DDA Celebrates Awards, Honors Volunteers

The celebrated volunteer achievement and other awards Tuesday at the DDA's annual Volunteer Celebration, held at in downtown Farmington.

Tammy Dafoe received this year's Mary Martin Service Award, in honor of the countless hours she contributed to redesigning downtownfarmington.org, the DDA's Web site. Dafoe headed up the team of volunteers who worked on redesigning the site, making significant improvements to aesthetics and usability, according to DDA Executive Director Annette Knowles.

The Mary Martin Award, launched in 2005, is named for volunteer Mary Martin, who was "instrumental in transforming the Farmington Farmers & Artisans Market," according to information provided by the DDA. Other 2011 nominees were:

• Melissa Andrade, who coordinated 186 volunteers for the Harvest Moon celebration in October;
• Pete Hubbard, who assists with many events and most notably, the Farmington Area Founders Festival; and
• Mark Knowles, nominated by another volunteer for his participation in virtually all downtown events. Mark is the husband of Annette Knowles.

Along with honoring volunteers, the Tuesday night event celebrated two awards received by the Farmington DDA through Main Street Oakland County (MSOC), the county-wide downtown revitalization program.

The county honored the Village Mall, at Grand River and Farmington Road, for Outstanding Façade - Building Rehabilitation, recognizing a project that retained the historical character of the 1920s-era building, while freshening up its look, Knowles said. The project received design assistance through MSOC, and financial help through the Farmington DDA’s Façade Incentive Program.

Officials also recognized the Grand River Avenue Streetscape Promotion Campaign as the year's Outstanding Brand & Imaging Campaign in the Promotion category. The “It’s Happening” effort included print materials, giveaways, a web site, a video, a retail promotion and special events, all geared toward creating a positive image and enthusiasm for the nine-month streetscape construction project.