Leadership Hendricks County held its annual meeting and announced the 2017 Leader and Youth Leader of the Year.
This year’s Leader of the Year is Tim Whicker. A native of Hendricks County, Whicker is the owner of Electric Plus, a board member of the 4-H Fairgrounds and Conference Center, and a Mill Creek Community School Corporation board member.
Presenter Dennis Dawes also called Whicker a servant leader. Dawes explained that the award is determined by a committee of previous Leader of the Year winners, but nominations are made by anyone.
The 2017 LHC Youth Leader of the Year is Makayla Schirmer, who was unable to be present because she was representing the Tri-West school district at a women’s conference in Kokomo. Schirmer is a graduate of the Youth Leadership Hendricks County program and home schooled. She plans to earn a college degree in Occupational Therapy and, in a taped acceptance speech, mentioned her heart for adopting children.
The annual meeting also featured a keynote speech from Solange De Souza, a 1996 olympian who represented her home country of Brazil in the women’s marathon at Atlanta.