Kathy Meurin was awarded the Besserung Award at the New Braunfels Chamber 104th Annual Banquet this past Friday, January 27, 2023. The award is often referred to as the New Braunfels outstanding citizen’s award and is designed to honor an individual who is currently providing a significant contribution to the community through their civic activities.
Due to Kathy's extraordinary and continued work in Rotary, she was unable to attend the program on the night of the 27th. She, instead, accepted her award virtually via a video chat in front of the banquet's attendees.
More than 600 community and business leaders attended the banquet to hear the announcement, which recognizes the community betterment activities of the recipient. The name of the winner was kept as a secret until the moment of the presentation.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO ON KATHY'S ACHIEVEMENTS AND RECOGNITION >
The announcement of the Besserung Award winner capped off the evening, but prior to that the banquet program included several award recognitions and the ceremonial passing of the gavel from Outgoing Chair Ian Taylor of NBU to the 2023 Chair of the Board Allison Humphries of 1845 Meat Company.
The award recognitions included the Chamber’s Blue Coat Ambassador program recognizing their new 2022 Senior Blue Coats and Blue Coats and announcing award winners Jan Kingsbury as the Blue Coat of the Year, and Joe Timmins and Helgard Hollis as the Senior Blue Coats of the Year.
Also recognized was the 2022 Small Business Person of the Year: Art Brinkkoeter of Brinkkoeter's Transmissions.
Chair of the Board Award winners and Honors Hall inductees were recognized next. The Chair of the Board Award honors individuals who have made a significant contribution to the community in a specific field of civic endeavor. No more than six recipients may be named in a calendar year. The 2022 Chair of the Board Award winners were Ian Perez, Luke Speckman, Kevin Webb, Wes Clark, Debbie Meek, and Patrick Rose.
The Hall of Honor Award recognizes individuals who have participated in civic activities over many years and are at least 50 years of age. A maximum of three recipients may be named in a calendar year and their photograph will be included as a permanent exhibit in the Chamber’s Honors Hall. The 2022 Hall of Honor inductees were Anna Lee Hicks, Cecil Eager, and Ray Still.