Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. set to hold annual awards dinner
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on September 15, 2015 1:46 PM
The Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. will host its annual awards dinner on the lawn of the historic Goldsboro Union Station Friday from 6:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. -- the night before a ribbon-cutting at the site for the newly completed Goldsboro-Wayne Transportation Authority Transfer Center.
Both facilities are located in the 100 block of North Carolina Street.
The dinner is meant to highlight achievements made by the downtown community during the past year, and more than 200 people are expected to attend.
The DGDC will honor four groups or individuals by presenting them each with a Special Recognition Award. Those being honored include: Towns Antiques for Best Curb Appeal, Three Eagles Rotary Club Beer Festival for Best Promotional or Marketing Effort, Ed's Southern Food & Sprits for Best New Business and The Terrace Room for Indicator of the Year.
A "Thank You" Award will also be presented to city engineer Keith Smith, recognizing him for his role as Construction Supervisor of the TIGER V Grant projects.
As in years past, the DGDC will also honor other individuals, groups and businesses for their commitment to downtown with Awards of Merit. Awards of Merit categories and nominees include:
Historic Preservation: Goldsboro Historic Properties, LLC and Herring Hulse Designer's Showcase House.
DGDC Volunteer of the Year: Charles Gaylor IV, Allison Platt, Amy Bauer, Curtis Stackhouse and Tom and Dawn Potter.
DGDC Advocate of the Year: Ruth Glisson, Amy Bauer, Charles Gaylor IV and Kate Daniels.
Best Design Improvement: Towns Antiques, the Edgerton Building, Ed's Southern Foods & Spirits and Art Alley.
DGDC Board Member of the Year: Regina Lesnau, Andrew Jernigan and Beverly Wallace-Wiggins.
Outstanding Investor: JoJo's Bar & Bistro, Carolina Pine Country Store, Ed's Southern Food & Spirits and Goldsboro Historic Properties, LLC.
Outstanding Business of the Year: Fastrack, Dancing Butterfly, Uniquely R's and The Ice Storm.
Another feature of this year's Annual Dinner and Awards, is a live plein air painting by local artist, Robert Rigsby. The piece will be auctioned off later in the evening, benefiting the DGDC and further improvements of downtown Goldsboro. A plein air painting is a French term that means "in the open air."
This year's nominees were selected by the DGDC Executive Board, which consists of Terry Light, Ed Swindell, Andrew Jernigan, Gretchen Reed, Beverly Wallace-Wiggins, Geoff Hulse and Glenn Barwick, said DGDC director Julie Metz.
"We've have established categories for quite a long time, and we haven't changed them in quite a while, so we have the definitions of each category, so come May or June, we start thinking about, you know, who has really stood out in this kind of category or definition," Ms. Metz said. "The executive board is presented, and staff helps put the names into the categories, and then the executive board reviews them and then at the executive board meeting in June they may add to them, or tweak them, or change them, and then we present the nomination form to the board in July and they vote. The staff collects all the nomination forms, and then we're the only ones that know who actually wins until the night of (the event)."