Tuesday’s Truckee Town Council meeting opened on a positive note as the town recognized a trio of businesses with its new Small Business, Big Applause awards.

Owner of Bespoke and Atelier, Heather River was among those selected for an award, which thanks those in the business community for their preservation and following of guidelines during the pandemic. River spent several days early in the pandemic painting rainbows on business windows throughout the downtown area, bringing a little hope to the community.

“I think a lot of us are really lucky to be pivoting in such a beautiful town that is so full of community and full of the ability for change,” said River. “I think that for us as a business it’s been really motivating to want to change and to want to pivot and create a safe space for people to be in and an inspiring space for people to be in.”

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The Station’s Danny McCabe was also chosen for an award. During the pandemic, The Station teamed up with Auld Dubliner and Tremigo to provide free weekly meals to the community through the Sierra Relief Kitchen. The collaborative effort has since served more than 13,000 meals to those in need.

“All of a sudden the pandemic hit,” McCabe said. “We shut down for two months and in that time that’s when the Sierra Relief Kitchen began. That was a great moment for all of us. We were able to at least do something with ourselves and the kitchens that we had.”

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McCabe added that Sierra Relief Kitchen is still providing 200 meals a week.

The final award went to Old Trestle Distillery and owners Jordan Kobert and Alicia Barr for using their equipment to create hand sanitizer for the community.

“No one at Old Trestle got into this to make hand sanitizer, so a huge shout out to the team and everyone who scrambled to do this,” said Kobert.

The awards were created with the help of local designer SDBX Studio and artist Grant Kaye. The Town Council indicated that businesses will be selected for awards on a monthly basis.

Justin Scacco is a reporter for the Sierra Sun. Contact him at jscacco@sierrasun.com or 530-550-2643.