Tuttle Area Chamber of Commerce names Al Carollo Citizen of the Year

City of Tuttle Mayor Aaron McLeroy received the Tuttle Area Chamber of Commerce’s award for Volunteer of the Year last week at the chamber’s annual banquet.

By Jayson Knight
jaysonrknight@gmail.com

The Tuttle Area Chamber of Commerce held its annual banquet Tuesday, October 17 at Coal Creek Winery in Tuttle, and handed out its awards for Citizen of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, and more.
Tuttle Chamber Director Leslie Walker said Thursday, October 19, “It went really good. The banquet went really well. We had 160 people there. The Business of the Year was Edward Jones, with Matt Soutee representing them. The mayor (Aaron McLeroy) won Volunteer of the Year, and then Al Carollo won Citizen of the Year for his help he does. He supports lots of different things in Tuttle, schools and teachers and the chamber, and just about anybody that might need it. We’re sure that there are some that we don’t even know about.”
Director Walker discussed the criteria, saying, “We take nominations, and I had two ladies in town in particular that had nominated Mr. Carollo, and really told some heartfelt stories about how he helped them. One lady, after her husband passed, it was such a tough time, but he kind of helped her through and eased her mind about some things. And then another lady, she called him, they told her she wasn’t going to live due to COVID, and she called him from the hospital to make sure things were okay for her family. She ended up making it after being in ICU with COVID, and they just felt like he (Carollo) kind of stepped up, above and beyond. They were very heartfelt emotions from people who wanted people to see the compassion that he showed as a business owner. It was very sweet.”
As far as McLeroy’s award, Walker said of the mayor, “He does a lot of volunteer work. He’s the voice of Tuttle Wrestling, at the competitions here. He’s the one that does the announcements, and of course he has served on the city council for quite a while.”
The Chamber will host a lunch for veterans at noon Wednesday, November 15 at Coal Creek Winery, after doing it for the first time last year. Walker said all veterans are welcome, and so are their spouses.

Al Carollo, with Al’S Heat & Air, was named Citizen of the Year by the Tuttle Area Chamber of Commerce last week.