Daytona Beach's Civic League hands out community service awards. Here's who they honored.
The Civic League of the Halifax Area recently honored two community leaders for going above and beyond in their efforts to make the Daytona Beach area a better place.
L. Gale Lemerand was presented with the Civic League's Cici and Hyatt Brown Lifetime Achievement Award. Charles "Chuck" Grant received the Beacon Award.
The two were recognized at the Civic League's annual dinner at Oceanside Country Club in Ormond Beach on Jan. 20. The event drew 170 people.
Who is Gale Lemerand?
Lemerand is the longtime chairman and majority owner of Stonewood Holdings, the parent company for the Daytona Beach-based regional Stonewood Grill restaurant chain. He is also a 50/50 partner with Tim Curtis in the local Houligan's Spirited Sports Grille chain.
Prior to getting into the restaurant business, the Michigan native founded a home insulation company called Gale Industries that grew to 100 locations in 23 states. He relocated the company's headquarters to Daytona Beach after moving to the area in the late 1970s and sold the business in the 1990s. The company, now known as TopBuild, continues to employ several hundred workers here.
Lemerand has been a leading supporter of charitable causes, particularly those involving education. He recently made a significant donation to launch an after-school enrichment program for local elementary school students. The program at Daytona State College is now called the Lemerand Center of Excellence.
"Gale Lemerand has been a remarkable entrepreneur, philanthropist and friend," said Nancy Lohman, who was installed to a two-year term as the Civic League's chair at the annual dinner. "One of the things I most admire about Gale is his wonderful sense of humor, his honesty and his integrity. It has been these qualities that have made him so successful."
The award to Lemerand was presented by J. Hyatt Brown, the chairman of Brown & Brown Insurance, and his wife Cici.
Lemerand was also honored earlier in the evening with an award for his efforts to help minority students from the Wanda & Janice Wilson Foundation.
Who is Chuck Grant?
Grant has been an executive of a number of Fortune 500 companies over the course of his career. He currently serves as chairman of Tenex Health, a California-based maker of minimally invasive ultrasound surgical devices used to treat tendon pain and plantar fasciitis. He and his partner Miki Nieves Bruinenberg live in Ormond Beach.
The couple's philanthropic efforts locally included their $4 million donation in 2021 to support cancer patient services at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach. The hospital's oncology center is now called the Charles L. & Miki N. Grant Cancer Center for Hope.
"Tonight, I have the distinct pleasure of recognizing a remarkable individual, quiet philanthropist, who has made an indelible mark on our community," said Halifax Health CEO Jeff Feasel in presenting Grant with the Beacon Award. Feasel served as the Civic League's chair in 2022 and 2023.
Feasel described Grant as "a man of action, a man who embodies a spirit of giving in a way that is as unique as impactful. ... His dedication serves as a beacon of inspiration."
What else happened at the event?
The annual dinner also featured the installation of Lohman as the group's new 2024-2025 chair as well as the organization's other board officers for the next two years: Vice Chair Chris Tolland, Secretary Kathy Crotty, Assistant Secretary Kathleen Dulko, Treasurer Bob Coleman, Assistant Treasurer Carl Lentz IV, and Feasel as immediate past chair.
The new board was sworn in by retired Appellate Judge David Monaco.
"I am honored to be the chair," said Lohman. "During my term over the next two years we will be focusing on what makes the Halifax area great in terms of economic development, cultural development, infrastructure development and governmental affairs as well as educational and healthcare development."
Lohman and her husband Lowell were the original owners, along with son Ty and Lowell's brother Victor of the Lohman Funeral Home chain. After the family sold the chain several years ago, the couple has focused on philanthropic efforts as well as teaming up with their son and daughter-in-law to develop the recently completed Cupola at Oceanside luxury townhomes across from Oceanside Country Club.
What is the Civic League?
Formed in 1963 by the late J. Saxton Lloyd, the Civic League is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group of community leaders dedicated to bettering the Daytona Beach/Halifax Area through civic engagement. The group examines issues affecting both the area as well as the rest of Volusia County and the state.
Lloyd was a prominent Daytona Beach businessman who played an instrumental role in launching what is now Visit Florida and Enterprise Florida, the state's tourism marketing and economic development arms.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona's Civic League hands out awards. Here's who they honored.
