Curt Schroeder and Dr. Steve Platt are Co-Business Persons of the Year in Chester
By Jim Beers
CHESTER – The Chester Chamber of Commerce held its “Annual Awards and Recognition Open House” Friday June 14 at the Chester Country Club.
Pictured are the 2024 Chester Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year and Co-Business Persons of the Year. The awards were presented Friday June 14 at the 2024 Chester Chamber of Commerce “Annual Awards and Recognition Night” event held at the Chester Country Club. Pictured (left to right) are Chris Koeneman, newly elected President of the Chamber; Mayor of Chester, Tom Page, who presented one of the Business Persons of the Year Awards; Mike Coffey, Chester Citizen of the Year; Kurt Schroeder of Red Dot Construction, Co-Business Person of the Year; Dr. Stephen Platt, Co-Business Person of the Year; and Bruce Luthy, Jr., Retiring Chamber President and newly elected Vice President and Treasurer. Gwendy Garner Photo
The event began at 5 p.m. with Hor d’oeuvres, drinks and fellowship, for an hour. Throughout the “Happy Hour” music was provided by Pam Wegener who performs as, “Pam and a Piano”. She played piano and sang during her performance.
At 6 p.m. Chamber President, Bruce Luthy, Jr. opened the official program by leading the Pledge of Allegiance.
Luthy then gave a warm welcome and thanked everyone for coming to the 2024 Chamber Awards and Recognition event.
Luthy said, “Tonight we will be celebrating the accomplishments of three individuals the Chamber Board has deemed as making a difference in our community. We will also honor our 2024 scholarship recipients.”
Next on the agenda was the traditional “Passing of the Gavel” at which time the newly elected Chester Chamber of Commerce incoming President took the gavel from the retiring President. Bruce Luthy, Jr. passed the gavel to newly elected President, Chris Koeneman, who has been serving as Chamber Vice President.
Luthy jokingly said, “I am passing this gavel after serving my ‘two-year sentence’ as Chamber President. I will, however, be serving as Vice President and Treasurer until someone else steps up and accepts those positions.”
For the past two years Luthy has served as President and Treasurer and Koeneman has served as Vice President. David Randall has served as Executive Director for the 2023-2024 term and will serve again for 2024-2025.
Following the “Passing of the Gavel” ceremony, Chris Koeneman discussed the 2024 Scholarship Program and honored the two Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Recipients for 2024.
Koeneman said, “This year the Scholarship committee reviewed 12 scholarship Applications and all applicants were very impressive. All wrote an essay regarding the value and importance of dollars spent in the economy. Applicants were also evaluated regarding their GPA and school and community involvement.”
“Typically the committee selects one recipient, but this year two recipients were selected because both submitted excellent essays, had excellent grades, and produced extensive lists of school and community involvement. This year’s recipients are Haley Hoskin and Camryn Luthy.”
Neither recipient was able to attend the Chamber Scholarship Presentation due to previous commitments, but Koeneman discussed both recipients and honored their accomplishments. Each received a $500.00 scholarship.
Haley Hoskin will be attending Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana. She plans to major in Professional Writing and English and eventually pursue a law degree. Her long term goals are to open a law firm to help low income families and she would eventually like to become a District Attorney.
Camryn Luthy will be attending The University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, Indiana. She will major in Accounting and ultimately become a CPA. Her long term goals are to work in the Finance and Accounting Department at a local hospital or accounting firm. Luthy will also play on the USI Golf Team.
Next on the agenda was the presentation of the Business Person of the Year. As with the scholarship presentations, there were two very good nominations for this award, so it was decided to have Co-Business Persons of the Year for 2024.
Mayor Tom Page took the floor to give his customary “Remarks” regarding the event. He then made the presentation for the first “Co-Business Person of the Year” for Chester. The first recipient was Kurt Schroeder, owner of Red Dot Construction.
Kurt’s father, Bob Schroeder, started Red Dot Rentals in 1981 when Kurt was only 15 years old. In 1984 the Schroeder’s expanded into other states when they built, World Color Press in Oklahoma.
In 1990, Kurt’s father, Bob, passed away, and Kurt took over the business as a 24-year-old man. Over the last 43 years, Red Dot has completed more than 1000 jobs and Kurt has overseen every one of them.
“Kurt has done exceptional work all over the State of Illinois as well as in Missouri, Tennessee, and Oklahoma, and he has always been reliable, thorough, and on time”, said Page.
