The Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce Gala was held Friday evening, April 22, with a big crowd of community members, business owners, neighbors and Chamber members gathering to celebrate this year’s award recipients.

Following is a list of this year’s winners.

*Businessperson of the Year: Kristi Densford of Kristi’s Hari Studio.

*Customer Service of the Year: Lori Schwager of Fountain Hills Emergency Room & Medical Center.

*New Entrepreneur of the Year: Travis Brown of Crossroads Autoworks.

*Community Volunteer of the Year: Gerry Friedel.

*Young Professional of the Year: Dana Rowe of Jazzercise.

*Tourism Award: We-Ko-Pa Casino & Resort.

*Teacher of the Year: Jamie Sunshine.

*Chamber Ambassadors of the Year: Bridget Biermann.

*Health Services of the Year: Fountain Hills Emergency Room & Medical Center.

*Non-Profit of the Year: Fountain Hills Cultural and Civic Association (FHCCA).

*Restaurant of the Year: Saddle Bronc.

*Finance and Insurance Services of the Year: Golucci Insurance Group.

*Retailer of the Year: Classy Jazzy.

*Chamber Volunteer of the Year: Chuck Heinrichs.

*Mayor’s Award: Fountain Hills Emergency Room & Medical Center.

The annual Gala was held on the Chamber’s patio, surrounded by lush greenery provided by Verde Valley Nursery. Dinner was catered from Saddle Bronc. The evening event featured a bar which was hosted by the VFW, Mark Trembley Photography captured all the night’s memories and Birkett Entertainment was on hand to DJ the event.

Following tradition, the Chamber Gala was themed and encouraged attendees to dress up. For this year, “Green is the New Black” was the selected theme in honor of Earth Day, and all were invited to dress up in their best green attire. The best dressed “cabbage” award was given to Coco Pameditus of Edward Jones and Jeff Stack of HomeWatch Neighbor.

A new addition to this year’s Gala was a champagne toast in recognition of all the winners, sponsored and provided by Carolyn Berry of Clean Colonic. The Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce would like to give all who were involved in the Chamber Gala a heartfelt “thank you” for the support of the event and the evening’s nominees and winners.