It was a night of celebration and recognition on Friday, Jan. 17 as the Oakdale Chamber of Commerce served up its annual Awards Dinner.
There were presentations from city officials, Chamber leaders and multiple legislative representatives as honors for 2019 were presented in a number of categories.
“As always it is a pleasure to work with such great people in Oakdale as all the nominations were from the community,” noted Chamber CEO Mary Guardiola. “All that were nominated were very proud of the nomination and appreciate Oakdale.”
Hosted at the Gene Bianchi Community Center, honorees included the Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, Joe Gambini, who had several family members, business associates and friends in attendance.
Serving as emcee was Pete Simoncini and also announced was the Chamber’s selection for Director of the Year, which went to Sonya Smith. The outgoing Chamber directors were recognized, the new Chamber directors were introduced and the Leadership Class graduates were highlighted.
For the awards recognition, winners were: Small Business of the Year, Infinite Athletics Cheer & Tumbling; Large Business of the Year, Fit Republic Oakdale; Junior Achievement Award, Tatyn Silva; Community Service Award, Oakdale Lions Club; Citizen of the Year, Antoinette Rodin.
Chamber officials also provided special recognition to Golden Valley Awards for the award plaques; House of Beef for catering the dinner; E&J Gallo Winery for providing wine and Past and Present Antiques and Floral for providing the centerpieces.