As the Board of Directors of the West Unity Area Chamber of Commerce began their preparation for their annual banquet, the decision was made that, instead of recognizing a Citizen of the Year in 2015, that they would set aside every fifth year, beginning in 2015, to recognize those whom have been honored with the title of Citizen of the Year in the past. In his introduction to the alumni of the title, Chamber President Alan Bennet explained that “Being selected as the Citizen of the Year is no small thing. It is as humbling as it is honoring. Those selected from our community to receive this title are people who have been role models for others and gave unselfishly of themselves for the betterment of the community and other. We as a Board reflected back and realized once the plaque is presented and the parade float goes by, we easily forget until the next October when discussing the title who was the one last year or the year before that or even further back that we have honored. In an effort by the Chamber to remind each of those who have lived lives of service and have set examples for us to follow, we humbly honor the alumni of the past. Alumni on hand that evening included (front) Mary Hausch (2003), Charlie and Barb Green (2008), Willard Miller (2009), (back) Ron Hausch (2003), Lewis Hilkert (2014), Burdell Colon (1994), Richard Nafziger (2007), and Jim Eisel (2013). Also honored but unavailable for the photo were Jan Westfall (1993), Ned Stipe (1995), Bill Hornung (1996), Max Yager (1997), Bill Hollingshead (1998), Rosanna Ashenfelter (1999), Joe Berthold (2000), Mary Degroff (2001), Maynard Short (2002), Richard Oberlin (2004), West Unity EMS, now retired and serving as West Unity First Responders (2006), Richard Nafzinger (2007), Ben Westfall (2009), Julie Klinger (2010), Jennifer Yoh (2011), and Tim and Melinda Norris (2012).
