Darlene Adams said she was feeling shock and disbelief recently when she was surprised with a RISE Award nomination by representatives from the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority.

Adams, a supervisor at Comfort’s Catering in St. John, was sitting with her son, John Adams, at 95ate5 Brew Pub, the newly opened restaurant and brewery spawned from the catering business, and was unaware of why she was called in. She has been off work, recovering from knee surgery.

“I’m totally shocked. I didn’t expect this. I didn’t expect this,” Adams said. Like many in customer-service related positions, she loves her job and is happy for the chance to help people every day.

“I’m shocked and overwhelmed. I just love what I do. I love working with people,” Adams said.

She is one of 37 hospitality and tourism industry workers to be nominated for the RISE (Recognition of Industry Success and Excellence) Award, an offshoot of the ROSE (Recognition of Service Excellence) Award. The RISE Award, started in 2014, honors managerial employees that have risen above expectations and must interact directly with customers on a regular basis or past ROSE Award winners who have again exceeded expectations.

The ROSE Award was created to honor the front-line employees who go above and beyond the call of duty on a regular basis. Most often, the customer has more interaction with the front-desk employee than an owner or manager. These front-line service employees are those that can have a lasting impression on the visitor. This year there were 81 ROSE nominations.

Speros Batistatos, president and CEO of the South Shore CVA, said the ROSE and RISE awards are a way to elevate the profile of those who work in the hospitality and tourism industry.

“People are pretty casual and sometimes a little cruel about some of the jobs in our business,” Batistatos said. “They fail to understand the level of personal commitment and patience, the daily opportunities for exceptionalism that exist out there.”

The awards are a way to tell the stories of those truly exceptional workers in the industry, he said.

“This is a way to reward the people in our industry who are grinding it out every day and show up with a smile on their face,” he said.

ROSE and RISE award nominees will be the guests at the South Shore CVA’s annual awards dinner Wednesday at Ameristar Casino.

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-rose-awards-st-0927-20150924-story.html