A Heart-felt send-off
GARDNER A bittersweet feeling permeated the room at the annual meeting and awards night for the Greater Gard­ner Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday evening.
Hundreds of Chamber members gathered at the Colonial Hotel for the event, where departing Chamber President and CEO James Bellina was honored with the 2018 Citizen of the Year award.
"Thank you Jim. You have been a gift to Greater Gardner. We'll miss you and all the best to your family. We love you," said Andrew Boucher of Boucher Funeral Home, who emceed the event.
In addition to Gardner, the Chamber serves the communities of Ashburnham, Barre, Hub­bardston, Templeton, West­minster and Winchendon.
Local businesses and other organizations from all professional fields make up the about 300 Chamber members.
Bellina has led the organization since 2010 and was credited with helping to turn around the Chamber, which was suffering from declining membership as the overall business community was hurting during the Great Recession years.
"He is a successful leader and an innovator. His track record is impressive," Boucher said.
Bellina and his wife, Deborah, are moving from their Worcester-area home in the near future to Pennsylvania, in order to be closer to their adult son, Matthew, who has the progressive neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Chamber members presented the Bellinas with a check of $6,850 at the event, which will be given in their name to the ALS Therapy Development Institute, in Cambridge.
A Newark New Jersey native, James Bellina learned about business and the value of hard work at an early age from his father, who owned a small fur-cleaning company.
Prior to moving to the area in 2006 when his wife took a job at Hanover Insurance in Worcester, Bellina had a lengthy career as a business executive, including at the international corporation Johnson & Johnson. He is also a Navy veteran, having spent four years in the military after graduating college.
During his speech at the awards night, Bellina spoke about how taking the job as Chamber president and CEO was an idea fit for him.
"I just love business. I just love trying to help a business grow," he said.
Bellina went on to praise the local community for having "good people with a great work ethic" and especially thanked the Chamber's Director of Member Services and Programs Elizabeth Penney, calling her "simply the hardest working, most organized, most dedicated" person he's worked with.
Pointing out how a majority of Chamber members participate in and sponsor events throughout the year, Bellina said "the future is incredibly bright" for the organization.
As for the other awardees at the ceremony, the Chamber's awards selection committee honored Wachu­sett Brewing Com­pany in Westminster as the Business of the Year.
The company has undergone significant expansion over the last year, including opening up an outdoor and indoor brew yard which has made the brewery a popular destination people from the area as well as out-of-state.
"We're proud of what we got," said the company's Director of Sales TJ Morse.
Morse said he's seen people with license plates from Maine, Vermont, New Jersey and New York visit the brewery since the brew yards opened. He said that has also led to some people visiting other area attractions such as restaurants during their stay.
"It's all about being super local and supporting our local community. That's why we're here," he said.
The company's Account Manager Dan Dow was also in attendance and spoke about how one of the newer beers the company introduced named "Wally," an American-style IPA, quickly became a top seller.
Dow said the company appreciates being given the award.
"When you put so much effort into something and people acknowledge what you're doing, it's definitely something special," he said.
Other organizations that received awards included the nonprofit GAAMHA which received the Community Improvement Award largely for opening new sober housing apartments in downtown Gardner last year, and the Women's Circle of Giving, which received the Community Service Award.
The group of local women has collectively donated over $94,000 to local charities and community programs.
Receiving the Business Persons of the Year award were husband and wife James and Maureen Gallant, who together own Priscilla Candy Shop, which is still going strong after more than 80 years in Gardner. The business also has a location in Concord.
Other awards given to individuals included the Lifetime Achievement award given to Norman Wironen, a financial advisor for Edward Jones in Gardner for 26 years; Heywood Hospital executive Dawn Casavant receiving the Unsung Hero award for her leadership role in the hospital's many philanthropic efforts; Colonial Co-operative Bank President Joseph Guercio receiving the Leadership Recognition award; and Katie Young, who was given the Municipal Recognition award for her key role in planning Hubbardston's 250th anniversary celebration, which was held last June.
On a somber note, Bellina also took the time to pay tribute to two women who died last month and made many contributions to the local community over the course of their lives.
On April 22, Ellen Daly died at the age of 91. She founded the real estate agency Daly's Property Shoppe and was named the 1993 Greater Gardner Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.
On April 26, Felicite Andersson died at the age of 73 following a brief illness. At the time of her death, she was working with Bellina and Penney as the Chamber's administrative assistant, a job she held for the past seven years.
"The last month has been tough one for the Chamber and the community. We lost two icons," Bellina said.