Individuals, businesses celebrated at 28th Harbor Stars awards

HARBOR SPRINGS — The 28th annual Harbor Stars Community Awards dinner took place on Oct. 1 at the Holy Childhood Church, celebrating local residents and businesses for their efforts in giving back to the community.

There are six award categories: Citizen of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Marty Van De Car Community Ambassador Award, President’s Award, Beautification and Architectural Excellence Award, and Entrepreneur of the Year.

"The event is a great opportunity for the community to come together and celebrate our local businesses and community members, because some of the awards are an individual who is a volunteer, or they give back, but it's not necessarily the business," said Bonnie Kulp, executive director of the Harbor Springs Area Chamber of Commerce. "It is just a great time to celebrate all that Harbor Springs is, all that the individuals of Harbor Springs bring to our community."

During the ceremony, Dave Kring was awarded the night's top honor: Citizen of the Year.

While he wasn't at the event to accept the award, Grady Nulph, one of Kring's associates at Dave Kring Chevrolet, accepted the award on his behalf.

Kring has spent time working with the Harbor Springs Education Foundation, the Rotary Club, the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce, Harbor Hall, Toys for Tots, the Emmet-Charlevoix County Fair, 4-H, and is the founder and sponsor of the Petoskey Chamber’s Athena Award. He also serves as a board member of the Little Traverse Conservancy and North Central Michigan College.

Charlie MacInnis, Scott Reiss and Susan Irish Stewart were the runners up for the award.

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Other award winners include:

• The Volunteer of the Year award went to Cora Smith-Waite, owner of Little Traverse Tileworks.
• The Little Traverse Conservancy was presented with the Marty Van De Car Community Ambassador Award, an award that celebrates a person or organization that serves as an ambassador to the special qualities of the community.
• The President's Award, which recognizes the efforts to support the chamber of commerce, was awarded to the Harbor Springs Lyric Theatre.
• The Beautification and Architectural Excellence Award went to Otis of Harbor Springs, a newly opened 31-room boutique hotel.
• Katie Potts, owner of Petoskey Cheese, won the Entrepreneur of the Year award.

— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN .

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Individuals, businesses celebrated at 28th Harbor Stars awards