Diane and I attended the Chamber of Commerce Black and White Gala last Friday night.

It has been some time since we attended this event, at which the Business Person of the Year is named.

The Chamber has added a number of awards in recent years. Congratulations to all of the winners. You can see this year’s group of winners on Barb Charzuk’s coverage of the Gala on the rest of this page.

But there are two award winners who I would like to give special recognition to and that’s my son, Brent, and this year’s Business Person of the Year, Stephenie Bjorkman.

I am extremely proud to say Brent received the award for being named the Young Professional of the Year.

His award was presented by Fountain Hills School Superintendent Dr. Robert Allen.

He said, “During the past year we have seen a significant increase in the Fountain Hills young community’s events, networking and social gatherings. In part, the engagement and enthusiasm is from our Young Professional of the Year.

“This year’s recipient grew up in Fountain Hills and has a particular passion for seeing this community embrace people of all ages who live, work and play in Fountain Hills.

“As the publisher of the Fountain Hills Times, Brent Cruikshank took on a huge responsibility last year while assuming the role of being a news authority, adapting the 45-year-old publication to a broader audience, increasing digital advertising and a social media presence while also encouraging the development of the Fountain Hills Young Community.”

Again, I couldn’t have been more proud.

One problem though was he couldn’t give his acceptance speech.

“As I walked to the stage and saw the faces in the overall crowd my heart started pounding,” he said.

“When I reached the platform, it was pounding so hard, I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

“I told Sharon (Morgan) I just couldn’t do it,” he said.

That’s O.K. Brent, you’re going to have plenty of chances to talk in public in the future. I’m sure you can conquer this.

When I heard that Stephenie had been named Business Person of the Year, I immediately thought how similar her story was to Brent’s. Both had taken over the family businesses from their parents in the community in which they had grown up.

And the person who introduced Stephenie was none other than former mayor, Jay Schlum. He also grew up in Fountain Hills and followed his dad’s chosen field of selling real estate.

Incidentally, Jay was Brent’s coach in Little League one year.

Stephenie actually won two awards that evening. She received the Tourism Award in addition to the Business Person of the Year Award. Nominees for the award must demonstrate leadership qualities, a commitment to give back to the community, volunteerism and an overall collaborative spirit to make Fountain Hills a great place.

Company founder Sami Jack retired in 2013 and turned over Sami Fine Jewelry to her daughter, Stephenie. Upon taking over the reins from Sami, she made it her goal to broaden the market base, not only in Fountain Hills, but also outside of the community.

She has been called a marketing genius. She got the store designated as one of America’s “cool” jewelry stores.

She has master-minded community events such as the Halloween in the Hills and Love in the Hills.

She is an amazing young lady.

I’d like to see more of these stories in the future where young people like Brent, Stephenie and Jay can find successful lives in Fountain Hills after growing up here.