Staff Reports
Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann presented Samantha Aulick of Columbus and Melton Lightfoot of Bartholomew County each with a 2015 Hoosier Hospitality Award for outstanding contributions to the tourism industry during a ceremony Aug. 21 at the Indiana State Fair, according to a news release.
Aulick is the co-owner and sales manager of 240Sweet. Lightfoot works as a busser at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center.
Aulick’s nominator said she shows great commitment to her loyal customers, is a natural marketer and regularly engages followers on social media. Lightfoot’s nominator said he displays sincere concern for each guest, and multiple guests have described him as the hotel’s hardest-working employee.
Twenty representatives of Indiana’s travel, tourism and hospitality industry earned the 2015 Lieutenant Governor’s Hoosier Hospitality Award for their high level of service in tourism-related jobs at hotels, restaurants, attractions and other destinations.
Nominations for Hoosier Hospitality Awards are submitted by community members and destination patrons. Nominations are reviewed and winners are selected by the Indiana Office of Tourism Development.
“These professionals and their Hoosier Hospitality are the vibrant pulse that keeps the tourism industry alive and well in the state of Indiana. It is a great honor to present these awards to such deserving tourism leaders whose work all too often goes unrecognized, but never unappreciated,” Ellspermann said in the news release.
