Jim Ford and Jeanne Muir, owners of Thomas Shepherd Inn in Shepherdstown, were awarded the 2011 Champion Award at the annual Innkeeping Conference and Trade Show hosted by the Professional Association of Innkeepers International (PAII), Jan. 10 through 14, in Charleston, S.C.

The Champion Award is bestowed by PAII upon individuals who or entities which have succeeded in working on behalf of a group of innkeepers – locally, regionally, nationally or internationally – and have garnered a significant victory for innkeepers.

In nominating Ford and Muir for the award, fellow innkeeper Kathleen Panek of Gillum House B&B in Shinnston, W.Va. noted, “The project that started as Thank You Veterans Project launched and became ‘B&Bs For Vets’ after Jim Ford and Jeanne Muir secured the domain name www.bnbsforvets.org and created the website.”

They served as webmasters for this site – adding B&B information almost daily while maintaining the inn.

Panek said in a press release that she nominated Ford and Muir for the 2011 Champion Award because they did so much for the industry by coordinating a single place where innkeepers could list their room donations and veterans could look for the free room on Nov. 10, 2010 in honor of Veterans Day.

Ford and Muir have owned the Thomas Shepherd Inn, a Select Registry B&B, for more than eight years and have been involved in both the West Virginia B&B Association and PAII for much of that time.

“We felt that the B&Bs for Vets project should be promoted across the country, and that a website would help veterans find participating Inns more easily. Once we started the website, we were truly gratified by the large number of inns who joined us by donating one or more rooms for the night of Nov. 10. Over 900 fellow innkeepers stepped up to the plate,” Muir stated in a release.

For more information, visit, www.ThomasShepherdInn.com or call 304-876-3715.

– Submitted news