Brenda Weatherly and Bob Tiffany for years have been invested in bettering the local economy while lending their hands in nonprofit activities.
For their efforts, the two have been named as man and woman of the year by the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau. The chamber will honor them – along with an ambassador of the year, five businesses of the year and a nonprofit of the year – at the 93rd annual dinner dance. The event at San Juan Oaks Golf Club starts at 6 p.m. Saturday and serves as a fundraiser for the chamber.
For Weatherly, it will be different being on the receiving end at such an event. As executive director of the Hollister Downtown Association since May 2005 and past president of the chamber, she often has helped to organize similar gatherings.
Weatherly said she was shocked and honored to be named woman of the year.
“I think it’s going to be fun,” Weatherly said. “Having been president of the chamber of commerce at one point, I was literally on the other side. … I can just go there and enjoy it.”
Tiffany, owner of Tiffany Ford in Hollister, said he was “a little surprised” because he had no idea he was in the running.
“It’s a pretty neat honor, and it was exciting to be recognized,” he said. “I know there are a lot of people that do a lot of things out in the community.”
Tiffany is most known for running the oldest Ford dealership, founded in 1910, in California. But he spends a lot of time and resources giving back, too. In the past two years, he worked with the Community Foundation for San Benito County to organize “San Benito County’s 12 Days of Giving.” Along with help from six nonprofits receiving the funds, the group raised about $70,000 in 2013. And they hope to raise closer to $100,000 later this year.
“It was just kind of an idea that kind of came together,” he said.
As for his penchant to give back, Tiffany said he learned a lot from his late father and his mother, who won woman of the year in 2010. He said giving back comes full circle.
“For the most part, the community’s been really supportive for us,” he said.
Though Weatherly moved here 27 years ago, the community has been good for her as well. While her full-time job at the HDA lends itself to being involved in the community, her recognition from the chamber is largely due to the many outside activities in which she takes part. She has been a Girl Scouts leader for a dozen years and serves on an array of boards and committees.
“It’s not really necessarily what I’ve been doing as part of my job,” she said of the honor.
She said she loves working with other people.
“I think people are volunteers and they’re volunteers, period,” she said. “If you have that kind of ethic, you just do it.”
WINNERS:
Man of the Year: Bob Tiffany
Woman of the Year: Brenda Weatherly
Ambassador of the Year: Sunny Underwood
Retail Business of the Year: Target (Hollister)
Manufacturing Business of the Year: Corbin
Service Business of the Year- Bianchi, Kasavan & Pope, LLP
Agricultural Business of the Year: Earthbound Farm
Hospitality/Food Service Business of the Year: Dona Esther
Nonprofit Service Business of the Year: Mr. O’s Academy of the Arts
ANECDOTES FROM WINNERS’ BIOS:
Bob Tiffany:
– After receiving degrees from Stanford and UCLA, Bob worked in various marketing positions for General Mills in the Bay Area, New York City, and Boston.
– In 1987, Bob returned to Hollister with his wife Kathy to become the fourth generation to run his family’s business, Tiffany Motor Co.
– He’s been both a member of Hollister Rotary and the Hollister Downtown Association since 1987, serving as the HDA President from 1989-1991, and Rotary’s President in 2000-2001. For the last 11 years, Bob has served on the Board of Trustees for the Southside School District, as well as on the board of the Community Foundation for San Benito County.
Brenda Weatherly:
– Weatherly has served countless hours on boards, committees and clubs. Brenda has been president of the Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanianne’s Club, and a board member of the Hazel Hawkins Hospitals Foundation.
– She also served on parents clubs, the San Juan Bautista Library Auxiliary, and San Benito High School graduation committees.
– She was instrumental in starting the Girl Scout Gold award Scholarship at SBHS for Girl Scouts who complete their Gold Awards, giving Girl Scouts a reason to stay in the program until they graduate.
