POTSDAM -- More than 200 people helped the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce celebrate the role of outstanding businesses and individuals in the county this past year, during the Chamber’s Annual Dinner Thursday night at SUNY Potsdam.

Pepsi-Cola Ogdensburg Bottlers was honored with the 2011 Business of the Year Award, which cited the company’s “extraordinary and tireless promotion of community events and business in St. Lawrence County.” Owners Dick and Bonnie Wright’s, and their employees’, support and involvement in community affairs, education, and youth activities across the county carry on a tradition started by Bonnie Wright’s father, Richard E. Winter, after his move to Ogdensburg in 1943 to take over the Pepsi-Cola franchise in the county.

“They’ve been a part of the Ogdensburg community nearly all my life,” Charles W. Kelly, presenter of the award, said. “They built this business and they built Ogdensburg along with it.”

Jim and Dot Locy, longtime county residents now of Waddington, received a Commitment to Community Award “for their love of St. Lawrence County and enthusiastic support of community initiatives which build the future,” as stated on the plaque they received Thursday evening.

The couple will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in April. They have spent their life together assisting organizations and causes across St. Lawrence County and beyond the county’s borders, including the Waddington Rescue Squad, Neighborhood Center, and Library. The pair were legendary fundraisers for the regional PBS station in Watertown. And their fund-raising ability has resulted in the success of the new St. Lawrence Power & Equipment Museum.

The two are constant supporters of chamber events such as this year’s Wounded Warrior Fishing Derby, and the St. Lawrence International Junior Carp Tournament.

“When I first met them, I thought, how special are they? ” Chamber Events Coordinator Jo Ann Roberts said in her introduction. “I couldn’t have imagined just how special they truly are.”

Another Waddington resident, Alicia Murphy, also received a Commitment to Community Award that noted her “vigorous organizing and promotion of St. Lawrence County community celebrations.” President of the Waddington Chamber of Commerce, Murphy was the driving force in getting Waddington its second-place win in a national contest to find the nation’s Ultimate Fishing Town. She orchestrated an online voting organization of 150 people, which eventually led to Waddington receiving a quarter-of-a-million online votes for the title, narrowly losing to a downstate village.

As County Administrator Karen St. Hilaire said in her introduction, “where we live is just a place, unless we have people (such as Murphy) committed to making it a community.”

For his “passionate and steadfast support of angling initiatives in St. Lawrence County and beyond,” Chase Mills resident Bob Giordano received the Chamber’s Volunteer of the Year award.

Presenter Don Meissner, well-known angler, TV host and coordinator of the county’s FISHCAP program, recalled that in anticipation of a carp angling tournament he realized he needed to get some inside information on the species, since he only had limited experience with the fish. Someone gave him Giordano’s name, he said, and after meeting with the local carp angler he thought “this guy really has his act together.” Subsequently, Giordano has joined the FISHCAP advisory board, and has been instrumental in organizing numerous fishing tournaments in the county, including the Wounded Warrior Derby this year.

Giordano is a former master sergeant in the Air Force, and in that role had organized events with sports teams including the Yankees and the Buffalo Bills.

Meissner noted that of all the county’s natural resources, “the greatest is its people,” including Giordano and the other award-winners of the year.