Awards

Golden Ambassador Award

At the Annual Autumn Glory Kick Off Event, the Golden Ambassador is announced. The winner of this award has made major contributions to tourism in Garrett County. Only Chamber members may nominate fellow Chamber members for this prestigious title.

2024 Golden Ambassador Sponsor

2024 Golden Ambassador

The Garrett County Chamber of Commerce has named Brenda McDonnell and Martin Heise the 2024 Honorary Golden Ambassadors of the 57th Annual Autumn Glory Festival. The announcement was made at the Chamber’s Autumn Glory Kick-Off Reception on October 9, 2024. The Golden Ambassador sponsor is BILT Construction. Team One GMC is the title sponsor of the 57th Annual Autumn Glory Festival.

The Golden Ambassador is awarded by the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce to a person, or persons, who has contributed to, and supported tourism in Garrett County. The Golden Ambassador is selected by a committee of former Golden Ambassador winners from nominations by Chamber members.
Originally from the Bronx in New York City, Brenda McDonnell took a trip to Maryland in 1988 that led her to Garrett County. Brenda and her friend, Dominick, were inspired to start Dominick’s Pizzeria, offering fresh, homemade pizza, in McHenry later that same year. After Dominick’s closed in 1995, Brenda moved over to Wisp Resort to manage Pizzazz Pizzeria. Although Pizzazz was part of a larger corporation, it still had a family feel to it, because it was owned by the Heise family, original founders of Wisp Ski Resort and Will O’ the Wisp.

When the Heises’ sold Wisp several years later, Brenda decided it was time to re-create the neighborhood place she had grown up with which she had dreamed about since Dominick’s closed. Brenda’s Pizzeria opened at its current location at Traders Landing in June 2001. She took over the existing coffee house (Traders Coffee House) on the ground floor and started the pizzeria upstairs. Brenda’s Pizzeria has undergone several extensive renovations over the years, including a brand new building constructed in 2004. 2004 was also notable because it was the year Brenda married her husband Martin Heise, the longtime owner of the Four Seasons Dining Room at Will O’the Wisp.

The Four Seasons Dining Room opened in November 1961 and Martin Heise is the third generation of Heises to live and work there. Operated by the Wisp Resort founder, Helmuth “Ace” Heise and his wife Evelyn, along with their son Martin, the restaurant was popular for its gorgeous lake views and delicious cuisine. Martin’s training in hospitality started as a youngster washing dishes, bussing the dining room and raking the beach at Will O’the Wisp, before he attended the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and Hospitality. The restaurant continued as one of the area’s most popular dining and special event destinations for almost fifty years. Ace passed away in 2009 and with Evelyn in declining health, Martin decided to close the business in 2012. However, Brenda, with the help of her husband Martin, envisioned a new future for the Deep Creek staple and after months of extensive remodeling and staff training, it reopened in 2013 as Ace’s Run Restaurant & Pub, a nod and tribute to her mother and father-in-law for their great contribution to Garrett County.

As if they weren’t busy enough, Brenda, again with the help of Martin, decided to open Firewater Kitchen & Bar in 2021, right next door to Ace’s Run. With lakefront views and outdoor dining options that even include dining on Deep Creek Lake, Firewater has become well known for their carefully crafted food paired with uniquely hand-crafted cocktails and draft beers. As most locals and visitors know, Martin can often be seen at Ace’s and Firewater tending to guests, assisting the kitchen and providing catering for special events.

Brenda served as President of the Deep Creek Business Association and, after a previous stint in the early 2000s, Brenda again currently serves on the Board of the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce. She also serves on the Chamber’s Legislative Affairs committee and has testified multiple times in front of the MD State Houe of Representatives and Senate for, and against, legislation that will affect small businesses and tourism in Garrett County. Brenda’s restaurants have been a sponsor of the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce’s annual July 4th Fire on The Mountain Fireworks Display in McHenry each year. Martin has been involved with the Community Trust Foundation and served on the boards of the House of Hope, Garrett Lakes Arts Festival and the Garrett County Choral Society.

“I am very excited to see Brenda and Martin receive the 2024 Golden Ambassador Award and be recognized for their contributions to tourism,” said Andrew Fike, President of the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce.

Past Recipients of the Golden Ambassador

Emerging Entrepreneur Award

An emerging entrepreneur is someone with the ability to identify new business opportunities and act on these opportunities to bring a business venture to life. Emerging entrepreneurs are inspired by all the exciting opportunities available to them and a willingness to take risks to build, launch, and grow their business. They must be able to adapt to changing circumstances in their business, overcome obstacles, and access opportunities to develop their business further. An emerging entrepreneur must also be able to pitch their ideas, sell their product or service to customers, and build a team of employees, mentors, or supporters to assist them along their journey.

