By Staff
NILES – The Four Flags Area Chamber of Commerce honored three individuals Wednesday night with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Other awards handed out included Woman of the Year, Man of the Year, Business of the Year, Industry of the Year and Service Club of the Year.
Nancy Butler, a lifetime achievement winner, was born in South Bend, Ind. and moved to Niles in 1978, after graduating from Duke University. Butler has devoted her time and resources to dozens of businesses, government and service organizations.
She was a charter member of the Four Flags Apple Festival and the Berrien County Civitan Club, served as president of the United Way Board of Directors and is the only person to chair the United Way campaign three times. Butler has also served on the board of directors at Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve, Friends of Niles, the Chamber of Commerce and is a former Bertrand Township trustee.
Butler, the 1997 Chamber of Commerce Woman of the Year, received in 1996 the Margaret Upton Award for Volunteerism. She is the owner and broker of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Specialists.
Also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award were Mel and Lesley Bookout, who arrived in Niles in 1966. Mel started as the general manager of Bookout's Furniture Store and in 1979 began a career in the insurance field.
Mel served three terms on the Niles City Council and later was on the board of directors for the Chamber of Commerce as vice president of operations. He is also a Life Underwriters Training Council fellow and has been honored with the Legion of Honor and Home Agent Qualifier Award.
Mel met his wife Lesley at Hanover College in Indiana and married in 1961. Lesley joined her husband in the real estate business at State Farm.
She has volunteered in many community activities, including as a den mother, with New Comers, PTA, Relay for Life, Riverfest, Apple Fest, the Niles Service League, PSI IOTA XI and the Niles Downtown Development Authority. In June 1987 she was elected the national president of PSI IOTA XI.
Woman of the Year
Charlie McAfee came to southwest Michigan from Poplar Bluff, Mo. in 1965 to attend Ivy Tech in South Bend, Ind. and later Southwestern Michigan College. In 1972, she began a 20-year career with the Berrien County Department of Social Services.
McAfee became a charter member of the Multicultural Involvement Council in 1993 to serve the youth of the Niles and Brandywine communities. From this group emerged Fresh Start, which was co-founded by McAfee in 1995.
Fresh Start provides an opportunity for students expelled from school to work their way back to a normal class schedule, and pay no fees. The program provides academic learning, mentoring and counseling to students, of which more than 200 have graduated.
McAfee teaches or counsels every day from the Fresh Start headquarters in Niles. Niles Mayor Michael McCauslin honored her on behalf of the city by naming Jan. 15, 2004, as Charlie McAfee Day for her services to the youth of the community.
Man of the Year
A native of Indiana and graduate of Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame, Dr. Michel Listenberger moved to Niles in 1972 to take over a long-established medical practice. That same year, at the request of friend Bill Haslett, he joined the Niles Optimists and has been a member since.
Listenberger has been a supporter of dozens of organizations, including the Niles-Buchanan YMCA, the Chamber of Commerce and United Way. Most of his time has been with Optimists, for which he has worked on local, state and national programs, and served as governor for Optimists in Michigan, international vice president and president of Optimist International.
Listenberger has worked on free vision care for the working poor and the Voluntary Optometric Service to Humanity, which provides services to the poor in third world countries.
Business of the Year
Greater Niles Community Federal Credit Union was founded in the early 1940s as the Kawneer Credit Union. The name and business changed in 1984, and since 2001 assets have increased 33 percent and in the last year employment has grown 30 percent.
In 2005, Greater Niles Credit Union opened the student-operated credit union inside Niles High School.
A number of the employees are Lunch Buddies with Big Brothers Big Sisters, half are members of the Niles and Cass Optimists, Niles-Buchanan Rotary Club, Kiwanis, the Chamber of Commerce, Niles DDA, Tri-County EITC Coalition and Meals On Wheels. The credit union also sponsors a Relay For Life team and hosts four blood drives a year.
For the fourth consecutive year Greater Niles Credit Union gave away to their customers 2,000 free turkeys during the holiday season. The credit union is locally owned, staffed and managed, and the board of directors is unpaid.
Accepting the award was president and CEO Dave Van Strien.
Industry of the Year
The Industry of the Year, TOEFCO Engineered Coating, was founded in 1955. The company specializes in coatings for a variety of industrial products, including offshore drilling equipment, medical pump and automotive parts for General Motors and Ford, and currently are coating 12,000 mufflers per week for the auto industry.
TOEFCO recently participated in the restoration of four historic columns from the old Michigan Inn that are now part of the new Chemical Bank. Last year, the company added 12,000 square feet to their plant and added staff, and now employs 60.
TOEFCO stays involved in the community through support of the YMCA, Riverfest, United Way, Optimists, Chamber of Commerce and Special Olympics. One of their own, Dale Linsenmier, has Down Syndrome and has worked at TOEFCO for more than 20 years.
Accepting the award was Artie McElwee.
Service Club of the Year
The 2007 Service Club of the Year was established in 1920 and is the oldest service club in Niles. The Niles-Buchanan Rotary Club members have contributed their time and resources to the YMCA, Salvation Army, United Way, Chamber of Commerce, Project Graduation, Lakeland Hospital, the cities of Niles and Buchanan, and the Gateway Foundation.
In 1990, Rotary donated $15,000 to the City of Niles to complete the proposed Riverfront Park playground. Four years ago, the club donated bleacher seats for the skate park, and gave to the City of Buchanan for construction of an observation deck for the McCoy Creek Trail Project.
Last December the Rotary marked its 23rd year of bell ringing for the Salvation Army, and each December the group meets with preschoolers at Northside Child Development Center for lunch and distributes gift bags to the students. Since 1962 Rotary has given out $180,000 in scholarships to more than 160 seniors at Niles, Brandywine and Buchanan high schools.
Accepting the award was Optimist president Doug Law.