Congratulations Sara Beth James

Tuesday, August 24, 2010 0:03

Please join me in congratulating Sara Beth James as the Western Maryland Jaycees and Allegany County Chamber of Commerce 2010 Outstanding Young Professional. Sara Beth exemplifies the commitment to personal growth, leadership and community service which, as members of the Jaycees, we all try to achieve. Everywhere Sara Beth has been she has affected positive change, brought an undeniable energy and dedicated service. Everyone that has met Sara Beth knows that she puts her entire self into every project. The fact that she gives so unselfishly and seeks no personal recognition for any of her many efforts makes awarding her with this honor even sweeter.

On Friday, August 20th the Allegany County Chamber of Commerce convened a special meeting of their Awards Committee and reviewed the 14 nominations for this award. That committee narrowed the nominations down to 3 finalists and forwarded those nominations to the Jaycees to choose the award recipient. A special committee of Jaycees members was called to meet on the evening of August 23rd and that group, led by Chapter Management Vice President Kelly Brown, reached the final decision.

The Western Maryland Jaycees is grateful to the Chamber of Commerce membership, Board of Directors and Awards Committee for assisting us in the process of promoting and adjudicating this award, and for the opportunity to formally bestow this honor upon Sara Beth at the Annual Awards Banquet coming up on October 28th. This collaboration was a tremendous experience for the Jaycees. We hope that we will continue to find ways to work with the Chamber that will support our mission to provide our membership with opportunities to learn and grow as young leaders in Western Maryland.

I also want to thank each of the nominees and their nominators for putting in a significant amount of time and effort into submitting the nominations. We had 12 nominees who are each deserving of recognition for their many contributions in their professions and to their community. It is with pride that I speak on behalf of the Jaycees when I say that we are honored to count these 12 individuals among ourselves as young professionals in Western Maryland.

Joe Harman
President