This past weekend was the 50th annual Celebrate Campbell "awards dinner" where we celebrate the people and organizations that make this little city such an wonderful place. One of the people that we celebrated was our very own Carol Pouya, who's the owner of Tessora's Barra di Vino, a board member of the Downtown Campbell Business Association (DCBA), and a volunteer. She typically works on things behind the scenes so most people don't know how much she does to contribute to the culture and atmosphere of Downtown Campbell.

I'll let the President of the DCBA, Andrea Buswell, tell you a bit more about, Carol Pouya, our honoree for 2018. Here's a copy of the introduction that Andrea gave in presenting the award to her.

Andrea Buswell, Owner of Frost Cupcake Factory

Carol puts her whole heart into everything she believes in including her business Tessora's Bara di Vino, her beautiful family, and the Downtown Campbell Business Association. Carol was in the dental field for 20 years, but decided to “retire” and follow her passion for wine along with her husband, Hamid. Tessora’s first opened in the Pruneyard in 2009 and when the opportunity came to move to Downtown Campbell, they jumped at the chance and opened on E Campbell Avenue in 2015. Tessora’s adds such a vibrant, welcoming charm to Downtown Campbell, and is truly a family run business. This strong, hard-working woman is also a mother of five, Jenni (who is also the head chef), Nikki (who runs the front of house as well as social media), Derick, Matthew and Nasheen, as well as a grandmother of 3….so far…and counting!

Carol has a way of making her customers feel important and “at home” and gives the ultimate customer service. She is a truly dedicated, hard-working woman who is always there, late nights or early mornings, without complaint. On top of this, she volunteers countless hours to the DCBA, and acts as the “Mom” of the board, which comes natural to her, for obvious reasons! She has been an integral part of the execution and success of First Fridays, the Wine Walks and all of our wonderful Downtown Campbell events. In fact, she is instrumental in organizing, scheduling and booking all of the music acts you enjoy on the streets of Downtown. (See what I did there.)

Carol has been such a welcome face, neighbor, friend, mentor, boss, wife, mother, grandmother and champion of all things Campbell. We are lucky to have her on the DCBA Board along with the rest of our scrappy little bunch, and honor her tonight with this well deserved recognition and induction into the admired group of Campbell Elite.