The criteria for nomination include the following:

• Target range of nominees is 20-40 years old
• Business in operation for 2 or more consecutive years
• Nominee must be a member of the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce

The Garrett County Diplomats Committee will choose 3 finalists from the pool of nominees and present them to the Board with a recommended winner. Then the Chamber Board of Directors will choose the winner. The winner of the award is announced during the Annual Membership Meeting & Dinner on Thursday, June 5, 2025.

The Garrett County Chamber of Commerce is now accepting nominations for the 2025 Emerging Entrepreneur Award. You can download the nomination form by clicking here. Please submit nominations via mail to ATTN: Nick Sharps, Garrett County Chamber of Commerce, 15 Visitors Center Drive, McHenry, MD 21541 or by email at nick@garrettchamber.com. Nominations will not be accepted after Close of Business on March 7, 2025.

2025 Emerging Entrepreneur Winner

The second winner of the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce’s Emerging Entrepreneur Award was announced during the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Membership Meeting & Dinner on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. Interim President Nick Sharps made the presentation to this year’s winner, Devin Callis of 3rd Street Diner, Oak-Mar Motel, Oakland Motel, and Callis Enterprise.
Devin was born and raised in Garrett County. He and his wife Anna have been together since age 16 and got married in 2014. They now live in Oakland with their four children Bently, Emmett, Easton, and Maci. Devin and his family are active members of Crossroads Church. As early as high school, Devin expressed a desire to be an entrepreneur. According to Anna, “He always said he was going to own a business one day.”

That opportunity presented itself in 2022 when Andrew Fike approached Devin with the intent of selling him 3rd Street Diner and Oak-Mar Motel. When Devin brought the proposition to Anna she asked, “Why in the world would we buy a diner and motel? We have no clue how to run a restaurant or motel.” Despite this initial skepticism Devin and Anna trusted Andrew’s faith in them and bought the businesses. A year later they were approached about buying Oakland Motel. Engrossed with running 3rd Street Diner and Oak-Mar Motel, Devin and Anna showed hesitancy but after prayer and deliberation they decided to accept the offer. During the spring of 2024 Devin launched Callis Enterprise, a lawn care and maintenance company and as of 2025 he became a part owner of Casselman Creamery in Grantsville.

“We thank God that Andrew trusted us to take over his businesses,” said Anna. “It has been a truly life changing experience and we absolutely love it. We love our customers, staff, and community so much.”

Since acquiring 3rd Street Diner, Devin has made extensive renovations along with overhauling the menu to include new favorites like locally-sourced cheese curds and switching to frying foods with beef tallow instead of seed oils. Likewise, Oak-Mar Motel has undergone some renovations of its own and Oakland Motel is currently closed while it received a thorough facelift.

“Devin embodies the values of hard work, community spirit, and compassion,” said Tyler Hershman, owner of ChargingtAtU.

Beyond his business acumen, Devin has displayed a generous spirit toward his community. The past 2 years, 3rd Street Diner has hosted pumpkin carving for the children during the Autumn Glory Festival. Donations are accepted in place of traditional payment and all proceeds benefit Cindy’s Fund. Devin has filmed viral promotional videos for the Great Strides Walk and participated in the Lip Sync Battle, two fundraisers benefitting Cindy’s Fund.

“Devin has done so much for the community in the short time he’s been a business owner,” said Sandy Bell, Chair of Cindy’s Fund. “I feel like he has only begun to show what he’s made of.”

When one of his employees was diagnosed with cancer Devin immediately contacted Cindy’s Fund to arrange for assistance but he did not stop there. Devin organized a benefit dinner at 3rd Street Diner and raised over $8,000 in donations to provide the employee with additional relief.

Before the start of the 2024-2025 school season, a staff member came to Devin with the idea of holding a Back-to-School Giveaway. Devin, Anna, and the rest of the staff fully embraced the idea—purchasing backpacks, pencils, folders, water bottles, and various other school supplies to help local families in need. “He has a passion for helping people,” explained Anna.

In addition to his entrepreneurial endeavors and philanthropic efforts, Devin is an engaged member of the community. Since acquiring 3rd Street Diner and Oak-Mar Motel, Devin has been active with the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce—attending most events, participating in the Turkey Trail promotion during Autumn Glory Festival, sponsoring the first ever Community Dunk, and referring other budding entrepreneurs to become Chamber members. In January of 2024 he joined the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce’s Heritage Area Advisory Board and he serves on the HAAB’s Marketing Committee. This past winter Devin was also elected and sworn in as a member of the Oakland Town Council.

“Devin is exactly the kind of person we had in mind when we created this award,” said Nick Sharps, Interim President for the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce. “I wasn’t at all surprised to see Devin get nominated for the award. In fact, I wasn’t surprised to see him receive multiple nominations, and I definitely wasn’t surprised when he was selected as our 2025 Emerging Entrepreneur. Devin deserves this honor.”

