Paul Heckles to receive Edna Ross Award for outstanding service to the community

CHESTERTOWN — Local businessman and community servant Paul Heckles is the 2025 recipient of the Edna Ross Award.

Chestertown Tea Party Festival organizers created the award in 2011 in honor of Edna Ross, a longtime and dedicated business owner who passed away in January of that year.

The award recognizes a person who has been “a stalwart part of the town’s business community and has been a supporter of local causes and nonprofits.”

A native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Heckles received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware.

His entire 37-year career was spent with Colgate-Palmolive Company, primarily in northern New Jersey with an eight-year expat assignment in Liège, Belgium.

He held senior director level positions in new product research and development; supply chain process engineering, innovation and capital projects; organizational design; strategic business development; and global project management.

Heckles and his wife of 51 years, Jayne, retired to Chestertown in 2011.

They purchased the Twigs & Teacups gift shop on Cross Street in 2014 and, in 2022, renovated the 100 year-old building and expanded to the second floor.

Daughter Erin manages the business, and “Jayne and I help where we can,” Heckles said.

Twigs & Teacups has been a member of the Downtown Chestertown Association and the Kent County Chamber of Commerce for many years.

Paul Heckles has been a board member of the Chestertown Main Street program since 2017, served as president of the board for five years and helped lead the Downtown Master Plan project.

He has been a member of the Chestertown Rotary Club since 2012, served two terms as president and helped lead the club’s Tea Party Festival concession stand for eight years.

Also, he served four years on the council of the Washington College Academy of Lifelong Learning and was treasurer for three years. 

Heckles will be presented the Edna Ross Award on Saturday, May 24 at about 11 a.m. — immediately following the Tea Party Festival parade.