Locally, Red Dot has worked for the City of Chester for the Water, Sewer, and Gas Departments. He often donates time and equipment to the City.
Mayor Page said, “In my time as Mayor, I can attest that Kurt has donated his time and expertise working at the Cohen Recreation Complex. He has also donated time and talent in various other local organizations including St. John Lutheran School, St. Mary’s Catholic School, Chester Country Club, and the Chester VFW Post 3553. He actually founded the VFW Men’s Auxiliary in the fall of 2014 at a time when they were considering closing their doors.”
Chamber of Commerce member, Gwendy Garner, presented the second Co-Business Person of the Year for Chester. That person was Dr. Steve Platt, local physician.
Garner said, “This person is very deserving and accomplished. Much of his time is spent working at Church, Clubs, and Charitable Organizations. He has been a true ambassador for Chester and the Chester Business Community. Steve’s career and the nature of its effect on the community has him standing by us in our most joyous times and in difficult and challenging times.”
“Platt grew up and was educated in central and northern Illinois. He arrived in Chester in 1977. He recently retired after 47 years of full-time service. He has eased pain, saved lives, and delivered many babies. He has maintained an office schedule, served on the staff of Memorial Hospital in Chester, and worked for 32 years in Chester’s Emergency Room”, said Garner.
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He serves as an Elder at St. John Lutheran Church and donates time to the Lutheran School. He was an active member of the Chester Jaycees and he is a 45-year member of the Chester Lions Club. He is a member of the Mississippi Valley Gun Club and the Randolph County Rod and Gun Club. Finally, Steve served as President of the Chester Chamber of Commerce during the 1984-1986 term.
After presenting Dr. Platt with his award, Garner maintained her position at the podium where she also presented the 2024-25 Chester “Citizen of the Year”, Mike Coffey.
Gwendy said, “The Chester Chamber of Commerce 2024 Citizen of the Year Award goes to an individual so admired and trusted, so very respected, that it is difficult to condense all of his accolades into this presentation”.
Mike Coffey is a native of Chester. He graduated from St. John Lutheran School in 1966 and Chester High School in 1970. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from SEMO in 1974. After college he coached football at Jackson, Missouri from 1974 to 1982. He was Assistant Coach for the Varsity and Head Coach for the freshmen for four years.
In 1994 until 2006 Mr. Coffey coached football in Chester. He was defensive coordinator. His teams made the IHSA State Playoffs seven times in 13 seasons. He was on board in 1996 when the YellowJackets made the playoffs for the first time.
Coffey was very active at CHS. From 1994-2007 he coached track. The Lady Jackets were Conference Champs four times during his tenure, Girl’s Sectional Champs twice, and Boy’s Sectional Champs once.
From 2004-2007 Coffey served as CHS Athletic Director. During that period of time he added the Marissa Thanksgiving Tournament, the Sesser Christmas Tournament, the Freshman Boy’s Tournament, the Lady Jackets Softball Tournament, the Wooden Bat Baseball Tournament, and the Lady Jacket Mid-Winter Classic Basketball Tournament to the CHS Schedule.
Garner said, “Mike is a lover of all things CHESTER! He is especially fond of Chester history. He taught Chester History at CHS, and after his retirement from CHS he began teaching it at St. John Lutheran School. He has made Chester History come alive for students with his hands-on method of teaching.”
Garner then read portions from three different letters of support that praised his efforts over the years, including Todd Rushing, a coach at Pinckneyville High School, Dick Corn, an iconic basketball coach and retired Athletic Director at Pinckneyville High School, and Bobby Blondi a renowned Athletic Official from Southern Illinois.
In closing, Bruce Luthy, Jr. thanked everyone for coming to support the Chamber Awards Night. He also thanked the Country Club Staff and the Country Club for hosting the event, and finally, he thanked Pamela Wegener for her music.
Luthy then reminded everyone that the Chester Chamber and the Chester Rotary Club were hosing a Community Shred & Electric Recycling opportunity the next day, on Saturday June 15, at the BV Bank Parking Lot.
Finally, Luthy reminded the Chamber that they would be hosting an evening with the Illinois Small Business Community Navigator Program Tuesday June 25 from 5-7 P.M. at the Chester Country Club.
The program is a support effort for small businesses in Illinois that are identified as underserved including minority, rural, veteran, and woman-owned businesses. This service is supported by the Southern Illinois University Small Business Incubator.