Tucson REALTORS® name Clifton and Rafferty as 2014 top award winners

REALTOR® of Year: Kimberly Clifton, Tierra Antigua Realty This award recognizes an individual member who contributes to TAR and the overall real estate industry as a strong leader; and is a valuable asset to the general community.

Clifton is owner and designated broker of Tierra Antigua Realty, and 2014 President of the TAR Multiple Listing Service. She is a three-time TAR/MLS President and also serves as Vice Chair of the Arizona State Advisory Board.

Clifton also serves on TAR Risk Committee and the Arizona Association of REALTORS® Board of Directors.

Kim and her husband Matt established their brokerage in 2001. Together, they have built it into the largest locally owned real estate company in Southern Arizona with over 800 agents.

Drachman Community Achievement: Bob Zachmeier, Win 3 Realty

This honor recognizes a REALTOR® for community service and involvement that advances the profession. It honors Roy Drachman, a well-known Tucson REALTOR®, innovative commer-cial developer and generous philanthropist.

Zachmeier was honored for his versatile leadership within the real estate industry and in the general community. He serves on the TAR Multiple Listing Service Board and teaches at the Hogan School of Real Estate.

In the community, he serves on the Make-A-Wish Ambassador Board for Southern Arizona and is a founding member. He is a nationally recognized speaker on how to promote charitable giving.

Corporate Community Achievement Award: Long Realty and Tierra Antigua Realty 

This honor recognizes a company that demonstrated exceptional commitment to making our community better. It is one of the more competitive categories because so many companies do many good things during the year.

• Long Realty was honored for their overall involvement and civic contributions that focus on being good corporate partners and strong community builders. The keystone of their philan-thropy is the Long Realty Cares Foundation. Established in 2002, it has given over $2 million to over 170 local charities. The Foundation’s money comes from Long’s agents and employees.

Two notable outstanding projects this year were: After 9-11, the Federal Communications Commission required all public safety agencies to upgrade their emergency communications systems. The goal was to move all local agencies onto a common radio band.

When the Mt. Lemmon Fire Department converted, it came up short for new radios for their volunteers. Long Cares made up the shortfall of $2,000.

In the City of Tucson, Long Realty supported Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild with a major investment in his Ten Thousand Trees campaign. In honor of the company’s founding in1926, Long Realty donated 1,926 trees, and promoted it to homeowners, realtors and at public events. Their contribution was almost 25 percent of the program’s goal.

• Tierra Antigua Realty also was honored for its long history of supporting local charities. Their Social Committee is a group of volunteer agents who raise money and spread goodwill.

For the Ronald McDonald House, they raised over $3,000. Plus, the Social Committee cooks and serves meals each quarter for these extremely sick children, many who are terminally ill.

Also, Tierra Antigua Realty collected over 6,000 items in a Back to School Clothing Drive for The Arizona Young Adult Program. When the clothing was given to these needy adults, Tierra Antigua supplied and cooked a Bar-B-Q lunch and gave away backpacks.

Owners Matt and Kim Clifton realize there is greater demand for help than available resources. So to better serve these social gaps in our community, they have created the Tierra Antigua Hope Foundation, a 501-3C non-profit corporation. This initiative took five years to complete and will enable Tierra Antigua to expand their civic effort.

Johnoff Community Achievement: Nova Home Loans 

This award recognized an Affiliate company and the collective efforts of its employees in community service and involvement in TAR. Johnoff was the association’s first women president in 1977 and a leader in civic service.

For 33 years, Nova has supported Tucson charities, business organizations, and the community. The Boys & Girls Club has been Nova’s primary charity of choice for many years. In the past 10 years, Nova has donated over $700,000 to the Club and an additional $700,000 to other charities.

Each year, employees collect over 2,500 toys for needy children on the South side. This event, called Miracle en El Barrio, was created by Nova over 10 years ago.

On an ongoing basis, Nova supports Tucson Parks and Recreation to keep public swimming pools open. It donates to Angel Charities, Casa de los Ninos, Tucson Conquistadores, the Girl Scouts, Diamond Children’s Center and the Steel Research Center.

Nova also advocates for business by affiliating with almost every local chamber of commerce.

Outstanding Service Award: Darla Johnson, Vista One Realty Group; 

J.T. Tsighis, Keller Williams Southern Arizona; Laury Watson, Vail Realty 

This award recognizes individuals who serve TAR and the broader industry with distinction.

• Watson serves on the TAR Board of Directors and chairs the TAR/MLS Standards Committee and the Risk Committee.

• Johnson also serves on the TAR Board. Her passion is for the Small Brokers Forum. She established this important work group and chaired it this year.

• Tsighis, a National Director since 2008, serves on the Arizona Association of Realtors. His

T-A-R committee work includes: Risk Management; Government Affairs; Nominating Credentials; and the Candidate and Ballot Task Force.

Committee of Year: TAR Marketing/Home Tour 

As TAR’s top-performing committee, this volunteer group, chaired by Steve Van De Beuken of Sunstreet Mortgage, was honored for advancing the goals of the association.

This is the only committee that presents a weekly program. The goal is to help members sell listings. The group leads high-energy, organized tours by caravan every Friday, often to 30 or more homes.

Committee members include: Chairman Steve Van De Beuken (Sunstreet Mortgage); Andee Anthony (Title Security); Nacho Castro (Castro Real Estate Service); M. Craig (Grijalva Realty); Javier Guillen (Keller Williams); Steve Redmond (Long Realty); Kimberly Keegan (Fidelity National Title Agency); PJ Jacquemain (Long Realty); Edye Popke (Signs Now); Steve Rhine (Rhine Inspections); Wendy Whitehead (Stewart Title); Tom Williams (Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage); Cyndy Wilson (VIP Mortgage).

About 240 people attended the TAR Annual Installation and Awards Luncheon at the Westin La Paloma hotel on Nov. 20. Joeann Fossland of Purple Sage Realty served as MC. Steve Redmond, 2014 TAR president, directed the awards part of the program.