Citizen of the Year

  • Howard Blanchar is the 2011 Lodi Citizen of the Year
  • Banquet will be Thursday, February 9 at Best Western Country Inn
  • 6:00 social & 6:30 buffet dinner with program to follow with Roger Quick as MC
  • Tickets will be $16/person with limited availability & sold in advance
  • Tickets can be purchased at BMO Harris Bank or Associated Bank in Lodi
  • Tickets should be available starting Friday, January 20th

Some Background on the Award Selection

The Very first award was presented by the Lodi Chamber of Commerce in 1970 to honor Dr. TO Goeres on his 89th birthday.  It was declared “Doc Goeres Day” in Lodi and a celebration was held, attended by about 300 area residents.

The evening was such a success that the Chamber of Commerce established a small committee to choose the next honoree and keep the ball rolling.

Over the years many upstanding Lodi residents have been honored with awards, and in 1987 it was decided a more formal nomination process should be esstablished. Until that time a small group from the Chamber of Commerce nominated and selected each honoree, but it was agreed that a new awards selection committee should be formed from past honorees to take nominations and make the annual decision.

Nominees are to be upstanding citizens who have made a positive impact on the Lodi community through their actions. These actions should be over a span of time and should be voluntary in nature.

Nominations can be made by anyone in the community and the panel of past award recipients weighs the choices, debates their strengths, and eventually arrives at a decision.

Past Recipients of this Honor:

Ed Hamre

Ted Goeres

Paul Dalton

Francis Groves

Lois Ryan

Bob Weber

Jack and Doreen Reinwand

Jim Schmiedlin

Rog Severson

Chuck Purcell

Bill Haupt

Judy Brownrigg

Kevin Hinckley

Linda and Bill Brimmer

Peg Zaemisch

George Robson

Doug Meek

Joan Gehrke

Darleen Brisky

Curt Hossman

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