PORT Dover Board of Trade announced that Andrew and Pam Schneider, owners of the Erie Beach Hotel, are the town’s newest Citizens of the Year. The couple received the honours for their decades of local volunteer service and contributions to the community’s tourism scene and economy.
The Schneiders, who announced this winter they are searching for a buyer for their businesses and property, said they were surprised and honoured to learn they were named Citizens of the Year.
“All our lives, it’s just been—when someone asks for help, you just help them, if you can,” Andrew said. One of his early memories volunteering is putting in hours of labour to help satisfy the conditions of a grant for a new playground at Port Dover Public School.
Pam explained that since marrying Andrew, collaborating with him on community initiatives such as Perch Derby has been like second nature. For them, local engagement “has always been part of our marriage.”
Pam said their volunteer work in the community increased when they became parents.
“I was very involved in Doverwood [Public School] when our kids were there. I was part of the PTA [as president] and we did fundraising for the school, a lot of that.”
Along with the Knechtel family, the couple helped start a Christmas turkey dinner that fed hundreds of local students for many years. One year, Pam helped organize a carnival to fundraise for an accessible play park at the school.
The Schneiders have long been involved with community groups and their initiatives.
Andrew is a president of Port Dover Board of Trade and has spent “a lot of years” with the organization in executive roles. He was a founding member of the Port Dover Foundation, a charity that donates funds to projects benefitting the community. He also served on Norfolk County’s Tourism and Economic Development Advisory Board.
Pam organizes Open Studios Port Dover, an annual event inviting the public to tour local artists’ workshops. She was also involved with work to save Port Dover Composite School and a community member on the school board’s Accommodation Review Committee.
It’s fair to say giving back to Port Dover runs in their family. The couple are the third generation of Schneiders to receive the town’s Citizen of the Year distinction.
Andrew’s grandparents, Harold and Marjorie Schneider, were the award’s first recipients. His parents, Betty and Tony Schneider Sr., received it in 1999.
Pam remembers Marjorie would raise funds for United Way every year and they have a picture of Andrew as a child helping his grandmother fundraise by selling tickets for a case of her canned goods on the front lawn of the Erie Beach Hotel.
Andrew says it’s interesting that he will be recognized as Citizen of the Year at age 59, the same age his father was when he received the honour.
The Schneiders said they find it rewarding to volunteer.
“I think it just makes you feel good that you can do good things for others who are in need, and also to make our community better,” Pam said. “A lot of it we do—we’re doing it to improve something or help purchase something for the community.”
Andrew added, “Something that’s going to make quality of life better for someone, something, some group, some people.” He emphasized that they believe the point of volunteering is to benefit others.
Pam said they will continue to volunteer and even more so when retirement comes.
As new grandparents, “we kind of joke that Grammy and Grampy could be the new hot dog cooks at Lakewood when Lenna goes to school,” she said. “I feel like it’s the next stage of volunteering.
I’m sure it’ll involve grandchildren at some point. And I’m sure we’ll be involved in whatever things she’s going to be involved in.”
The Citizen of the Year award includes a dinner and ceremony being planned for late April at the Erie Beach Hotel.
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Originally published March 12, 2025
