Congratulations to Cassandra Sanford (pictured above), co-founder and CEO of the KellyMitchell Group technical staffing firm, who has been named Clayton Chamber of Commerce’s 2016 Business Person of the Year. She and the other awardees—Remy’s Kitchen & Wine Bar (Excellence in Retail/Service) and Bob Chapman (Cornerstone Award)—were honored at a ceremony last month at The Ritz-Carlton.

Our condolences on the passing of community leader Julie Schnuck, who died last month of a brain tumor at age 68. She and her husband, Scott C. Schnuck, helped launch the Julia M. Schnuck Personalized Immune Vaccine Trial at Washington University with a $2 million lead gift to research cures for the devastating illness. During her years of community service, Julie was founding co-president of the Foundation for Special Education, member of the St. Louis Garden Club, and the first advisory board president for Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary.

Talk about go-getters! In 2012, World War II veteran Lee G. Wall and his daughter Jan Misuraca proposed a plan to honor veterans in Chesterfield’s Central Park. Veterans Honors Park was born. The plan was approved by the city council, which agreed to a $500,000 matching contribution. So the pair, with help from their committee, launched an aggressive fundraising campaign, meeting with more than 60 companies and organizations. They exceeded the figure, with contributions received from all over the country. So it’s no surprise that Wall and Misuraca have been named Chesterfield’s 2016 Citizens of the Year. Way to go!

Bravo for our Saint Louis Science Center, which is one of only four museums in the country to get to host ‘Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission’ in honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. From April 14 to Sept. 3, 2018, the command module Columbia will leave the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum for the first time to allow four lucky cities to see it up-close and personal. The other stops will be Houston, Pittsburgh
and Seattle.