DAVIS – It was a record crowd Thursday evening at the Tucker County Chamber of Commerce 39th Annual Awards Banquet held at Canaan Valley Resort State Park. The highlight of the evening is always the awards, especially the coveted Tuckineer Award.
This year’s recipient of the Tuckineer Award was Veronica Staron. The award is sponsored by Citizens Bank of WV.
Staron is a resident of Tucker County and was born here. Her nomination said she has devoted countless hours volunteering to meet the needs of the community, caring for the less fortunate, providing services to those in need and just being there when needed. It said she goes the extra mile to make Tucker County a better place to live, and she makes it her business to make sure people feel welcome and safe in the community.
Staron graduated as valedictorian of her class in Davis and graduated from St. Mary’s School of Nursing and received her B.S.N. from Wayne State University of Detroit, Michigan. She is a retired captain from the West Virginia Army National Guard and is the director of Blackwater Ministerial Food Pantry. She is a member of the Tucker County Local Emergency Planning Committee, the Tucker County Veteran’s Honor Guard, the St. Thomas Catholic Parish, the Canaan Valley VFD Auxiliary, the Friends of Cortland Acres and is a Mountain Hospice Board Member. She assists each year with the Mon General Health Fair at Canaan Valley Resort.
She is a past president of the Tucker County Ambulance Authority and is always ready to assist others with no expectation of personal recognition. One nomination said her involvement in the county makes her one of the biggest promoters of this place we call home.
Staron credited the people she works with for making good things happen as she thanked everyone for the Tuckineer Award.
Other awards presented during the event include Educator of the Year Bobbi Quattro, sponsored by Mountain Hospice; Student of the Year Elizabeth Nichols, sponsored by Performance Motors; Employee of the Year Karen Hockman, sponsored by Blackwater Falls State Park; Business Persons of the Year Joyce and John Bowers, sponsored by Best of Canaan; and Community Service Award winner David Cooper, sponsored by Monongalia General Hospital.
The Chamber thanked businesses donating prizes for the prize buffet and to McClain Printing Company of Parsons for providing the programs. THOMASYARD was recognized for their donation of the centerpieces and The Parsons Advocate and The Inter-Mountain for their donation of newspaper space.
The Chamber also thanked Citizens Bank of WV, Tucker County Branch, Mountain Valley Bank, Miners & Merchants Bank and the Grant County Bank for sponsoring the social hour and food.
