By Connie Pendleton
The Cambria Chamber of Commerce hosted its Annual Appreciation Dinner on Tuesday, Feb. 11 (post press deadline) at the Cavalier Oceanfront Resort in San Simeon.
After a vote by Chamber business members, John Nixon was honored as Cambria’s Citizen of the Year and the Cookie Crock Market as Business of the Year for 2024. The recipients were selected for consistently stepping up for multiple non-profit organizations.
The Chamber also paid tribute to its dedicated 2024 volunteers and introduced its 2025 Board and new membership and marketing director.
Citizen of the Year John Nixon has demonstrated his passion for helping others and said he really enjoys staying active.
“He has generously served in positions with several of the town’s non-profit organizations,” Chamber officials said in a press release. Some of these include Center for the Arts board member and volunteer; Friends of the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve board member, officer and volunteer; Lions Club board member and officer; and Film Festival steering committee member and volunteer. He has helped with and is a former board member of the annual Scarecrow Festival and has been a correspondent on the history of the town for the cambriaca online publication. He also volunteers for Anonymous Neighbors by giving rides to residents who are unable to drive. He formerly served as Cambria Community Services District committee on Parks, Recreation and Open Space as alternate member and Policy Committee member; and area representative and alternate for the North Coast Advisory Council.
Prior to Nixon’s time in Cambria, he and his wife, Mary, served in Tunisia for the Peace Corps from 1974-76. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from the University of California at Irvine and his PhD in English from the University of Southern California.
Nixon provided guidance to young people starting out as a high school teacher for four years in Huntington Beach, CA, followed by 24 years at Santa Ana Community College as assistant dean and vice president of academic affairs. He then served as president and CEO of Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA, for seven years before retiring to Cambria in 2011.
Business of the Year
Cookie Crock Market, which originally opened in Cambria in 1965 as a bakery, quickly expanded and has served the community as a hometown supermarket.
Owner Del Clegg started working in the grocery business for his dad when he was 14 years old and has been working in the industry for 53 years. He attended Cuesta College where he studied business and computers. He is an active member of the Cambria Rotary Club.
Clegg, who said it feels good to donate, repeatedly gave credit to his staff who has helped him with managing donations and giving their time. The Cookie Crock has generously donated funds and/or products to individuals and multiple organizations in 2024 and over the years. A partial list includes donations to local youth by supporting Coast Union High School student scholarships and Boosters Club, Cambria Grammar School PTA, Toys for Tots, and Future Farmers of America (FFA) auctions. For Cambria Lions Club, the market has donated to the Community and Kids’ Christmas Party and Camp Reach For the Stars (a program for kids coping with cancer). The Cookie Crock provides food discounts to Anonymous Neighbors organization recipients in Cambria and San Simeon. It provides pumpkins to the Historical Society in the fall. The market supports Greenspace, Beautify Cambria, Sons of the Legion, American Legion, Beautify Cambria, and multiple Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club events.
The Chamber will also host a mixer on Feb. 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Cambria Coffee Company, 761 Main Street. The event, which is designed to support the town’s businesses, is open to the public. Mixers will continue to be held on the third Thursday of each month.
More information can be obtained by calling the visitor center at (805) 927-3624, located at 767 Main Street or at cambriachamber.org.
