NORTH WEBSTER - Mike Kissinger was awarded the North Webster - Tippecanoe Township Chamber of Commerce Person of the Year on March 11.
He is a lifelong resident of North Webster, a Wawasee High School graduate and currently is serving as the Kosciusko County surveyor. He and his wife, LuAnn, live on the northeast side of North Webster and have a son, Tyler, and a daughter-in-law, Tori.
Mike was crowned the King of the Tournament of Champions in 1984. He was awarded the Chamber’s person of the year in 2011, and was the recipient of the Kosciusko County Community Foundation’s Heart of Gold Award in 2015.
He donates much of his time to the community. He is very involved at the North Webster Community Center, where he started the NWCC garage sale, Kid Business Fair, along with several adult sports leagues at the NWCC. Mike plays in an adult volleyball league and chaperones pickleballers. He volunteers at every NWCC event and is the director’s “go to” when an issue arises because he knows “everything about everything here,” according to Director Emily Shipley.
He also has been an Upward basketball coach and referee, youth baseball league coach and Lakeland Youth Center basketball referee.
Mike helps measure off vendor spaces for the Dixie Day and most recently partnered with an anonymous donor to assist his son Tyler and wife, Tori, of Hartley Builders, to hang the lights on Pilcher’s tree for the annual tree-lighting festivities.
A Chamber board member stated that there is something or someone in a town, a person, who makes it for you. They stated that Mike was that person. He was the first person who made them realize the town was special.
Mike has eluded the North Webster Lions Club for many years to be the grand marshal or the Person of the Year (when the Lions Club was choosing their own). He always told the Lions Club there were more deserving people in North Webster. Contrary to Mike’s opinion, he is deserving of leading the parade and being honored by the community.