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I-S Chamber of Commerce awards

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IOLA-SCANDINAVIA – The annual award ceremony for the Iola-Scandinavia Chamber of Commerce awards was held May 21 with winners in each category for outstanding person of the year, business of the year and the Spark Plug Award.
This year marks 27 years of holding the award ceremony, which was led by Greg Loescher, the president of the Iola-Scandinavia Chamber of Commerce.

Outstanding Person of the Year
The nominees for outstanding person of the year were Diana Jones of JP Media, Barbara Kobs and Jerry Kopecky of Kopecky’s Collision Repair Services and Shivers, with Diana Jones winning the category for 2024.
Jones is the owner of JP Media in Iola, which creates magazines, newsletters, websites, books and webinars and employs 18 people.

The company has yearly scholarships for Iola-Scandinavia graduates, and regularly donates to events around the community.
Jones stays busy around the community as well, with being a school board member for the past seven years, as well as an Iola Lions Club and Iola Leos Club member.
Through these organizations she has served as a judge for DECA at the high school, helped plan a number of events including Tastes and Tunes, the Village wide rummage sale and fireworks in July.
She also volunteers at the Iola Car Show, Scandinavia Corn Roast, she has chaperoned school field trips, teaches Sunday school once a month at her church and has also taught pee-wee cheerleading.
“I feel very honored and humbled,” Jones said. “We just have an amazing community … I’m just grateful.”
Previous winners of this award include Chet Krause, Charlie Wasrud, Lyle Mork and Clifford Mishler.

Business of the Year
The nominees for business of the year were Country Chic Boutique in Scandinavia, Little Wolf Gallery and Melum Masonry, with Jules Melum of Melum Masonry taking the top spot for 2024.
Jules is a third-generation mason, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.
“I am just honored to be in the community, continuing my family legacy,” Jules said.

His company focuses on small to medium-size masonry work, which includes things like chimney repair, stonework, tuck pointing and concrete flatwork.
Melum Masonry has four year round employees and seven during the peak season in the summer.
The company is headquartered in Iola and they work on projects in Stevens Point, Waupaca and surrounding areas.
“Our niche is we’re able to serve the community and help out individuals and homeowners,” Jules said at the ceremony. “We’re not just taking on the big jobs, we’re doing the little stuff that I feel gets overlooked a lot of times.”
Jules is actively involved in every part of his business, with a masonry trade that has deep roots in the Iola community.
The 2023 business of the year winner was Odin and Freja’s.

Spark Plug Award
The Spark Plug award is given to people between the ages of 21 and 40 that have shown ambition and initiative in the Iola-Scandinavia community.
The nominees were Megan Melum of Melum Marketing and Amanda Christoph, with Megan Melum taking the award for 2024.
Megan has 15 years of experience in the marketing industry, with Melum Marketing she is able to assist small businesses to build a digital presence with website design, content creation, social media management and event planning.

Outside of her marketing business she is also actively involved in the community, where she is president of the Iola Winter Carnival, with plans to continue to grow the event.
With the expansion of the Winter Carnival she was also able to raise money for local organizations, including $1,000 to Iola Fire and Ambulance, $3,500 to the American Legion, $1,000 to the Iola Ski Jill and $500 to the Iola Chamber.
“I was very honored to get the Spark Plug Award this year, but I have to say that there’s no way I could take on the Winter Carnival without the amazing board that I have on my side that helped me plan it month to month, and also like over a hundred volunteers that it takes to get together to make it happen,” Megan said.
Loescher said while presenting the award that Megan wants to take on the Christmas parade, hoping to get some reindeer for the event.

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