John Torsky was named the 2009 Les Cheneaux Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year at the organization's annual banquet at Ang-Gio's Restaurant Wednesday, November 4. Mr. Torsky is pictured with chamber president Diane Patrick, who presented the award. Community activist John Torsky of Cedarville was named the 2009 Citizen of the Year by the Les Cheneaux Chamber of Commerce at its annual banquet Wednesday, November 4. An emotional Mr. Torsky accepted the award with a standing ovation at Ang-Gio's Restaurant in Cedarville.

He said volunteering and being active in the community is something that his parents instilled in him from a young age and is something that he instilled in his four daughters, Allison, Gretchen Storey, Jessie Boscarino, and Lora Brown. Mr. Torsky, 63, also has five grandchildren; Marina and Lydia Brown, and Alayana, Alec, and Mason Storey.

"My mother has always been involved; my father has always been involved. I think we all need to be involved in our communities," he said. "My family always done it. As a family I think we try to do those things. It's fun. We'd like other people [to be involved]. Whether other people don't do it, we'll still do it."

Growing up in Cedarville, Mr. Torsky has been active in many of the area's organizations, including the Les Cheneaux Snowmobile Club, Les Cheneaux Islands Waterways Restoration Group, Cedarville Trojans Boosters Club, Les Cheneaux Community Schools Board of Education, Les Cheneaux Lions Club, and Les Cheneaux Sportsman's Club. He is currently president of the Lions Club and an active member of Waterways Restoration Group, which is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to get the federal navigational channels in the Les Cheneaux waterways and Cedarville Bay dredged.

"We try to support all of them," he said speaking for himself and his wife, Dana Torsky, who's also involved in the community and received the same award in 1994. "The chamber is just one small group. There are over 25 identifiable organizations in this community."

Nominees for the award were chosen based on their dedication, inspiration, and hard work in Les Cheneaux over the past year. Chamber president Diane Patrick said Mr. Torsky was chosen for his many years of volunteering and community activism.

"This is a very, very difficult award to give because there are so many people that are deserving," she said. "He had the most amount of nominations [from chamber members]. The chamber felt he was most deserving for his volunteering, helping out, and longest term of service. He's been doing that forever."

The theme of the event was "Hats off to Les Cheneaux," celebrating the positive things that have happened in Clark Township during the last year. Mr. Torsky's business, Islands Insurance Center, was recognized by the chamber for updating its management system and computers to better accommodate its customers.

He said the Les Cheneaux area has had a lot of positive and progressive things happen in 2009, and it has taken the effort of the whole community to do so.

"I think we're coming along. It's the whole U.P. We lost a lot of bluecollar customers, and we've got to make it up somehow. I think we're working hard at it and there's some bright spots. Our cup's not half empty, it's three-quarters full or more," he said, speaking of some of the year's challenges. "Focus on the positive things to me is important, and that's what we need to do. We have some positive things going on here. I'm proud to be a part of it."

Chamber of Commerce board of directors are vice president Dan Autore, treasurer and secretary Joanne Waybrant, directors Mike Schaeffer, Dana Torsky, Stacy Honnila, Virginia Calven, Bob Alexander, Greg Wagner, and Sarah Barr.