The Greater West Chester Sunrise Rotary Club has named two outstanding recipients as winners of the Leaders of Distinction award for 2012. Mary A. Bigham was named as “Emerging Leader of the Year” and Lori Zytkowicz was named “Small Business Leader of the Year.” 

The winners will be honored on Saturday, March 24, 2012, at Radley Run Country Club beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the dressy casual event cost $85 and sponsorships are available. Reservations and checks should be sent to Greater West Chester Sunrise Rotary Foundation, Maureen Long, 1300 Dawman Road, Coatesville, PA 19320. Proceeds from the event benefit organizations selected by the honorees and other Rotary programs.  

The Greater West Chester Sunrise Rotary Club Leader of Distinction program was established to recognize individuals who either live or work in Chester County who demonstrate “Service Above Self” through exemplary leadership accomplishments.

Bigham is the owner and founder of TheTownDish.com, a family of food websites that focus on the suburbs around the Philadelphia area. Individual websites include WestChesterDish.com, DowningtownDish.com, PhoenixvilleDish.com, ExtonDish.com, MainLineDish.com, KennettSquareDish.com, MediaDish.com and soon, ChestnutHillDish.com. She also founded DishTrip.com, a partnership with Southwest Airlines.

She contributes to a number of publications and radio shows, and provides media relations services to a number of non-profit organizations in Chester County. Bigham acts at the Contributing Editor for Chester County Cuisine & Nightlife, as published by the Daily Local, and also, is a weekly host of her own WCHE 1520 radio show, Eat, Drink & Meet Mary. Her community affiliations include Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce, Chester County Leadership Connection, Brandywine Ballet, Communities that Care, Women’s Resource Center, Rotaract, and the Business & Professional Women’s Club of West Chester.

Zytkowicz, along with her husband, is the owner and innkeeper of the historic Faunbrook B&B in West Chester. Using her past 20 years of marketing and sales experience, she manages and promotes the Victorian 7,200-square-foot mansion with seven guest rooms and event space, hosting hundreds of guests for accommodations, weddings and celebrations each year. The couple has owned the business since 2008.

Faunbrook supports many local fundraising events and Zykowicz is an active member of a number of organizations, including the Brandywine Valley Bed & Breakfast Association, Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau, West Chester Chamber of Commerce, Women in Motion, Women’s Referral Network of Chester County, Exton Region Chamber of Commerce and the Pennsylvania Auctioneer’s Association.

Rotary International, an organization of business and professional leaders united worldwide, provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world. In more than 160 countries worldwide, approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 30,000 Rotary clubs. Chartered in February 1989, the Greater West Chester Sunrise Rotary Club is one of more than 50 clubs in the Southeastern Pennsylvania District #7450.

Service is a hallmark of the Greater West Chester Sunrise Rotary Club.  The club supports community priorities including youth, senior citizen, health, national and international causes. Among the organizations we are or have recently supported are:  Chester County OIC, Chester County Hospital May Festival, Friends Association for Care and Protection of Children, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Salvation Army bell ringing, ACEER (Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research), KIVA Project (micro lending), Aid to South Africa – sponsored by the West Chester University Honors Society, Library in La Entradas, Honduras. 

Learn more about the Greater West Chester Sunrise Rotary Club by visiting rotary7450.org/WestChesterSun.