Lundy selected as Person of the Year

Laura Lundy has been named the 2024 Person of the Year by the Medford Area Chamber of Commerce.

Diane Albrecht was selected for the Lifetime Achievement Award and Charlie Paulson of Nicolet Bank will be recognized as the Employee Excellence Award winner.

The honorees will be publicly recognized at the annual Medford Area Chamber of Commerce Recognition Banquet that is scheduled to be held on Saturday, January 27 at the Centennial Community Center in Stetsonville. The banquet will also recognize area milestone businesses.

Person of the Year

Laura Lundy’s nomination form describes her as being “an instrumental part of our community.”

Her nomination letter states: “Laura has been an active and integral member of the Medford community for many years, and her commitment to service is exemplified through her various roles and responsibilities. As a Medford Chamber Ambassador since 2006, Laura has consistently demonstrated a passion for fostering community connections and promoting and improving our community.”

“Her involvement has extended beyond mere membership, as she has actively participated in numerous Chamber events. For example, Laura’s leadership and organizational skills as the Race Director for the Pine Line Marathon has contributed to its growth and popularity. Laura has also served as a crucial liaison between the Chamber and the school district, bridging the gap between community businesses and educational institutions.”

“Her commitment to education and youth development is evident through her constant drive to improve our schools, our staff and educational programming. Most recently, Laura was integral in writing and carrying out multiple grants that improved our community’s summer school and before and after school programs. Throughout her leadership, we were able to improve our summer school offerings to include a free week-long STEM camp for almost See LAURA LUNDY on page 4 150 elementary and middle school students. We’ve also been able to add free before/after school academic tutoring and enrichment activities. Recently, Laura received the 2023 WSST Administrator of the year Award for her dedication to improving science instruction in our school district.

“First and foremost, Laura is an educator. Since taking an administrative role for the district, she has continued teaching students through the Junior Achievement program and Holy Rosary’s CCD program. She has also facilitated multiple professional development trainings with our staff and has mentored multiple surrounding districts’ principals over the past ten years.”

“Laura’s extensive volunteer work extends beyond the Chamber, as evidenced by her active involvement with the Taylor County Fair Board from 2013 to 2017. Serving as the Board President, she used her organizational and leadership skills to successfully manage various aspects of the fair, including the 5K race and the entertainment committee. Her dedication to the fair’s success has left a lasting impact on our community as many of the events that she helped institute, such as Cans for a Cause and the Knights of Columbus waffle breakfast, continue to this day. Laura’s commitment to community development is further underscored by her involvement with Black River Industries, where she served as a Board member from 2007 to 2013 and later assumed the role of President.”

Lifetime achievement

Diane Albrecht was selected as the recipient of the 2024 Lifetime Achievement recognition.

In her nomination they wrote: “Diane has had an impact on Taylor County through the many clubs and organizations she has served on.

“Diane has served on the County Board of Supervisors for over 28 years representing District 9. Currently in that capacity she served as chair of the Taylor County Tourism and chair Building, Grounds, & Parks. She also holds a seat on the following Transportation Coordination Committees, Airport Committee, Board of Health, and Committee on Committees & Rules.”

Diane has a long history with the Taylor County Fair serving on its board for many years. Diane always has assured that the fair was an event that Taylor County residents look forward to.

Diane looks for the good in all things. Any event that brings good to our county is on her radar.

She is a valued member of the Parkfest Committee. She not only is invested in the meetings, but she and her husband Bruce are there from set up to tear down. They are a team.

Diane and Bruce have been business owners in Taylor County for many years. Through Gad Cheese, Diane was a very visual and vocal supporter of Dairy Products and cheese throughout the entire state.

About the only thing Diane promoted more and continues to, is her favorite Country Music artist, Neal Mc-Coy.

Diane is Pro Taylor County! It runs through her veins! That is why it is my honor to nominate her for this Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Employee Excellence.

Charlie Paulson is a vice president of commercial banking at Nicolet National Bank in Medford. He has been in banking in the community for 22 years.

“Charlie is a guy that you almost can’t dislike. He’s nice to a fault, will literally give you the shirt off his own back, and would then buy you a shirt before replacing his own. He’s made hundreds of friends through his customers throughout the years and hundreds of customers through his friends, Charlie is the kind of person that you just want to work with as a coworker or as a customer. He has a great way of taking care of his customers in a way that gives them 100% confidence that they will be taken care of, even during tough times, “Charlie isn’t the best with technology, so his innovations and achievements are focused on his customer service. He consistently finds ways to better serve his customers and go beyond the normal scope of what should be expected of an employee.

Beyond the workplace, he’s been part of multiple clubs, groups and organizations for many years. These include the Whittlesey Lions, NTC Board, Black River Industries, Medford Little League board and coaching, and multiple outdoor committees/boards. Beyond that, if you need him to help with something that he’s not a part of, he’ll help.”