On March 1, Dayton REALTORS® announced the recipients of the 2021 Good Neighbor, Rookie, Owner/Manager, and REALTOR® of the Year Awards during the virtual Inauguration and Annual Awards program. They also honored one member with the Distinguished Career Award. Their contributions to the real estate industry, the community, and the REALTOR® organization are greatly appreciated.
Distinguished Career Award – Darlene Breen, associated with Irongate, Inc. has been a member of Dayton REALTORS for 45 years, having received a real estate sales license in 1977 and a broker license in 2005. Her involvement with Dayton REALTORS® began in 1981 as a member of the Professional Standards committee and has continued by serving on many other committees through the years. She served on the Board of Directors and became Dayton REALTORS® president in 1996. Her contributions to real estate extended to both Ohio REALTORS® and the National Association of REALTORS® by serving as Ohio REALTORS® President in 2006 and NAR Vice President for Region Six in 2010. Serving the community is also an important part of Darlene’s distinguished career, such as having served on the Central Committee of the Montgomery County GOP from 2001 to 2008 where she was recognized as the GOP Volunteer of the year in 2012. She also served multiple terms as president of Centerville High School Athletics Boosters club and as a certified swimming official for 15 years for both the YMCA and OHSAA.
REALTOR® of the Year – Barbara Waddell, associated with Irongate, Inc. has been a member of the REALTOR® organization since 1999 and was a graduate of the Dayton REALTORS® Leadership Development Program in 2013. She served as a Dayton REALTORS® director from 2018-2021 and chaired or participated on many board committees including Professional Standards, DARPAC Fundraising, Equal Opportunity, Government Affairs, Recognition, Professional Development and Community Service. At the state level she sat on Communications, Professional Development, Commercial/Industrial, RPAC Fundraising, MLS and the Diversity and Inclusion committees. Additionally, she held leadership positions in Women’s Council of REALTORS® Dayton Chapter and Greater Dayton Realtists. As an active participant in our community, she has taught classes to prisoners preparing to re-enter society, assisted troubled girls through mentoring or teaching classes through the HomeOwnership Center of Greater Dayton. Barbara has even created her own non-profit which assists single mothers with child care expenses so they can keep their jobs and experience the American dream of home ownership.
REALTOR® Good Neighbor Award – Karen Huelsman, associated with Irongate, Inc. has extensive and far reaching community service involvement. The Greene County Port Authority depends on her honoree’s skills to assist in the evaluation of financial grants for businesses seeking to expand. The Fairborn Development Corporation relies on her to counsel them on commercial property and lease agreements. Karen is currently serving as the 2022 President of the Ohio Auctioneers Association after having served several years on its board of directors and as treasurer and vice president. For the Fairborn Chamber of Commerce, she served as their president for two terms and was involved in their professional and business development. She assists The Girl Scouts of Ohio Heartland in their fundraising auctions, which enabled them to raise $3,900 to support their programs. SICSA is another organization that our recipient supports by successfully running their Live and Silent Bid Auctions which raised more $16,500. The dedication our honoree has to these organizations is why this individual is truly deserving of this award.
In additional to this award, the community organization of her choice will receive a contribution of $250 from Dayton REALTORS® in her name.
Owner/Manager of the Year – Bernadette Gerren, associated with Premier Professionals Realty Estate, has been licensed since 1988, receiving a broker license in 1995. She a graduate of the Rayton REALTORS® Ambassador and Leadership Academy program. Bernadette participates on the Finance, Equal Opportunity, Government Affairs and Grievance committees and has served on the Credentials and Holiday Reception task forces. For Ohio REALTORS®, she has served on the Diversity and Equity task force and their leadership conference. In addition to holding the position of principal broker, Bernadette has held officer, director or committee chair positions within WCR, NAREB and Ohio Realtists. Locally, she is actively serving as the branch manager of NID-HCA Trotwood which provides free housing counseling services to Miami Valley communities.
Rookie of the Year – Mandy Wilson, associated with eXP Realty, was licensed in January 2020. As a New REALTOR®, she achieved over $6 million in sales between October 2020 and September 2021. This accomplishment qualified her to also be a 2021 Dayton REALTORS® Sales Leaders Award recipient at the Award of Excellence level.
In addition to these awards, the Young Professional Network’s “Top 5 Under 40” Awards were also presented at the reception. The “Top Five Under 40” recognized future leaders of the organization based on community involvement, sales volume, and participation in Dayton REALTORS® activities. The recipients were Erika Halburnt with Bella Realty Group, Candace Tarjanyi with Coldwell Banker Heritage, Eliza Fawley and Tami Galdeen with Home Experts Realty, and Shannon Leo with Clover Circle.
