Lenox Chamber of Commerce re-elects officers

LENOX – The chamber of commerce has installed new leadership while paying tribute to the old.

On December 10, the Lenox Chamber of Commerce held elections and a holiday party at Blantyre Castle.

Lenox Chamber of Commerce President Katherine “Kat” Lockridge, Vice President Joe Catalano and Treasurer Dalija Merritt were re-elected without formal opposition. Jay Baver of Berkshire Outdoors, Kenneth L. Fowler of Shear Design, John Bortolotto of NBT Bank, Laurence E. Oberwager of Tanglewood, Carl Pratt of Cranwell Resort and Becky Sorrentino of Berkshire Bank were elected to the six available slots on the chamber’s board of directors.

Mr. Baver, Mr. Bortolotto, Ms. Sorrentino and Mr. Oberwager were all elected to the board of the Lenox Chamber for the first time. Amy Lindner-Lesser of the Rookwood Inn fell only a handful of votes short of being elected to the board of directors.

The other focus of the night was the honoring of long-time Lenox chamber member Bob Romeo, who is stepping down this year after 30 years on the chamber’s board of directors.

At the ceremony paying tribute to Mr. Romeo, a number of people spoke in praise of his years of service to the town and to the chamber, including Pres. Lockridge, former chamber of commerce president Kenneth L. Fowler and Lenox Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ralph Petillo. Mr. Romeo was presented with an honorary plaque, and a cake paying tribute to his 30 years on the chamber’s board of directors was enjoyed by those in attendance.

“To have all this background means that you’re old,” said Mr. Romeo, joking during his formal remarks.

It was also noted Mr. Romeo was choosing to forego his other passion by attending the evening’s ceremony: ballroom dancing.

“I’m humbled by being recognized for doing something extra when I just did the normal stuff,” said Mr. Romeo in comments to The Beacon. “We just did the day-to-day stuff like anybody would do.

“It can’t be 30 years ago, it was last week when we started,” said Mr. Romeo. “Where did the time go?”

Posted by Bera B. Dunau on December 20, 2012. Filed under Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry