Grand Island Chamber celebrating community spirit: Nominees sought for Citizen of Year

By Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

It’s an event full of Grand Island pride, and a celebration of people who’ve made our community great.

The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce will celebrate its 58th annual Citizen of the Year Awards Dinner from 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Niagara Falls. It’s a ticketed event that is open to the public. Islander Scott Swagler is general manager of the DoubleTree.

The Chamber’s Citizen of the Year Awards are presented annually to businesses and individuals whose contributions have made Grand Island a better place to live, work and play.

“We hope this would not only celebrate their accomplishments, but would also serve to get people excited about the nomination process,” said board member Dr. Stacey Watt.

First Vice President Ryan McCarthy said the Chamber again wants help from residents in choosing the Islanders it will honor this year. He said the Chamber has relied on residents for recommendations throughout the history of the event.

“It’s extremely important to the Chamber of Commerce – the reason we’ve been doing this for 58 years. This event is to honor the unsung heroes that spend hours and months and years of their lives just dedicating themselves to our community. It’s really about taking them or that organization or that business and putting them in front of the community and giving them the spotlight that they deserve,” McCarthy said. He noted some award winners do have higher profiles, making people remark about these choices: “It’s long overdue!”

People can nominate an individual from a number of fields – such as education, law enforcement, leadership, civic contributions, government, sports, the arts, young person of the year – and many more. Nominees can also be businesses, charitable organizations, community service groups or clubs.

Chamber Secretary Dominique Brennan is chairing the Citizen of the Year Awards Dinner for the second time. She said the Chamber is looking for nominees who show Grand Island pride – “something or someone that goes above and beyond for their community – for the people of Grand Island.”

Qualities she has seen in successful past winners include giving a lot back to the community; businesses that show improvement through beautification efforts; and people who have achieved a lot in their careers, whether it’s through volunteering, athletics or teachers who go above and beyond.

To nominate an individual or organization, go to: https://www.gichamber.org/citizen-of-the-year/. Click on the blue bar that reads, “Submit a Nomination. The nominations are due by Friday, Sept. 5.

Brennan said there are three levels of sponsorship for the event, each with new names that the Chamber believe are more “relatable” to the community. Starting at the highest level, there is the Grand; next is the Islander; and last, there’s the Viking level. Each comes with its own perks, including variously: a mention on stage during the presentation; a certificate; or an ad in the program booklet.

The sign outside Kelly's Country Store in the early days. (Submitted by the Kelly family)

Pride of Grand Island – Part I

This year, in a new feature, the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce has decided to celebrate past winners from each decade of the Citizen of the Year event.

So, too, will this publication.

Here’s a cavalcade of winners, a snapshot in 2025 of honorees from nearly 60 years of the Chamber giving awards to Grand Island’s heroes. The biographies in various categories represent the achievements and zeal of the past winners. Some of these winners commented anew for this article. The intent is to provide an inspiration for choosing those honored this year and in years to come.

•1960s: Walter Kelly (1967), Business: Kelly’s County Store, founded in 1962 by Walter Kelly and his wife, Grace, is going stronger than ever. A fourth generation has joined the family business at 3121 Grand Island Blvd.

And the management team is still all family – Kevin Kelly, Walter’s grandson, is CEO; Maureen Knight, Kevin’s sister, is general manager in charge of production; Adam Kelly, Kevin’s son, is director of marketing and sales. Kevin’s father, Mike, ran the store for many years and was widely known and beloved in the community.

The first generation began small, selling various kinds of candy at local fairs and festivals.

“Because it was such a beautiful display, everybody was saying, ‘Well, where’s your store?’ ” Kevin Kelly said of those first customers.

Trouble is, there wasn’t a store – yet!

“It all blossomed from there,” Kevin said.

“Walter and Grace traded their Buffalo home and a payment of $1 for the first 20×20 Kelly’s Country Store location,” the store’s website states. Their store and their success grew rapidly.

Kelly’s is chock full of chocolates – all handmade in creative forms that please all ages; a wide variety of other candies in classic glass jars; unique and decorative gifts, and all within a remarkable setting of antiques and artifacts from bygone eras.

Kelly's Country Store founder Walter Kelly, with the chocolate machine he bought, which produced decades of the popular handmade chocolates sold at the store. (Submitted by the Kelly family)

••••••••

The country store is so popular that Santa and the Easter Bunny make annual visits to meet with the kids. For a great many Island families, it isn’t the Christmas season until they bring the kids to see Santa at Kelly’s.

“Grandpa was more like Walt Disney,” Kevin Kelly said. “He was always thinking rabbits and bunnies – and how do I make my store different than everybody else’s. All the antiques are on the ceiling, so it’s more of a museum now, than just a regular store.”

Kevin’s son, Adam, definitely agrees with the Walt Disney comparison “because of his commitment to kids and making it feel like a magic place.”

Adam remembers his great-grandfather getting behind a wall in the store’s Christmas Room and moving toys around to make the space appear alive and like a special place.

“Obviously, he’s been known as Kelly’s true Santa. That’s what everybody remembers, because he just had a certain twinkle in his eye,” Adam said.

He said his great-grandfather’s “biggest lasting legacy … was that Christmas Room, that Santa chair and his role as Santa.”

Kevin recalled, “My favorite story is when Grandma and Dad went to New York City on a buying trip and Grandpa was here by himself. He bought a chocolate machine – spent a lot of money on it. When Grandma and Dad got back, they were so upset! He started molding chocolate, and before you know it, we’re famous for chocolate.”

That very machine was recently retired, but can still be seen on the premises.

The annual Fall Fest will return to Kelly’s on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 20 and 21. The event features food trucks, bounce houses, a petting zoo and other attractions.

Adam said the traditions Walter Kelly started are still in practice today: “We have a commitment to families and kids, just like he did.”

He summed up the experience of the family and Kelly’s Country Store: “It is special to work in a place that has magic in it.”

Walter Kelly was the store's iconic "real Santa," his family says, adding that welcoming children in the Christmas Room was a "magical" experience always enjoyed by both Santa and the youngsters. (Submitted by the Kelly family)