Brandon's Key Citizen of the Year? That Would Be . . .

It gave last year's Key Citizen of the Year great pleasure to announce this year's honoree, as the person deemed most deserving to stand out as a testament to Brandon's spirit of giving.

That was the word from Tammy Holmberg, moments before she announced Susan Saunders as the newly named recipient of the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce's Key Citizen of the Year award.

Saunders was recognized for her many years of volunteer work with the chamber, the Brandon Outreach Clinic and the Center Place Fine Arts & Civic Association, for which she served as a past president.

Her husband, Steve, received the Key Citizen of the Year Award in 2005.

"I take great pride in being Susan Saunders' husband," he said at the Feb. 1 annual membership dinner hosted by the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce at The Regent in Riverview.

He said he could attest to Saunders' unrelenting drive to give back to the community through volunteer work.

"I know this better than anyone," he said. "She's never home."

As for his wife, she was duly moved by the honor, fighting hard to hold back the tears that gave testament to her humility in receiving the award.

"I don't do what I do for awards but because I love this community," she said. "When a community's been good to you, you need to be good to the community. It's not your obligation [to give back], it should be your joy."

As Saunders put it, volunteerism "is joyful giving."