BY SARA WARD
Lots of recognition has occurred throughout March, honoring and acknowledging the hard work the citizens of DeLand put into the community. On March 12, the Junior Service League held their ninth annual “DeLand Woman of the Year” awards ceremony. Similarly, on March 17, the City of DeLand announced its recipients of its Volunteer of the Year awards.
The Junior Service League of DeLand is a women-led volunteer organization that works on community projects in the greater West Volusia area. In fiscal 2023-24, these women raised $52,000 and volunteered 5,700 hours of service. For the past nine years, the organization has put on the “DeLand Woman of the Year” award ceremony. This year, they nominated 10 influential women in the community who gathered at Venue 142 for the ceremony. Althea “The Beautiful” Ross Chavers won the Heart of the Community Award, and Karen Weiss took home the overall title as DeLand Woman of the Year.
Chavers is known in the community for directing the Ed Lacey Spring Hill Boys & Girls Club, and her work as founder of “Keeping the Fight Breast Cancer Foundation.” Through this foundation — which she founded after her 2006 breast cancer diagnosis — Chavers provides both financial and emotional support to those facing cancer.
WHO RUNS THE WORLD? — Taking a group photo, the nominees for “DeLand Woman of the Year,” from left, Nikki Risley, Althea Ross Chavers, Kellee Holland Smith, Marie Johnson, Karen Weiss, Katherine Russell, Stephanie Mullins, Jaclyn Carrell, Kristi Tyrrell and Courtney Edgcomb, pose with their certificates.
Weiss was the first female president of the Rotary Club of DeLand, assistant governor for Rotary District 6970 and secretary of the DeLand Sunset Rotary Club. She led the Rotary Clubs in adopting ME STRONG. Weiss also has dedicated her time to bringing Girls on the Run to Volusia County.
A little while away in the DeLand City Commission Chambers, four of the seven nominees in attendance were recognized for their work throughout the DeLand community. Aaron Preston received the Volunteer of the Year under 40 award, and Georgia Carter was crowned overall Volunteer of the Year.
Preston has been involved with various organizations such as the Teen Center, Blake Memorial Baptist Church, The Neighborhood Center of West Volusia and the Rotary Club of Downtown DeLand.
Carter has been serving as the executive director of the West Volusia Tourism Advertising Authority since December 2016. There, she develops marketing and advertising programs to increase tourism in the 14 communities in western Volusia County. She is a member of various organizations, such as Southeast Tourism Society, Society of American Travel Writers and the FPRA Volusia/Flagler chapter. Carter was also a recipient of the chapter’s Roger Pynn Great Communicator of the Year Award in 2024.
Both Preston and Carter were honored again on March 24 for the unveiling of their plaques on the city’s walk of fame, located on the northwest side of Woodland Boulevard and New York Avenue.
— Maston Morwick contributed to this reporting.
