The Rotary Club of Dawson County continued a long standing tradition last week of honoring the county government's top employees.

The club recognized the county's employees of the year Dec. 6 during an annual Christmas celebration.

Danielle Yarbrough, county clerk, 911 communication officer Alisha Rucker and fire inspector Jody Holland received plaques and a monetary gift from the club.

Dawson County Manager Kevin Tanner, a longtime Rotarian, said the three continuously go above and beyond their official duties for the good of the county.

"I have been blessed to have the opportunity to present this part of the Rotary program for the past 12 years. Rotary recognized some well deserving employees again this year," he said.

Tanner said he was especially proud to present the award for the top employee in general government to Yarbrough, who in addition to acting in the clerk's capacity, also serves as administrative assistant to the county manager.

"Danielle is an example of how many of our employees have been asked to take on additional responsibility and has done so without hesitation," Tanner said. "I could not be more proud of her and the job she does for our citizens."

Yarbrough said she was humbled to be recognized.

"I am honored to receive this year's award and wish to thank County Manager Kevin Tanner, the Dawson County Board of Commissioners, and the Dawson County Rotary Club for the recognition," she said. "I have been blessed with a magnificent job and a wonderful group of people to work with. I hope to serve Dawson County and its citizens for many more years to come."

Holland is another employee who has willingly taken additional roles and continuously goes the "extra mile," according to Dawson County Emergency Services Chief Lanier Swafford.

"Night or day, day or night, he provides a great service to this county, and I'm proud to have him on board," he said.

Sheriff Billy Carlisle said he selected Rucker for her dedication to the 911 center and for the role she played in improving the department's computer systems.

"We have been working for the past three years on getting one complete computer system throughout the entire sheriff's office. We were working with four different systems and none of them were compatible with each other," Carlisle said.

"[Alisha] was instrumental with that installation and in training everyone how to use it. She is still today developing the system to meet our needs."