve been involved in some way with all the local industries, supporting them, keeping them running,” Anson said. “We did the winch at the Dunkirk Harbor recently. We’re honored. We’re a small business compared to many of the other businesses in the past.”

Other honorees were selected by the area Chambers of Commerce while the person of the year was Bruce Erickson, a Jamestown-area resident who put in 30 years of service to the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce and the Manufacturers Association.

“This is just a wonderful event to help recognize people from across Chautauqua County, it’s really a great opportunity to bring the whole county together in one place and celebrate achievement,” said Todd Tranum, president and chief executive officer of the chamber.

Our congratulations to all the recipients.