Pismo Beach’s Citizen of the Year was chosen for his ‘selfless’ work improving the city

Pismo Beach’s Citizen of the Year is a regular fixture at City Council meetings (and he’s not even an elected official).

Don Day was chosen as the city’s top citizen for his “selfless and consistent efforts to improve the city of Pismo Beach,” according to a Chamber of Commerce news release.

The Chamber honored Day, and its Business of the Year winners at its annual dinner Jan. 18.

Day, previously a quality control engineer for PG&E’s Diablo canyon nuclear power station, has been active with a number of Pismo Beach groups for decades.

These include the Pismo Beach Improvement Group, where he served as inspector and organizer of downtown streets, curbs, gutters, sidewalk upgrades, and street lighting in 2003; the Pismo Beach Redevelopment Agency as the city’s representative to the oversight board; and most recently, the parking advisory committee.

According to the release, Day has on his own been instrumental in the development of the Price Street center median parking, helped locate six permanent restroom installations and raised thousands of dollars for the Pismo Beach Police K-9 program in 2016 and 2017.

He also regularly speaks on a myriad of issues at the Planning Commission and City Council meetings each week.

The Chamber selected Morovino Wines, owned by David and Andrea Bradford, as the city’s Business of the Year.

According to the news release, the Bradfords moved the Morovino tasting room from Solvang to Avila Beach in 2008 and have become large supporters of community events both there and in Pismo Beach; they also donate wines for several community events, including Chamber Mixers, Taste of Pismo, Catch of the Central Coast and other local fundraisers.

Andrea Bradford is a former Chamber board member and has helped organize the wine component of the Taste of Pismo event and the Clam Festival Wine Walk.

The Pismo Beach Chamber of Commerce also welcomed a new chair and a Board of Directors at the dinner.

The new chair is Tom Burgher. Burgher and his wife Sherie own and operate Entreprise LLC, an entrepreneurial art enterprise that includes Seaside Fine Art Gallery in Pismo Beach and SLOPOKE Events.

Other officers include: Gary Stone, vice chair; Rick Turton, treasurer; Anita Shower, secretary; Dr. Marc Lebed, past vice president; Debbie Eastom, Mark Eads, Sonny Higginbotham, Lisa Kruitbosch; Valerie Mercado, Erica Copolla and Tony Wells.

Retiring board member Pat McCann was also honored at the Jan. 18 dinner with a service award for his “support and championing of the Pismo Chamber,” according to the release.

This story was originally published January 22, 2018 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Pismo Beach’s Citizen of the Year was chosen for his ‘selfless’ work improving the city."