Jack Anthony Tourism Volunteer of the Year

Jack Anthony is a native of Dahlonega and a graduate of North Georgia College. Upon leaving NGC with a BS in physics Jack served in the U. S. Army and then entered a career with Dupont in research and development. During his 33 years with Dupont he earned a Masters Degree in electrical engineering from Drexel University. Jack and June returned to Dahlonega in 1988 where Jack began to pursue his lifelong interest in Photography and to follow the example set by his mother Madeline of service to this community.

Jack has a tremendous talent for capturing the beauty of the world around him.He has published two books of his own work " Dahlonega a Special Place" and  "The Waterfalls of North Georgia". He has also been a contributing illustrator for other publications. Jack is a member of the Atlanta Photography group, The Quinlan Arts Center and both the Dahlonega  and Dawson County Arts Councils.

In the course of his community service Jack has been very active with the NGC Alumni Council, The Holly Theater and other service organizations and programs. He is a past member of the Chamber board of directors. Jack designed and developed the Chamber's website and maintained it during its early years. As it has grown he has continued to allow the use of his photography to show others the beauty of Dahlonega and Lumpkin county. Jack has given unselfishly of his time, effort and artistic ability to the chamber and allows the use of his photos in our publications and to illustrate articles written by many different writers on Dahlonega. Jack has even provided us with photos to develop into postcards of the community. He has never hesitated to respond to a request from the chamber to help in a project or to perform photographic miracles for us often on very short notice. For his continued service to this community and for showing us what a beautiful place we live in the Dahlonega Lumpkin County Chamber of commerce Recognizes Jack Anthony as its Tourism Volunteer of the year.

Judy Galvin - Chamber Volunteer of the Year

Judy Galvin grew up in Northern Ohio and has always had a fascination for the sport of bicycling. As a teenager, she would borrow her older brother's bicycle and adjust the seat height. After realizing there was no way to persuade his pesky little sister from using his bike, he bought Judy her first bicycle. Judy has been actively involved in cycling for over 28 years. She was on the board for her local bicycling club in Illinois and helped organize and grow their fundraising ride to 1,500 participants while raising over $30,000.

Since moving to Georgia 10 years ago, Judy has helped establish the North Atlanta Riding Club (AKA: NARC) which boasts sponsorship from BMW, FreeFlite Bicycles and 5-Seasons Brewing Company. As the Marketing Director, she has helped grow the club from 100 members in 2004 to over 500 members in 2008. Judy relishes every opportunity she has to ride in the beautiful mountains and valleys surrounding Dahlonega. Last summer, she called the Chamber to introduce herself and ask the staff if they needed any help with the Six Gap Century Bike Ride, which also happens to be the Chamber's biggest fund-raiser. Since then, Judy has been very involved with the Chamber, coming up with new fund-raising ideas and willing to help out in any way that she can. Currently, she is on the Local Organizing Committee for the Tour de Georgia, and is also the brainchild of the new North Georgia Cycling website the Chamber has scheduled to go live later this month.

Judy holds a BS in Management and Marketing from Columbia College in Missouri and in her spare time works for AIG as a Special Lines Marketing Project Manager working closely with FEMA to market Flood Insurance to Independent Insurance Agents. Ladies and Gentlemen, we present you, Judy Galvin, Chamber Volunteer of the Year.

The Golden Pick Award for Outstanding Service to the Community of Dahlonega and Lumpkin County.

This year's recipients are Todd and Amy Strickland. The story of the acquisition of Hummingbird Lane Art Gallery began a few years ago when Todd and Amy began to discuss how they would like their future to look and how they wanted to spend the rest of their lives. After many ideas (some good and some not as good) they ultimately decided that they wanted to own their own business and be their own bosses. Since moving to Dawsonville in 2000, they were frequent visitors to Dahlonega and made the rounds and visit the shops and restaurants, all wonderfully unique and inviting in their own way. But they seemed to always favor Hummingbird Lane as their "must see" shop for every visit. The quaint charm of the old building (Hall's Block) as well as the amazing art pieces provided them with the ultimate "Dahlonega vibe" which they could not resist. As luck would have it, Amy and Todd were visiting Dahlonega on January 8, 2006. After making a beeline to Hummingbird Lane, Amy and Todd went their separate ways to view anything new that Camerone Malloy (the owner at the time) had obtained since their last visit. Todd says he was minding his own business, when Amy called him over to the counter where she was talking to Cam. She had this strange but excited look on her face as she announced to Todd, "Hummingbird Lane is for sale". Unfortunately they were unable to visit any other shops on the square that day because they IMMEDIATELY raced home to discuss their ability to pursue making Hummingbird Lane their own business. Regardless of what belief system you subscribe to that would enable you to define the synchronicity involved in their visit that particular day, they saw it as a universal sign that their opportunity had finally "come-a-knockin". The acquisition of Hummingbird Lane occurred without incident and they were embraced with open arms by the whole community; merchants and regular customers alike and were open for business as the new owners by the first day of March 2006. Todd and Amy are unique. They give credit where credit is due. They believe a big part of the history, reputation and allure that Hummingbird Lane has enjoyed for the past 16 years is due to Camerone Malloy who started the business gathering artist, art and art lovers from all over North Georgia and molded the gallery into a grand piece of art in and of itself. Todd and Amy are committed to Cam to maintain the atmosphere she created that made Hummingbird Lane great; only to add a few of our own distinct touches.....or as Amy so perfectly put it...."make it "wiggle" a little bit"....Amy and Todd have been tremendous supporters of the Downtown Merchants Association and Amy created the first website for the Merchants that is now on the front page of the Chamber Website. They believe in giving back to the community and have been donors to the Old Fashon Christmas and sponsored the Shop for A Cop program that helped raise over $750 for them at Christmas time. Amy does not know how to say NO and serves on most of the Chamber's Special Events and has created a special pottery Award for the Tour de Georgia. She is helping on our first Celtic Music Festival, Bear on the Square, 4th of July Celebration and other events.We are honored to present this year's recipients of the 2007 Golden Pick Award for Outstanding Service to the Community to Todd and Amy Strickland.