Photo Provided Watson Retirement Home Nancy Napiltano wins the citizen of the year award at the Barnesville Area Chamber of Commerce spring banquet for her involvement in the community.

BARNESVILLE — The Barnesville Area Chamber of Commerce recently held its annual spring banquet, where board members presented awards to individuals who made an impact in the community.

The chamber solicited nominations on social media before the banquet and people dropped off their nominations at director Jill Hissom’s office or sent them by email. The chamber gave out three awards during the banquet — Citizen of the Year, Spotlight Leadership and Cultural Impact.

Nancy Napiltano from Walton Retirement Home was named the chamber’s Citizen of the Year. The chamber board felt she was the best fit for the award because she is a big part of Rotary Club in Barnesville, does a lot for the community, is very compassionate with her job and many people spoke kindly of her.

Barnesville High School teachers Heather Eberhart and Liza Ralston and Barnesville High band director Devin Blair all received a Spotlight Leadership award. The trio are part of both the band and musical, and Hissom said the three have boosted the band’s roster, which has grown to 60 members.

“They’re making it to where these kids are enjoying doing this kind of stuff,” Hissom said. “It’s not all just sports these days. There’s other stuff going on at the high school, and they’ve opened it up to the middle school to be a part of it. And these kids, you go out and watch them in any of their practices, they are so respectful to these three people. They’re just good leaders.”

One of the highlights of the evening was the discussion of organ donation, as the chamber had key speaker Robert Horsey talk about organ donation and someone who knows about organ donation first hand, Jody Miller, who told the story of her late daughter being an organ donor.

The Barnesville Area Chamber of Commerce is the deputy registrar for the BMV office and April is Donate Life Month, which is why board members chose Horsey as the speaker this spring.

Horsey is the author of the book “Gifted” and has a couple docuseries.

Hissom met Horsey in person a few years ago, and said she thinks what Horsey is doing to get the word out about organ donation is very important.

Miller, who just won the Remarkable Woman award in Wheeling, also spoke at the banquet about her daughter’s story, which Hisson described as an emotional one.

Miller’s daughter Heather was a West Virginia University nursing student who died as a result of a vehicle crash in 2008 just prior to graduation. Hissom described what was a horrific day for Miller as an amazing day for so many other families because her daughter was an organ donor, who donated not only organs, but tissue and more.

The chamber also held an auction at the banquet, performed by Shenandoah sixth grader Memphis Blackstone, where board members auctioned off items, such as a Johnson Pottery croc, a hobo purse from Avenues of Barnesville and a Stanley cup. The chamber also auctioned off a John and Jill video, which are videos done in businesses to promote them by the chamber. A business paid $625 for the video.

The sponsors of the event were Ohio Hills Health Centers, Belmont Savings Bank, Woodsfield Savings Bank, Heather and Jason Eddy, Baker IT Services and Cheffy Drugs, while the caterers were R&R Catering and Consulting, Kirke’s Homemade Ice Cream and Leach’s Honey Farm.

The chamber also held a centerpiece competition, where different businesses donated centerpieces after Hisson gave them guidelines, and the chamber set them up as a silent auction.

The chamber also announced Barnesville State Theater had won its Cultural Impact award, describing the theater’s work as something that “enriches us all.”

The historical committee also joined in on the event to recognize community members Susan and Wayne Lapham for preserving Barnesville’s past and shaping its future.

“The spring banquet is always a fun event, because it brings the community together,” Hissom said. “Along with business networking, we get to enjoy friends and some family that are there.”