Community Award Winners

For Immediate Release
March 18, 2025

Germantown Chamber Announces Community Award Recipients
2024 Business, Citizens of the Year, Organization of the Year and Lifetime Achievement

Germantown, WI: The Germantown Area Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the Business, Citizens of the Year, Organization of the Year and Lifetime Achievement awards for 2024.  The Community Awards Celebration is Wednesday, April 30 at the Germantown American Legion Post 1 and this year the Theme is “School Spirit”. There will be heavy appetizers, networking, activities, bingo and we encourage all who attend to have fun with the theme.  Family, friends, Chamber members and the public are invited to attend.  Please join us to congratulate our 2024 recipients!

Business of the Year – Belle Salon
Belle Salon is built on the core value foundation of “connection, community and collaboration”. At Belle it is their mission to create a unique experience that leaves guests knowing they were seen, heard, cared for, and appreciated. The goal is to foster a sense of community and connection within the salon as well as throughout Germantown and surrounding communities. They strive to deliver experiences and results that leave you more empowered and radiating confidence. They believe you deserve to shine! While starting in cosmetology school, Chevelle the owner of Belle Salon, was introduced to the Germantown area through working in the service industry for over a decade at local gems like Jerry's and Von Rothenburg Bier Stube. Chevelle started her beauty career in a Germantown salon, working for seven years to build a loyal clientele. After two years in Brookfield, Chevelle was excited to return to Germantown and pursue her dream of owning a salon in a place she loved.
Belle Salon was born out of a vision to create a space that felt personal and welcoming. It began as a cozy one-chair salon inside the Stonewood Corporate Center in Germantown, in 2019. Belle Salon quickly grew, and Chevelle was driven to build a team of talented stylists to serve the community. On February 1, 2021, she opened the doors to the current Belle Salon, at a beautiful new location just off Mequon Road. While they are passionate about providing high-quality hair services, community and connection are the heart of Belle Salon and they believe in collaboration over competition and actively engage in local initiatives. As proud members of the Germantown Chamber of Commerce, they cherish the opportunity to connect with other local businesses and Chamber members. A true highlight of the year and one of their favorite traditions is participating in the Germantown Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade and Festival. Belle sponsors and supports women-owned businesses and organizations throughout the year that reflect their values. Belle Salon considers it an honor to support local and to be actively involved in our Germantown community.

Citizens of the Year – Gerald & Joyce Nelson
The Nelson family have been residents of Germantown since July 1979. Their volunteer activities include participation in several major Germantown events, village committees, elections, the military, the VFW and Library Boards.
Joyce was appointed to the Germantown Community Library Board in November 2002 and in 2010, was elected to the role of Germantown Library Board President, a position held ever since.  Some recent Library accomplishments include in 2024 the Board and library staff spearheading the Patio project.  All funding for this project was donated by local organizations, businesses and individuals. In 2024, the Library celebrated its 60^th anniversary and was Grand Marshal of the 4^th of July Parade.  Being a part of the Library Joyce became a member of the Germantown Area Chamber of Commerce’s Christmas Festival Committee in 2013 when the event took place at the Library.  This committee involvement included event planning and event volunteering.  In 2016 Joyce was appointed to the Monarch Library System Board, which provides cataloging services for Dodge, Ozaukee, Sheboygan and Washington counties and in 2023 was appointed to the Operations subcommittee. 
Gerald served in the U.S. Army and has a life membership with the Germantown VFW Post 9202.  He is Co-founder and current Secretary of the Kettle Moraine Chapter of the 1^st Cavalry Division Association.  Gerald has been involved with the Deutschstadt Heritage Foundation since 2022, which includes being a part of the Maifest Festival Committee which oversees the 3-day Maifest event each year.  His service with the Deutschstadt Heritage also includes time repainting the “Wilkommen to Germantown” sign on the corner of Pilgrim & Mequon Roads and cleaning up the planting bed surrounding the sign.  Through the Village, Gerald has worked election polls for about 8 years with 2 years as Chief Inspector ending in 2015.  He served on the Village Ethics Committee for two terms and was a part of the now disbanded Wetland Committee.

