Who Better to be Honored as Citizen of the Year Than Lansing

Norma Lansing, who is retiring as President and CEO of the Effingham County Chamber of Commerce, was honored Saturday night as the Effingham Citizen of the Year.

Norma has seen people receive the honor for more than two decades as a part of the Chamber's Business Recognition Gala. As she is stepping aside, who more appropriate to receive the honor?

Lansing was honored for her more than 40 years' service to the Chamber, including more than 30 years as the leader of the Chamber. The list of honors, though, are much longer including the local chamber being honored as 2020 National Chamber of the Year.

Lansing has been a leader in establishing the Effingham Regional Career Academy, Effingham County CEO, and Effingham County Vision 2020. One of her best qualities, though, has been her consensus-building skills that has enabled the area to accomplish a host of accomplishments that similarly-sized communities can only hope to emulate.

The Citizen of the Year award is presented annually by the Effingham Daily News.

This year's Business Recognition Gala was billed as "Norma's Retirement Celebration". As a nod to COVID-19, the event was held at Mid America Motorworks' Fun Dome.

The event also featured presentation of the annual Volunteer of the Year award, presented each year by the Effingham/Teutopolis News Report. This year's recipient was Wayne Funneman, a faithful volunteer at the Cross at the Crossroads.

Special recognition was given to The Equity and to Niemerg's Steak House as the Chamber Excellence in Business recipients for 2021.