To the tune of “Don’t Fence Me In” as sung by the Bar-D Wranglers, Katharine Roser, the founding executive director of the La Plata Open Space Conservancy, was named Citizen of the Year by the Durango Chamber of Commerce on Thursday night.

“Many choose to live in Durango because of its ambience and aura,” Joel Jones, himself a past recipient of the honor, said. “More than 24,000 acres of beautiful landscape and wildlife habitat has been protected because of Katharine Roser’s commitment to this area and its future.”

Roser, who is retiring this year after two decades at the helm of the conservancy, becomes just the fourth woman to receive the honor in 33 years after Morley Ballantine, Patty Burkholder and Sheri Rochford Figgs.

“I have worked hard to make a positive contribution to the community,” she said. “I’ve made some mistakes and some enemies along the way, but the many successes are thanks to the board, advisers, people who granted conservation easements and others who have helped along the way.”

While every award winner received a standing ovation, the applause seemed particularly heartfelt when Manna Soup Kitchen was named Nonprofit of the Year in a category that included Volunteers of America and the La Plata Electric Round-Up Foundation.

“We served 62,176 meals in 2011,” Manna Kitchen Manager Warren Smith said. “We have 526 volunteers who come regularly to prepare and serve meals. Every day when we come to work, we are overwhelmed by the generosity of this community.”

The chamber gave an Outstanding Contribution to the Community Award, only the fifth time it has given the award in 26 years, to Snowdown founder Terry Fiedler.

“He’s the godfather of Snowdown,” Chamber Executive Director Jack Llewellyn said. “He’s been an event coordinator or board member ever since it started in 1979. The Snowdown Light Parade has the largest attendance of any event in Durango.”

Leadership La Plata alumna and Executive Director of the La Plata Energy Council Christi Zeller became the 15th recipient of the Barbara Conrad Award.

“I didn’t turn into a leader until I joined Leadership La Plata,” she said. “It does shape you and make you decide what you want to be involved with.”

The Morley Ballantine Award, which goes to a female leader in the community who has nurtured the careers of other women, went to Deborah Uroda, the marketing and development director for the Women’s Resource Center. She thanked former bosses and mentors Jones and Mary Barter for teaching her to lead, and current boss, Liz Mora for giving her a new place to grow and serve.

Rep. J. Paul Brown, R-Ignacio, and his wife, Debbie, were named Agriculturist of the Year, and Brown gave his wife credit for running their sheep and ranch operation while he’s representing the 59th District in the Colorado House.

“If you’re sitting home and bored, join the Durango Diplomats,” said Susan Smith, the 2011 Diplomat of the Year. Diplomats are the all-volunteer public-relations arm of the chamber. “You’ll get plenty of invitations and have lots of fun.”

The Diplomats give the Spirit of Durango Award each year, and this year chose the Rochester Hotel/Leland House for its honoring of Durango’s history and generous support of local nonprofits.

“This is so much fun,” hotel owner Diane Wildfang said. “I’m so honored and so happy I decided to do this rather than retiring when I moved to Durango in 1992.”

Linda’s Local Food Café, formerly Cocina Linda, took home Green Business of the Year honors.

“My business would not exist anywhere else except in Durango,” owner Linda Ilsley said. “I appreciate the patience of my customers when I run out of tamales because I refuse to mass produce your food.”

Calvin and Pat Story, who are known for their humor when selling items at auctions for nonprofits, were clearly touched to receive the Bill Mashaw Volunteer of the Year Award.

“I’ve never been on stage unless I’m selling something,” Calvin Story said. “It takes a lot of people to pull the items together, and we just walk in and sell them. We constantly see an outpouring of generosity from the community.”

It was a younger category of winners in the “I Love Durango” video contest sponsored by Buzztown.com, a sister company to The Durango Herald, and Alpine Bank. Dylan Kroes took third place, Preston Benson won second and high school student Hank Stowers won $500 and other prizes for his first-place finish.

“Indiana Reed said an entrepreneur is someone who would rather work 18 hours a day for themselves rather than eight hours a day for someone else,” outgoing chamber board President Keith Brant said as he presented the Entrepreneur of the Year Award to FastSigns of Durango and owner Laurie Sigillito.

Small Business of the Year went to Russell Planning & Engineering, which was founded 10 years ago by Michael K. Russell.

Not only has Animas Surgical Hospital been named the top hospital in Colorado by Consumer Reports the last two years, its physician owners and 100 staff members have now been honored with the title of Business of the Year.

abutler@durangoherald.com