Last Friday, the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce held its annual award banquet in the K-State Student Union Ballroom. Not only was the Chamber celebrating its 85th anniversary, but awards were given to three men for their exceptional work to improve the Manhattan area.

The awards included the Citizen of the Year Award and the Volunteer of the Year Award, both for the year 2009, and also the Little Apple Cornerstone Award. Every year, nominations are taken by Manhattan citizens for people who should be recognized for their strong leadership abilities, among other qualities, said Lyle Butler, president and CEO of the Chamber.

During her time as chairwoman of the Chamber, Linda Weis decided to create a new award, the Little Apple Cornerstone Award. Periodically, the Chamber has given out other special awards, like this one, to recognize significant leaders in the Manhattan community.

Butler said Weis created the award because she felt community leaders who have done very significant things for the city in the past should be rewarded for their efforts. More specifically, the award is for individuals from the community who have changed or greatly impacted the city.

"[It's for] people that made leadership decisions that made a cornerstone which changed and improved the city," Butler said.

The first-ever winner of the Cornerstone Award is Dr. Eugene Klingler, who is the medical director for Manhattan Surgical Center. Klingler, 74, has been a Manhattan resident since 1968, and has served as mayor for the city three times.

Klingler received his medical degree at the University of Kansas, and was a practicing surgeon for Surgical Associates until 2000, when he was offered the position of medical director for the center.

He said he was worried his age might affect his ability to perform well as a surgeon, so he chose to take the new job.

Dr. Dan Yunk, vice chair for the Chamber, presented the award to Klingler, crediting him with fostering a deal between the developer for the Manhattan Town Center Mall and the City.

"I was very surprised; it caught me completely off-guard," Klingler said. "I felt humbled because there were so many people involved with the downtown development."

Klingler was mayor during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the mall. He said the first time he was mayor, there were some "bare knuckle" negotiations with the developer of the mall, which had already been in the design phases of the project construction.

The Volunteer of the Year Award was given next to Richard Jankovich, chair for the Airport Advisory Board, for his volunteer work as chair for the board.

He was also credited for his work in helping introduce a commercial, non-stop jet service between Manhattan and Dallas-Fort Worth at Manhattan Regional Airport.

"Rich has gone all over the country to try and land a commercial jet service for Manhattan," Butler said.

Jankovich's work on the board translated into two, soon to be three, roundtrip flights to Dallas-Fort Worth. In order to do so, he had to travel to talk with several different airlines, and open and close deals with two airlines to bring commercial airline service to Manhattan.

The volunteer award originated in 1990 as a way to express appreciation for the hard work and dedication of a Chamber member to the Manhattan community. This award is given to a member of the Chamber because all of the people who work in the three divisions of the Chamber are volunteers.

Jankovich has been a Manhattan resident since birth, and he has donated much of his time volunteering for Manhattan organizations, like the Chamber and the airport advisory board.

The final award, the Lud Fiser Citizen of the Year Award, was given to the owner and founder of GTM Sportswear, Dave Dreiling. Rich Seidler, a member of the board of directors for the Chamber, presented the award to Dreiling.

This award originated in 1967, but was renamed in 1990 to honor the late Lud Fiser, who served as executive director of the Chamber for 27 years.

"[Fiser] was also a great volunteer, and he was very popular in the City," Butler said.

The Citizen of the Year Award is given to a community member who has made "outstanding and repeated contributions to the progress of the our community over several years," according to a news release from the Chamber.

Dreiling is a K-State graduate, and has also been working to create a new major for K-State students in Entrepreneurship, which can now be taken as a minor. He also helped initiate the new K-State Center for the Advancement of Entrepreneurship program.

Dreiling said he felt he was recognized for his progress with the program at K-State, and for his work in starting the Council of Civic Organizations.

"I bring the presidents of different clubs in the Manhattan area together once a month for lunch," Dreiling said. "We identify opportunities and brainstorm how the improve the city of Manhattan."

Butler said another reason why Dreiling was the chosen recipient for the award was because of a half-million dollar donation he made to the city. The donation will go to the improvement of the Pavilion in Manhattan City Park.

"Without that donation, [the Pavilion] wouldn't have the quality or outside appearance it will now," Butler said.

The award banquet finished with Dreiling's acceptance speech, and the evening ended with congratulations to each of the winners.