ACE Award Posthumously Honors Hoover

The Blair County Chamber of Commerce held its annual Farm-City dinner at the Freedom Township Fire Hall in East Freedom on Nov. 1.

Chairman of the Farm-City Committee Joe Diamond started off by saying, "We are paying tribute to a special family member of the Farm-City Committee family who, along with her family, helped showcase the agriculture industry here in Blair County."

He was referring to the late Stacy Hoover, recipient of the 2023 ACE Award.

"I knew Stacy for 27 years. She knew that she wanted to do whatever was necessary to make the organization a better place to work and better for the business community," President and CEO of The Blair County Chamber of Commerce Joe Hurd said. "She was tremendous at everything that she was assigned to do. The chamber's reputation at that time grew tremendously due to her efforts."

Hurd continued by saying that the event and award were not given to mark Stacy's death, but to pay tribute to the life that Stacy led within the business community, the Chamber of Commerce, the ag community and the community in general.

Hoover's oldest daughter Briana Shable said that it means a lot that her mom is being honored for all of the hard work and all of the things that she has done for the community.

"It was more than a job for her," Shable said. "It was a friendship and a partnership. It was joy. She really loved what she did."

Olivia Hoover, Stacy's youngest daughter, added that she thought that her mom would be really grateful because she put in so much work for 20-plus years.

"She is really deserving of this," Olivia said. "She was the most hardworking person that I had ever met. Yet, she still had time not to focus on herself but to focus on everybody else."

Stacy's mother Carol Meyers said that Stacy would be honored to be receiving the ACE Award.

"She put her heart and soul into [her job]," Meyers said. "It wasn't a job to her. She made so many friends. Everything she did, she put 110 percent into it."

Shable added that she wanted to thank the Chamber and the committees for giving her a second family.

The number-one industry

Diamond reminded everybody that Agriculture is Blair county's number-one industry.

"You can see a lot of different farms with a lot of different animals and crops, as you drive across this beautiful county," Diamond said. "We're fortunate enough to have so much of our food and other products produced here in Blair County."

Benzel's

The keynote speakers of the night were Ann and Max Benzel from Benzel's Bretzel Bakery.

Ann said that this was an opportunity to thank the agriculture community because, quite frankly, they wouldn't be in business without them.

Ann and her grandson Max spoke about the history of their company because like so many of the farms, they are a family- owned business.

Ann concluded by saying, "I just want everyone to know how appreciative we are for what they do. I know it's not easy. I am grateful to live in this community."