Matt Wetrich as the emcee of the 2023 event

There are some changes for this year’s Community Appreciation event in Jefferson coming up later this month.

Jefferson Matters Executive Director Matt Wetrich says the event takes place on Sunday, April 21st at 2pm at the Greene County High School auditorium. One of the changes was to the main highlight with the Above and Beyond the Call (ABC) winner. Wetrich notes that instead of surprising this year’s recipient the night of, they are trying a different strategy.

“And we’re going to actually, kind of take a page out of the Bell Tower of Fame book and we’re going to acknowledge this person ahead of time. About ten days or so, two weeks ahead of time, so they know (and) we’re still going to surprise them. And that’ll give all their friends and family, and whoever a chance to be there and really celebrate more. We think that’s just a great way to get more people at the event, and just a bigger celebration, which is really the name of the game that day.”  

Wetrich points out they are accepting nominations for the new recognition that started last year with “Forces Under 40.” He says this honor is for individuals in the community that have exemplified leadership and are under the age of 40. Nominations are a simple, written out summary or explanation that can be emailed to Wetrich at matt@jeffersonmatters.org by April 4th.