And The Winners Are...

The Kirkwood-Des Peres Area Chamber of Commerce will honor community leaders and business owners the 66th Annual Installation and Awards Celebration on Friday, February 3 at the Hilton St. Louis Frontenac.

Citizen of the Year - Bill Burckhalter and the Staff of the Kirkwood Train Station

In 2003, Amtrak eliminated staffing of the train Station. It was the City's vision to have volunteers meet the trains daily, but needed someone to run the station as well as oversee the volunteer program. They met with Bill Burckhalter and hired him as the new station manager and volunteer coordinator, with the charge to find volunteers for the program. Bill was featured in the Webster-Kirkwood Times asking for interested volunteers to attend a meeting and now has about 70 volunteers who meet the four trains 365 days a year, including holidays.

In addition to greeting passengers and visitors, volunteers answer questions about train routes and provide information about Downtown Kirkwood - such as where to shop or get a bite to eat nearby. This service is a great boon to the Kirkwood-Des Peres Chamber of Commerce's ongoing effort to promote the area's tourism program.

Following the City Council's vote to buy the station from Union Pacific, Bill took charge of the building itself in addition to the volunteer program. Since that time, numerous improvements and renovations, including those addressing ADA needs have taken place, mostly funded by grants applied for by Bill.

Amtrak has recognized Kirkwood's volunteer program in several ways. After the first year of operation, the program received Amtrak's presidential award for outstanding service. Amtrak has requested Bill explain the effort to others across the country through presentations at its Amtrak Civic Conversations - conferences held throughout the country to help other cities design successful rail stations and programs.

Bill is a Vietnam veteran and organizes the Veterans' Day event each year at Kirkwood High School where veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Iraq and Afghanistan speak to students about their service. Bill and his wife Katie are Kirkwood residents and have three daughters and five grandchildren.

Chamber member Computer St. Louis owners Seth and Nicole Russell have been named as the recipients of the Businesspersons of the Year.

Businessperson of the Year
Seth and Nicole Russell, owners of Crestwood-based Computer St. Louis will be awarded the Businessperson of the Year Award. They are an IT solutions provider that has a wide range of products and services scaling from the individual consumer on their retail storefront to the 1000-seat enterprise level customer. Computer St. Louis takes pride in being locally owned and operated for over 15 years. They recently outgrew their original location and moved to a new, larger space to satisfy their current needs and facilitate more growth in the future. Their goal is to serve all of their clients with the right technology to make them more profitable, more efficient, more productive, and make their jobs and lives easier. This goal was established 14years ago when Seth's father, Jim, started the business. Seth and his co-owner wife, Nicole, have two children, three year old Logan and seven month old Leslie.

Volunteer of the Year
The award recipient, Colleen Schulter of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers will be honored as the Volunteer of Year for showing exceptional voluntary support of the Kirkwood - Des Peres Area Chamber of Commerce during 2011. Red Robin has been a member of the Chamber since 2007, and she jumped right in volunteering since day one.

Red Robin caters the Board of Directors lunches twice a year, every year. Colleen has gone the extra mile and singularly delivered the lunches...on her day off. Every year, for the past three years, she has hosted and helped to facilitate one of the quarterly Chamber New Member Receptions.

Red Robin also hosted a very successful and heavily attended Business After Hours and Networking, at which she spearheaded the entire event and helped to see it through to fruition.

Most recently, she helped to coordinate our first ever Breakfast With Santa, and with her input and direction, helped to make it a success.

But she is more than just a volunteer. Her company gives generously to veterans every year by offering free food during Veteran's Day, and she goes the extra mile not only to organize and do the publicity for the event, but goes out face-to-face and invites members of several communities to come in to the restaurant to personally be thanked for their service to our great nation. She takes up collections of toys, clothing and other necessities for less fortunate children and families to be donated to them in the hopes of making their Holiday season a little brighter. All of this, and much more, she does on a volunteer basis in addition to her regular job at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers in Des Peres. And she does it all with a tireless smile and a warm greeting for all she meets.

Lifetime Achievement
Alvin and Romona Miller will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Alvin, who was born and raised in Kirkwood, is the youngest of 11 children. He and his siblings were among the first African American students to attend integrated Kirkwood schools. He was a fine student and remarkable athlete, outstanding in football, basketball and track, and received multiple honors for his athletic prowess including being named "Parade Magazine's Top Prep Football Player of 1982." He received a full scholarship from Notre Dame University, graduating from there in 1987. He went on to play pro football as a wide receiver with the NFL's Buffalo Bills. He is currently a territory sales manager for a large corporation.

Romona and Alvin met following her move to St Louis from Memphis in 1988. And like a Kirkwood love story, it happened by chance at the annual Turkey Day game. They married and now have three children - Scott, Ariel and Lauryn. Romona holds multiple degrees, from the University of Memphis and Webster University. She is currently assistant principal at Kirkwood High School (KHS) in the student affairs office.

This amazing couple is devoted to helping young people succeed, especially those facing challenging life circumstances. They volunteer with Hope Unlimited as well as the Kirkwood Harrison Avenue Missionary Baptist Church, and have participated in the efforts of Community for Understanding and Healing. In recent years, several young people in need of a supportive family situation have been welcomed into the Miller's home.

Alvin and Romona were honored as 2009 Community Service Award recipients by Commerce Bank William T. Kemper Foundation. In November, 2011, the track at KHS was named in Alvin's honor.
Alvin's and Romona's dedication and commitment to volunteering and active involvement in a wide range of worthwhile endeavors for children, has greatly benefited the entire Kirkwood-Des Peres area.

For more information on Installation tickets contact Gina March at (314) 821-4161