The 101st Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Luncheon was a celebration of the individual, business and organizational achievements of 2021.

An audience of nearly 200 people attended the Oct. 27 awards ceremony, held at the Wicomico Civic Center’s Normandy Arena.

Chamber President and CEO Bill Chambers declared: “This is the largest-attended awards celebration hosted by the Chamber in more than 25 years and we are so happy to spend this time together, in person!”

WBOC Sports Director Zach Parnes was once again the Master of Ceremonies for the event.

The event kicked off with a buffet lunch, followed by Wicomico County Parks, Recreation and Tourism Director Steve Miller presenting awards to Partner of the Year Trent Swanson, Algonquin Ultras; Business of the Year Award to Eryn Casaleno of The Greene Turtle; and the Hospitality Award to Cindy Curran of Whitehaven Hotel.

Following the Tourism Awards, Parnes began the SACC portion of the ceremonies.

The first Award was for the Chamber Volunteer of the Year. This award was sponsored by TidalHealth and was presented to Alexis Roskovich, the SACC Young Professionals Co-Chair and also a member of the SACC Board of Directors.

The Chamber Ambassador of the Year was given to Catherine “Cat” Curran of A+ Clean Out & Junk Removal and The Angry Axe & Rage Room. The award was presented by Sandy Fitzgerald-Angello of Pohanka of Salisbury.

Small Business of the Year presented to Vicente Hernandez of Together Café in Salisbury, presented by Brandon Havas of BBSI.

Chris Davis of NAI Coastal accepted the Large Business of the Year award, presented by Stephanie Willey of Effectv.

Jared Shelton accepted the Large Business of the Year Award, presented to Chesapeake Utilities by Dr. Christy Weer, on behalf of award sponsor Salisbury-Wicomico Economic Development.

The 2021 SACC Business Professional of the Year went to John Knorr, Phillips Seafoods Senior Vice President and co-owner of Southern Boys Concepts. The award was sponsored by the Franklin Perdue School of Business and also presented by Dr. Christy Weer.

Delmarva Power was awarded the Environmental Service Award, presented to Grant Parker by Cheryl Fearn of Bancroft Construction.

Far Nasir and Jennifer Feindt accepted the Agriculture Ambassador of the Year Award on behalf of The Delmarva Chicken Association. The award was presented by Brenda Galgano of Perdue Farms.

The Non-Profit Organization of the Year Award was presented by John Petito of Delmarva Power to Capt. Matt Trantham of The Salvation Army Lower Eastern Shore.

A new award for 2021 was the Covid Community Champion. This award recognizes an individual, organization, or business that championed significant impacts throughout the pandemic which contributed to assisting businesses, impacts on public health, safety and education.

The Covid Community Champion Award was sponsored by 47ABC/WMDT and presented to both TidalHealth and the Wicomico County Health Department.

Another new award unveiled for 2021 was the Chamber Hall of Fame Award, which will only be presented when circumstances merit.

This year, three individuals entered the Hall of Fame: Dr. Heidi Anderson, President of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Dr. Ray Hoy, President of Wor-Wic College; and Dr. Charles Wight, President of Salisbury University.

All three were recognized for their leadership, courage, conviction to higher education, grit and determination in their unwavering battle at each institution to continue in-person education while protecting the health and safety of their students, faculty, and staff during this unprecedented health crisis, Covid-19.

Said Wight: “All three of us worked together during the pandemic to share best practices in keeping our institutions open while recognizing that safety was of paramount importance.”

Anderson and Hoy concurred, with Anderson adding: “All of this hard work paid off to the benefit of our students.”

The Hall of Fame Award was sponsored by the Wicomico County Education Foundation.