Diplomat of the Year Award

The Diplomat of the Year is determined through a points system given for membership packet distribution, Business After Hours Attendance, Business Before Hours Attendance, Diplomat meeting attendance, Ribbon Cuttings, Ground Breakings, Grand Opening & First Dollar of Profit Presentation Attendance and Recruiting New Members. The Garrett County Chamber of Commerce began recognizing a Diplomat of the Year in 2015.

2025 Diplomat of the Year Winner

The winner of the 2024-2025 Garrett County Chamber of Commerce Diplomat of the Year award was announced at the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce Membership Meeting & Dinner, held on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. This year the award was presented to Josh Slone of Sunrise Sanitation Services, Inc.

As a Garrett County Diplomat, Josh attended 5 Diplomat committee meetings, 4 Business After Hours, 4 Business Before Hours, attended 7 ribbon cutting ceremonies, participated in the second Community Dunk, helped in the distribution of both prospect and new member packets, interviewed students with the Work Ethic Diploma Program, and referred 3 new members to the Chamber, achieving a total of 325 Diplomat points. This is Josh’s first full year serving as a Garrett County Diplomat.

“It was an extremely close contest this year,” said Nick Sharps, Interim President of the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce. “For the first time ever, we recognized a different Diplomat of the Quarter for the first three quarters. I love to see friendly competition amongst the Diplomats. Josh really had to hustle for this award and it’s well deserved.”

The Diplomat of the Year is determined through a points system given for membership packet distribution, Business After Hours Attendance, Business Before Hours Attendance, Diplomat meeting attendance, Ribbon Cuttings, Ground Breakings, Grand Opening & First Dollar of Profit Presentation Attendance and Recruiting New Members. The Garrett County Chamber of Commerce began recognizing a Diplomat of the Year in 2015 and previous recipients of the award include Sarena Rodeheaver, Patty Manown Mash, Connor Norman, Jess Dijak, and Kristin Skeweris.

Past Recipients of the Volunteer of the Year Award

Volunteer of the Year Award

The Volunteer of the Year Award was established in 2011 and recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding service to the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce. The recipient of this award is selected by the staff of the Chamber and recognized at the Annual Dinner.

2023 Volunteer of the Year Winner

The recipient of the 2022-2023 Garrett County Chamber of Commerce Volunteer of the Year award was announced at the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce Membership Meeting & Dinner, held on Thursday, June 1, 2023. This year the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce presented the award to Laura Fike, Executive Director of Garrett Mentors, Inc. Laura Fike has been a member of the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for nine years. In that time Laura served on the Board’s Executive Committee as Secretary from 2016 to 2018 and participated on the Board’s Nominating Committee on numerous occasions. She also acted as the Chamber’s representative to the Maryland State Chamber of Commerce.

Laura helped launch the Chamber’s Workforce Development Taskforce, a program dedicated to analyzing and addressing local workforce needs including affordable housing and public transit. Laura served as Chair from the committee’s inception in 2018 until 2022. In this capacity, she spoke at New Student Welcome Receptions hosted by Garrett College and the Chamber and assisted with the Work Ethic Diploma program, a partnership between Garrett County Public Schools and the Chamber to address workforce challenges by creating a pipeline of prospective employees who possess quality attributes desired by employers. Laura regularly attended Chamber events during her tenure—from Business After Hours mixers to Annual Dinners and Award Ceremonies. She has been a welcoming presence to many members of the organization, new and old.

Past Recipients of the Volunteer of the Year Award

This prestigious award, in its second year, will be presented annually at the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Dinner on June 5, 2025. The award will recognize a corporation, business, non-profit or individual which has demonstrated an exemplary commitment to preserving the rich heritage of Garrett County.

The criteria for the award will be as follows:

Complete the following short application and submit it by March 7, 2025. Email the form to Amber Sanders at amber@garrettchamber.com or mail it to ATTN: Amber Sanders, Garrett County Chamber of Commerce, 15 Visitors Center Drive, McHenry, MD 21541

The award can be self-nominated by the applicant.

After the deadline the submitted applications will be reviewed and scored by the GC Chamber, Heritage Area Advisory Board members and recipient will be recommended to the full Board of Directors at the GC Chamber of Commerce.

The submitted application must have included at least one of the themes of the Mountain Maryland Gateway to the West Heritage. Those themes include, Transportation, including Braddock's Trail and the National Road; Man and Nature, highlighting the county's unique natural resources; and Historic Recreation as Garrett County's natural beauty.

The nominee must demonstrate a long-term commitment to heritage. Some examples could include, restoring historic trails, designing heritage exhibits and presentations, lectures series or a special one-tome heritage project that would add value to the heritage of Garrett County by providing an educational experience for the community and visitors.

The winner will be announced at the Annual Membership Meeting & Dinner on June 5, 2025.

Click here to download the 2025 Peggy Jamison Heritage Preservation Award nomination form.