R-M staff
The Perry County Republic-Monitor will host a reception at noon, Thursday, April 4, to present its annual Jackie Wengert Memorial Business and Citizen of the Year awards.
The reception, which will be held at the newspaper’s office — located at 11 W. St. Joseph St. in Perryville — will be open to the public.
Last year’s recipients were the Perry County School District and community volunteer Diane Kohm, along with longtime Perryville Area Chamber of Commerce director Jackie Wengert, whose name was added to the awards following her death in 2023.
“The Republic-Monitor has been honoring local businesses and our hometown citizens in this way for decades,” said publisher Robert Cox. “We’re proud to continue the tradition.”
Honorees are nominated annually by community members, who send in letters explaining why they feel this business or that citizen deserve recognition, and are voted on by members of the Republic-Monitor staff.
In addition to the awards presented to each honoree, they will also be featured in a special section which will be included in the newspaper’s April 4 edition.
Previous Business of the Year winners include locally owned businesses both large and small, from the Bank of Missouri (2006), Perry County Memorial Hospital (2009), Rozier’s Mercantile (2014) and TG Missouri (2021) to the St. Vincent Thrift Store (2008), Better Hearing Solutions (2012) and The Spillway Bar and Grill (2016).
The Citizen of the Year list reads like a who’s who of Perry County, including Bob Miget (2008), Chuck and Sharon Cathcart (2013), Ed Schumer (2016) and Stan Denninger (2017), all of whom have made significant contributions to Perry County.
“We feel we have made two excellent selections this year and look forward to presenting these honors next week,” Cox said.
