CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - The Carmichael Chamber of Commerce will toast business and community leaders at a North Ridge Country Club gala on March 30.

The annual Community Awards dinner celebrates five citizens and a non-profit. Honorees all have long service to Carmichael community in common. Channel 10 anchor Alex Bell will emcee the event.

Person of the Year for 2023 is former legislator Ken Cooley. A long-time Chamber supporter, Cooley grew up in the Bay Area and studied at Sacramento’s McGeorge School of Law. The attorney was elected to the Rancho Cordova City Council in 2002. Councilman Cooley was twice city mayor and in 2012, District 8 voters chose him for California State Assembly. He served for 10 years and is now enjoying retirement from public life – and being granddad to his sons’ five kids.

Businessman of the Year is restaurant entrepreneur Ernesto Delgado. His interests extend from Carmichael to eateries in downtown and West Sacramento. Delgado brought traditional Mexican cuisine (and his mom’s favorite recipes) to the Milagro Centre in 2016. Under the Ernest Delgado Hospitality Group umbrella, his businesses support culinary education, the arts and Mexican cultural events.

Businesswoman of the Year is Bonnie Prophet, who owns one of Carmichael’s longest-enduring enterprises. Serritella’s restaurant opened its doors in 1965. Owner/chef Prophet learned her trade in her mom’s kitchen and through restaurant jobs during college years. The mom of three bought Serritella’s in 2006. She moved the business from its iconic Palm Drive corner location in 2019, and now offers sustaining Italian cuisine in the Milagro Centre.

Educator of the Year Holly Olson represents the third generation of her family to lead Carmichael’s El Rancho Preschool and Elementary. She began lessons there as a preschooler, graduated from El Camino High School and earned her education degree in Missouri. Mother of two teenagers, Olson steered El Rancho through the pandemic with few lost learning days for 80 private students. Her school recently marked a 57^_year anniversary.

Community Advocate for 2023, Linda Martin grew up and began teaching in New Mexico. Joining Sacramento’s San Juan School District in 1969, she first taught then administered. The educator retired as Associate Superintendent. Martin’s volunteerism includes serving the Carmichael Kiwanis Club, Carmichael Parks Foundation and the Aerospace Museum of California. Her present museum efforts focus on encouraging young people into science, technology, engineering, art and math-related careers.

Chamber Ambassador of the Year Betty Bowles grew up in Lodi. Raising a son in Sacramento, she boosted his Boy Scout troop, coached his soccer teams and helped in high school stage productions. Volunteerism was squeezed in around 30-years of assisting with workplace problems for the Department of Labor. After retirement, Bowles delivered pizza, baby-sat pets and wrote a history book on Lodi. She has been a Chamber volunteer for 14 years.

As the Chamber’s Non-Profit of the Year, the American River Parkway Foundation will gain a portion of gala proceeds.

The Community Awards Dinner will be held on Thursday, March 30, beginning at 6 pm. $150 admission includes dinner, raffles, auctions and a no-host bar. North Ridge Country Club is located at 7600 Madison Ave. For information, call the Chamber at (916) 481-1002.