The newest award category recognitions have been announced ahead of the annual event in Jefferson.

Jefferson Matters: A Main Street and Chamber Community has acknowledged the first-ever “Forces Under 40” recipients include Bonnie Silbaugh, Tracy Deal and Philip Heisterkamp. Jefferson Matters Executive Director Matt Wetrich says “Forces Under 40” is a way to honor individuals under the age of 40 who are community leaders and were nominated by people in the Greene County area.

“We’re hitting the younger generations. We want to celebrate that, we want to welcome more people in the 20s, 30s, 40s, or even younger, of course to be a part of the community and contribute because that’s what it really takes. This is a way to acknowledge those folks and help kind of spur that momentum.”    

Wetrich points out these individuals will be formally recognized at the annual Community Appreciation Night that is scheduled for March 28th at the Greene County High School auditorium. The event will include updates from this past year, along with the announcement of the 2022 Above and Beyond the Call (ABC) award winner. The speakers include Abby McConnell with experiencejeffersoniowa.com website, Teresa Green and Greene County School Superintendent Brett Abbotts talking about the career academy, Jolene Peters with Art on the Fly renovations, Margaret Hamilton about the Greene County Animal Shelter and Shirley Haupert on the new solar panel project with Greene County Action Resource Center. 

The March 28th event is free and open to the public.