BETHEL — The Chamber of Commerce awards were announced last week. This is what the nominees’ letters said about the winners.

Education Professional of the Year: Arlynn Hale

Nominated by Lindsay Luetje, Telstar Middle School Principal

“Arlynn Hale has been the backbone of the Telstar complex long before I started working there 23 years ago. I have seen many people come and go over the years and Arlynn has held her post (and then some!) throughout it all.

Despite administration and policy changes, budget and building challenges and even pandemics, she represents everything we hope our students will become: hard working, honest, skilled in many different ways, reliable, perseverant, caring and is a lifelong learner.

She wears many hats in our building and never allows problems to get in the way of taking care of people first. Our students are safe because of her; our teachers feel supported because of her; and our administrators simply could not lead without her on our team.”

Special Recognition: Congo Craftsmen: Bob Iles, Jim Chandler, Seabury Lyon , Dean Walker, Jim List, Jeff Martin, Irv Robinson, Joe Aloisio, Art Marshall, Steve Wight

Nominated by Meryl Kelly

“The Congo Craftsman have consistently and quietly been serving our community and local organizations for years. They are a group of men/friends who get together weekly to meet in the garage of Bob Iles to work on a variety of woodworking projects. From kiosks to benches to picnic tables the imprint of their work can be seen all across our district.

Named for their beginnings as a social group stemming from their membership to the West Parish Congregational Church, for which they have done countless projects. The men offer their labor for free for chosen projects.

In my small corner of our community the Congo Craftsman built garden beds for GOT Farms, about a dozen planters for Edible Bethel, many benches and picnic tables for AFCI and most recently they built three fold up tables for my farm to table dinner series. I am forever grateful for these gentlemen and all they have done for me and our community at large.”

Henry H. Hastings Award for Citizenship: Missy Wakefield (Presented to an individual who demonstrates qualities exemplified by Mr. Hastings: sustained interest in serving the community, involved in a wide cross-section of community life, and of highest ethics).

Nominated by Tracy Walker & Tabaitha Steward

(Walker’s nomination) “I have known Missy for over 20 years, and she has always been an active volunteer and always puts everyone ahead of herself. Missy ran the Woodstock School PTA while her kids attended while also volunteering at the Fire Department.

Then she really became active and became a fire firefighter while still working and taking care of her family. She also became very active in helping a local family whose daughter had cancer and helped form Team Hailey Hugs. They have helped raise so much money to help families who have children struggling with cancer.

There is not an event anywhere that she is not at to help raise money for this cause. She is always there to help anyone and everyone who needs help. Over the winter a family lost their home and animals to a fire. She jumped right in to help raise money and tried to help the family get back on their feet. We are very lucky to have her in our community and hopefully, others can learn from her.”

(Steward’s nomination) “There’s so much I could say about Michelle because she’s been there for me and our Team Hailey Hugs organization since before Hailey, the founder, passed away. Michelle works a full-time job at Northeast Bank and volunteers for the fire department in Woodstock this lady never stops helping others.

She even put a fundraiser together to help the Chapman family after the family lost their home. Now to the most important reason why I’m nominating our Missy and that’s because she helped save me.

Even now she still focuses on others more than herself. She is one of the biggest reasons why Team Hailey Hugs still exists. Her heart and love for helping has helped almost 500 kids in Maine fighting cancer.”

Business of the Year: Bennett Automotive and Power Equipment, Tyler & Dwayne Bennett

Nominated by Margaret Manbeck

“Bennett Automotive and Power Equipment has been in business for 34 years; achieving what all small business entrepreneurs hope to achieve—longevity. Dwayne Bennett founded Bennett’s Automotive in 1989 with a small garage on Mechanic Street. In 2000 he expanded to their current location on Walkers Mills Rd.

Dwayne has been a long-standing active member of the Bethel business community and was recently joined by his son, Tyler. Now with second generation ownership, they continue to expand their business, adding a new division of power equipment in 2020.

Filling a void for those looking for not only a local dealer, but a local servicer of Bobcat, Echo and Briggs & Stratton, and Kawasaki. Bennett Automotive and Power Equipment is very deserving of this award.”

Employee of the Year: Akayla Curtis (Gneiss Spice)

Nominated by Beth Weisberger

For the past six years, Akayla has been a diligent and consistent present at Gneiss Spice. She came here barely as an adult, and has matured into a responsible employee I trust to run my business when I am not present.

She has an amazing attention to detail and has taken on the responsibility for managing the inventory of our 300+ spices. She keeps things running smoothly so there are no hold ups in our ability to get orders out to customers in a timely manner. She cares about the business, making an effort to go above and beyond keeping a clean workspace for all of us.

She is always early! She takes her work seriously and is focused. I have never once had to ask her to get back on task. Having an employee as self-directed as Akayla is a dream and I wish every business in Bethel could find someone this great. This fall is Akayla’s sixth year at Gneiss Spice.

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