Organization of the Year – Deutschstadt Heritage Foundation
The Deutschstadt (English translation: German city) Heritage Foundation, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) foundation and is proud to be the organizer of Germantown's annual Maifest celebration.  The Deutschstadt Heritage Foundation (DHF) was formed in July of 1988 and the Mission Statement is to improve the economic base of Germantown by creating a unique marketing niche to draw tourists and increase local purchasing loyalty by developing a German aesthetics improvement program and attracting additional commercial businesses.  One of the first efforts by the newly formed DHF was to arrange for the University of Wisconsin to conduct a survey of the Village, identifying buildings of historical interest.
All members of the Deutschstadt Heritage Foundation are volunteers and to create awareness of its mission, DHF held Germantown’s first Maifest celebration in 1989. Maifest is the traditional German celebration of spring, and Germantown’s first celebration was very small, taking place in the Germantown High School Cafeteria for 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon. Maifest Germantown continues today as a community celebration of our German heritage. It has grown considerably over the years, made many location changes, and faced significant hurdles. Following the first celebration at the high school cafeteria Maifest has been held at Firemen’s Park, the parking lot outside of Rooneys grocery store (now Sendiks), Pick ‘n Save parking lot, Germantown Marketplace Shopping Center parking lot (behind Belle Salon), Friedenfeld Park, back to the Germantown Marketplace Shopping Center and in 2025 back to Firemen’s Park! Come celebrate with the community May 16-May 18 with great music, delicious food, (including a Friday fish fry) beverages, and Gemutlichkeit. (English translation: a situation that induces a cheerful mood, peace of mind, belonging, cordiality, friendliness).  Over the past 30 years, all proceeds from this annual Maifest celebration have been invested back into the community to support various charitable events and organizations.

Lifetime Achievement – Frederick “Fritz” Gierach
Frederick “Fritz” Gierach has been a life-long resident of Germantown. He started his working career at the family business, Gierach’s Garage. He attended Manpower Business Training Institute in 1965 and received his Total Data Processing Certificate. He was then employed by Evinrude Motors in 1966 as a computer programmer. During that time, he also received his Real Estate Brokers license but wasn’t very active in real estate until 1973 when he left Evinrude as “manager of systems and data processing” and started selling real estate full-time. Butch Walterlin suggested to Fritz that he also begin selling insurance as his real estate career was starting. Butch and Fritz formed Colonial Insurance Agency Inc in Germantown in 1974 and later sold it in 2000 to two other agents who had joined the agency. Fritz spent much of his life selling real estate with Superior Investment Realty Ltd., the company he established in Germantown. Over the years, he was hired as the exclusive sales agent for several subdivisions in Germantown, including Sunberry Downs, Brown Stone, Sunberry Woods, York Towne, Shadow Wood, and Berry Wood. Fritz also developed Village Plaza Condo Association, LLC in Germantown in 1987 with his brother-in-law, Gene Arnold. The development included the Goodyear Tire and Auto facility, the strip center, and the Dental Professional Building on Mequon Road.
Fritz attended Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Grade School in Freistadt and Washington Union High School, now Germantown High School. Fritz enlisted in the United States Army Reserves in November 1964 and was honorably discharged in 1970 with a SP5 rank. He joined the American Legion Post #1 in 1973 and recently received his 50-year continuous membership certificate. He was an active member of the Germantown Volunteer Fire Company for more than 30 years and served as president from 1989 to 1991. Fritz was a founding member of the Germantown Chamber of Commerce and was also a member of the Germantown Lion’s Club. Fritz served as a Washington County Supervisor for Germantown from 1986 to 2004 and was on the Samaritan Health Center and Highway Department committees. He was appointed as a member of the Board of Directors for the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District as the representative for Washington County by Ken Miller and served on the construction subcommittee for Miller Park for the Milwaukee Brewers (now American Family Field). Fritz has attended Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church for his entire life and was secretary of the church board for two years. He has also been a continuous member of the Germantown Historical Society and recently joined the board of directors.
Fritz has been married to Eileen for 56 years. Their daughter Jennifer is married to David. Their son Mark is married to Jill, and they have two sons, Evan and Carter.
 
Come join us celebrating our 2024 Community Awards Winners!  Registration is now open for the Wednesday, April 30 Community Awards on germantownchamber.org, deadline is Wednesday, April 23 at Noon.  Questions can be directed to the Germantown Area Chamber of Commerce at 262-255-1812 or executivedirector@germantownchamber.org or visit us in person at N112W16760 Mequon Rd, Germantown.
To learn more about the Germantown Area Chamber of Commerce, please visit our website at germantownchamber.org