NORWICH – The Norwich Business Improvement District (BID) Board of Directors, joined by various city residents and officials, met Friday morning for its annual business meeting and breakfast gathering, and recognized Sharon Jeffer with the 12th Annual Commitment to Community Award.
Jeffer, who has owned and operated The Parson’s Daughter, 6 West Park Place, since 2002, was presented the award following a brief introduction by BID Board of Directors President Deb Sylstra, who called the local candy and confectionery store “quite a wonderful addition to the community.”
Sylstra stated Jeffer was ultimately chosen due to the many boards, councils and committees she’s been a part of, and added she is “very generous to the other members of the community” and “not afraid to try new things.”
“Sharon has been an active part of the community for many years,” said Sylstra, who’s known Jeffer for over 30 years. “She continually offers recommendations, always has a positive attitude and plays a supportive role and interacts well with others.”
“It’s a beautiful thing to be recognized for any accomplishment and for doing something good,” said Jeffer, who considered The Parson’s Daughter to be “splendidly insignificant, unusual and great.”
When it comes to her personal life, local business and the community as a whole, Jeffer said, “I do things because it feels good and feels right and that seems to work,” and added her local candy store is “kind of like chocolate – it’s what’s on the inside that counts.”
BID Executive Director Pegi LoPresti, prior to reviewing the BID’s activities in 2009, congratulated Jeffer, and called the award “well deserved.”
Now nearing its twenty-fifth year in Norwich, making it one of the longest running BIDs in New York State according to LoPresti, the local BID will once again be applying for Main Street Grant moneys, and LoPresti reported 17 downtown property owners had accepted and utilized funds through the grant program, aimed at improving the downtown business district.
“Our small organization is able to achieve the impossible on a regular basis,” said LoPresti, before turning the floor over to Friends of the Parks’ Eric Larsen, who discussed the upcoming renovations to East and West Parks.
“We’ve grown immensely,” she added.
Larsen reported, with “guarded optimism,” that the Friends of the Parks and Norwich BID are prepared to move forward with plans to perform a major overhaul of the downtown parks, including the construction of a permanent stage, a refurbished and relocated East Park gazebo, electrical upgrades, handicap accessibility, new sidewalks, landscaping and lighting improvements, security cameras and new benches and trash receptacles.
To conclude the annual event, local volunteer Dave Emerson, who LoPresti said she considered “a mentor of mine who has dedicated himself to the community and continues to be an active participant in many boards,” presented “A Case Study on Community Involvement.”
“The key to community involvement is involvement,” said Emerson. “It’s not the size of the involvement, it’s being involved that counts.”
Emerson stressed it “doesn’t cost a cent to get involved with someone getting started,” and added that a “very important aspect of community involvement is letting people know when they’re doing a good job.”
For more information on the Norwich BID, call LoPresti at 336-1811 or visit www.norwichbid.org.