FAIRFIELD – Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce held its annual awards banquet on Thursday, April 25, during which two Citizens of the Year were named: Pete Tollenaere and Lori Fry.

The news came as a shock to both recipients, who were expecting to sit back and enjoy the awards banquet as a viewer and not as a participant. Tollenaere attended the event with his wife Kathy, who was named Citizen of the Year two years ago, and sat at a table reserved for previous Citizens of the Year. Fry attended the event with her daughter Brittney Tiller because they’re both members of the Carnegie Historical Museum Foundation Board, which sponsors a table at the event every year.

The custom at the chamber awards banquet is for last year’s Citizens of the Year to introduce the current year’s recipients by revealing bits of information about them during a speech until finally announcing their name at the end. Lori Schaefer-Weaton, one of last year’s Citizens of the Year, took the microphone inside the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center and began introducing one of this year’s winners. As Fry listened from the audience, her ears perked up because she thought Schaefer-Weaton was describing a friend.

“She was talking very generically about someone involved in the community, and I thought it was a friend I saw a little earlier,” Fry said. “I was so excited.”

After reading a couple of paragraphs, Schaefer-Weaton announced that she couldn’t contain the secret any longer, and revealed that the person she was referring to was Lori Fry.

“I had no idea it was me,” Fry said. “Brittney was sitting next to us, and she told me, ‘I wish I had a picture of how far your jaw dropped when she said your name.’ Lori is someone I’ve admired for a long time, so it was nice for her to be the one who presented the award to me.”

Tollenaere was introduced by last year’s Citizen of the Year, Dr. Marty Gleason. Tollenaere said Gleason recited a few facts about this year’s honoree that could have only applied to a tiny handful of people, like that the person was a YMCA Indian Guide and involved in local conservation.

“I started realizing maybe that’s something I would match up with,” Tollenaere said. “It was a complete surprise to me. I had no clue, and didn’t see any of it coming. Kathy didn’t let it out at all.”

LORI FRY

Fry is active in her church, the Word of Life Lutheran Church, where she participates on its Outreach Team.

“There are a lot of volunteers, and it’s not just me volunteering,” she said. “I’m walking along with others who are doing good things in the community. Our kids were in FCA, sports, team meals and Bible studies. All of those things tie together a smalltown community where people work together to make it a better place.”

Fry served on the Fairfield Athletic Booster Club for five years. She said that, since her own kids were involved in sports and music, she felt a calling to help the boosters.

“They needed help in the concession stand, and it was something I felt comfortable doing,” Fry said. “It was a fun bunch of people to work with, and a way to stay involved.”

For more than 10 years, Fry has served on the Carnegie Historical Museum Foundation Board ever since John Stever asked her to join. The foundation helps fundraise for capital improvements to the museum, such as a new elevator, tuck-pointing its bricks and, more recently, replacing 44 windows. Fry said she’s really enjoyed seeing all the changes and new exhibits inside the museum, too.

Fry grew up outside Lockridge, where her father worked as a farmer and her mother taught fourth grade. She attended Fairfield High School and married her high school sweetheart, Greg, after college. This year, the couple will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.

The Frys have two sons: Colton and Dillon; and two daughters: Brittney and Danie. Lori said they stay busy playing with their seven grandchildren.

Lori runs her own business, Lori Fry Decorating & Consulting, which she’s had since 2000. She and Greg live on his family’s farm, which was just honored by the Carnegie Historical Museum for being a Heritage Farm, belonging to the same family for at least 150 years. Lori said they are building a new house on the farmstead.

“I love our community. Our family and Greg’s family have been here for generations,” Fry said. “We went to FHS, and our kids went to FHS, so it’s an important part of our lives. I think it’s easy to be involved in things when you have that perspective.”

PETE TOLLENAERE

Pete Tollenaere was involved in the YMCA Indian Guides, a program for kids to do something fun with their fathers. He’s taught hunter safety classes for 35 years, and loves helping with county conservation activities. He’s also been a member of Fairfield Kiwanis Club for 35 years, which organizes the annual Kiwanis Kids’ Day every September.

Tollenaere said the activities that he’s most proud of revolve around kids.

“I’ve volunteered with fishing, or activities where kids come out to [Jefferson County Park] to do archery, those are the ones that stand out in my mind,” he said.

Tollenaere has participated in the Challenger League in Fairfield, an organization that organizes baseball games for children and adults with disabilities. He’s also helped out as a buddy for mentally handicapped adults at Camp Wesley Woods in Indianola.

Tollenaere is active in the Fairfield First United Methodist Church, where he has volunteered through the church’s monthly food delivery service called MANNA.

“Over the last few years, we’ve prepared food for the Come to Supper meal held weekly at the First Lutheran Church,” Tollenaere added.

Tollenaere was born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He came to Iowa to go to college at Iowa State University, and then got a job with the Iowa Department of Transportation. He came to Fairfield in 1979, and worked as the DOT’s resident maintenance engineer. He eventually became the assistant district engineer, overseeing DOT highway projects throughout Southeast Iowa from Burlington to Osceola.

He and his wife Kathy have been married 52 years, and they have a son, a daughter, and six grandkids.

The Citizens of the Year Awards were presented by Libertyville Savings Bank.