In January, the Aubrey 380 Area Chamber of Commerce recognized its Person and Business of the Year, both of which continue to serve the community— one as a ministry and event venue and the other as the area’s newest breakfast and lunch venue.
Person of the Year went to Tesh Beaty, co-founder of Peace of the Rock Ministry and Event Coordinator for Rancho De La Roca, while Business of the Year went to Giulia’s Café on U.S. 377.
“We gather all the information and then the board themselves vote on who they think qualify based on their involvement with the chamber and what contributions they’ve given,” Chamber Executive Director Jana Temple said.
Beaty has been serving the community for 26 years with her ministry and venue.
“Our primary reason for the ranch was to have an affordable place for churches and families to get away,” Beaty said. “Just a place where they could do family reunions or get-togethers, church camps, retreats and things. Some businesses use it, but our primary purpose is church and family.”
The events, of which there are five annually, serve to promote their nonprofit efforts.
“They are National Day of Prayer in May; a car show; July Fourth is Freedom Fest; we do a parent and teen conference called Parent Pipeline Project; and then we do Christmas Roundup, which is a live nativity around the ranch,” she said. “All of that is for the community.”
The venue and nonprofit have no paid staff, so all of the money the events raise goes right back into the community, she explained.
“All the money that comes through the fundraisers goes back out into the community through local and international mission or nonprofi t organizations we feel strongly about,” Beaty said. “We also have a part of that called Crisis Intervention from small to big. If you can’t pay your light bill, we help with that, or if someone had a disaster or tragedy, we help towards that, too.”
Beaty said the award came as a surprise.
“I was shocked,” Beaty said. “I haven’t really done anything with the chamber except host some of their luncheons every year out at the ranch. My heart is to do what we do in our ministry just because that’s my heart, not to gain any recognition, so it was very neat.”
That was enough, however, Temple explained, for the chamber to take notice.
“She was an easy one,” Temple said. “She’s always willing to open the ranch anytime we need her and is one of my top people to call. She goes above and beyond setting up for our luncheons since we started rotating venues.”
Giulia’s was another easy choice according to Temple, after they came to the rescue with catering last minute.
“I had one luncheon that our caterer on the month before backed out, so I had to find someone to cater in two days and Giulia’s is closed on Monday, but I reached out to Tony and he was like ‘Yep, working on the menu, we’ll have it ready,’” Temple said. “It was them, on their off day, going above and beyond what they need to do as a business.” She also spoke to their customer service, which is something co-owner Anthony Porcaro said is paramount for the café.
“Coming from the highend business, where people are paying $5-600 a person for dinner and drinking $5,000 and $10,000 bottles of wine, we brought that same approach to the people that are spending $10-15 a person,” Porcaro said. “We give them a good clean place, everything in the restaurant is made from scratch, … and we give everyone the same care they’ve given us.”
He and his wife, he explained, were welcomed to the community with open arms—something they intend to pay forward whenever they can.
“We’ve been received really well by the community, and we just try every day to give back,” Porcaro said. “We made a lot of good friends, started going to church in Pilot Point. … We’ve been in Aubrey the last three years and are really happy to be here.”
With the price of business being what it is at the moment, Porcaro said the team at Giulia’s does whatever they can to maintain the level of service they provide while waiting for the community to fill out.
“I like just focusing all of my attention on the little gem we have, polishing it every day,” Porcaro said. “We just want to grow with the community. We’re waiting for 377 to expand a little bit, and if our landlord is open to it, we might add a patio, which would give us another room, but right now the plan is to make Giulia’s Café better and better every day.”
The chamber gives its awards in January, so both Beaty and Porcaro have six more months to uphold the moniker, something both said they plan to continue doing to the best of their abilities.
