By BG INDEPENDENT NEWS
The Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce was hoping to present the first major event in the new Veterans Building in City Park on Wednesday. Instead the increase in cases of COVID-19 in the county forced the chamber to hold its Mid-Year Meeting and Awards virtually.
So, it was up to those who watched the event from afar to provide their own lunches. The award winners, including BG Independent News, accepted their honors in pre-recorded segments.
BG Independent News received the I Love BG Award.
Best Western Falcon Plaza received the Customer Service Award. Biggby Coffee received the Best Small Business Award.
Gary Dible noted it was six years ago that he started the company. His goal then was to own three Biggby franchises within 10 years. He announced that he is indeed going to open his third franchise in the plaza that will be built on U.S. 20 in Perrysburg on the site of the former French Quarter.
Dible and his company were honored for their extensive contributions to a number of community groups.
He started by thanking his wife, Amy, for supporting him “every step of the way.”
Also nominated in the category was For Keeps, the gift shop in downtown Bowling Green.
The Best Western Falcon Plaza added to its shelf of awards, winning six top corporate awards. The business which has been owned by Jake Bishop for more than 40 years, has recently undergone a complete makeover. Bishop’s grandson Todd McGee now manages the hotel.
Also nominated for Best Customer Service were: Waddington Jewelers and Elite Collegiate Apparel.
Like the 31 previous honorees of the I Love BG Award, Larry Weiss, who served as host, said “this year’s winner is being recognized for efforts in increasing the visibility and the promotion of the city and improving the quality of life for its residents.”
BG Independent News, founded in January 2016, by Jan McLaughlin and David Dupont with John and Elizabeth Roberts-Zibbel of Zibbel Media, has done that by providing “much needed and extensive local news and arts coverage,” Weiss said.
In accepting the award McLaughlin said she and Dupont see journalism as public service.
Providing this coverage, Dupont said, “is an honor.”
He and McLaughlin are gratified by the support of advertisers and contributors.
Their spouses, Frank McLaughlin and Linda Brown, McLaughlin said, are also “strong supporters of local journalism.”
Other nominees for the I Love BG Award were: Chris Burch, as a school crossing guard, Falcon athletics supporter, and photographer, and Phil Hollenbaugh for his work maintaining the Hosta glen at Simpson Garden Park.
