This Mother’s day is all the sweeter for three Mid-County moms who are wearing the title of Mother of the Year for their respective cities.

The special honor was recently bestowed upon Tammy Guidry of Groves, Robin Shelden of Nederland and Cathy Esquivel of Port Neches by their cities’ chambers of commerce. In each case family and friends of the women submitted letters of nomination in advance to the chambers who each independently run their own contest. Winners were selected then surprised with the news.

Here’s a look at the winners:

Groves Mother of the Year

Tammy Guidry has joked with her family for about 20 years saying she wanted to be mother of the year. So when she was chosen her family knew they must concoct an elaborate way to surprise her.

Family and friends, some holding balloons, stood outside the Groves Chamber of Commerce office with a large banner saying “mother of the year.” One daughter brought her to lunch then made an excuse to head toward the chamber office on Main Avenue.

Her reaction brought laughter to the group.

“It’s me. It’s me,” Guidry said when she realized that, yes, it was her.

“I’ve told them I’m going to have to write my own letter,” Guidry said after the group went inside the chamber office.

When she arrived she noticed a friend’s bright green car, then an uncle’s truck and another friend and thought “what are they doing without me.” Even when she saw the banner she still wasn’t convinced.

“I was rolling down the window to fuss at them for doing something without me then wondered, ‘Who is it?’ when I saw the sign. Then, ‘Wait, it’s me,’ ” she said with a laugh.

Daughters Carissa Guidry and Sherry Belaire — who worked hard to keep the news a surprise — shared their nomination letter aloud.

They told of the matching outfits Guidry sewed for them, dance parties and late nights finishing recital costumes.

“More important than any of those things are the lessons she taught us by example,” the letter read. “She taught us how to be compassionate, generous and kind to others. She taught us how to put God first and be thankful for what we have rather than dwell on what we’re lacking.”

Her selflessness is one of her traits; buying school supplies to donate to schools for children who can’t afford them, staying up all night making treat bags for class parties, and after Harvey hit she spent weeks gathering the things that families at Debbie’s Dance, Etc., where she works at, needed.

“So much of what she does goes unrecognized, which is fine by her because she doesn’t do any of it for recognition, but we want her to know that we notice and appreciate all the sacrifices she makes and love her more than 300 words can express,” the letter read.

Nederland Mother of the Year

Robin Shelden had been working in her garage painting a picnic table when a daughter said she was going to bring her to lunch.

So she went inside and got cleaned up. Then her daughter arrived followed by some surprise visitors from the Nederland Chamber of Commerce.

“It was tears of joy,” Shelden said.

A reception in her honor was held at city hall on Thursday.

Shelden, who also works at Debbie’s Dance, Etc., is a busy woman as noted in the letter penned by Chelsea Moore, a daughter.

“Last year my grandmother moved in with my mom and dad. She is 92 years old and has a lot of medical issues. My mom has taken it upon herself to be Grannie’s advocate, caretaker, chauffer and more,” Moore wrote. “Here’s a catch though: my Grannie is actually my mom’s mother-in-law, from her first marriage. My father passed away 18 years ago. My mom doesn’t have to take care of my Grannie the way she does, but she does because she is family.”

“My husband passed away in 2000 and until last year she (mother-in-law) was living in her own home, and I would go over pretty much every day,” Shelden said. Her mother-in-law’s health declined so she was moved in.

“She’s a wonderful, God-fearing Christian lady,” she said.

Shelden is a grandmother to nine grandchildren, seven under the age of five. After Harvey hit, her other daughter, husband and their three children moved in with Shelden while their home is being repaired. They will be moving out soon but other family will be moving in temporarily.

Shelden is an active community member as well, has been a chairperson for a Relay for Life Team and is very involved in her church, United Methodist Temple.

“My mom is selfless, loving and an overall wonderful person,” the letter read.

Port Neches Mother of the Year

Cathy Esquivel was lured out to Port Neches RiverFest last week by family members. Then others took over and lured her to the pavilion where the surprise announcement was made last week.

Her son and his wife had contacted her, said they would be in town during RiverFest and asked if she could make it out there that day. Esquivel was planning a going away party for a friend when her son gave a little guilt trip, saying that nothing is ever going on when they visit and this would be a good time to go have some fun.

She gave in, called a friend to take over the party then went to church as usual. That’s when she was told she had to go to the pavilion area where the sister of one of her day care students would be recognized as one of the RiverFest royalty at 1 p.m.

“I didn’t know all my day care moms were hiding and my family was hiding,” Esquivel said. “Never in a million years would I have guessed. It was really sweet. I’m so appreciative and so blessed and everything just fell together.”

Esquivel is a familiar name in the Port Neches area. Her husband, Roy, now deceased, was an educator for 36 years, 10 of those as principal at Port Neches-Groves High School. He retired in 2007 and passed away in 2010.

“God takes care of everything,” Esquivel said. “When Roy passed away we had been married just a few months shy of 40 years, and we had known each other for two to three years prior. God just takes care of it.”

Her world turned upside down she looked to the church.

“I was 58 and there really wasn’t anything for widows to do,” she said.

“She had every reason to wallow in her loss and continue to try to live like she had before. Courageously, she learned to carry on as a single woman in her late 50s, Gera Equivel, daughter-in-law, said in her nomination letter. “She soon realized there was a need to tend to the hearts of widows and widowers in the community around her.”

She now tends to Amazing Grace, a widow and widowers luncheon in her home six or so times per year, and a grief support group New Hope, New Direction that meets regularly. The groups are fun and feature time for devotion.

She is also a licensed daycare owner with 12 students and a small staff.

“The great thing is being able to teach these little children. They are precious,” she said. “And now I have the children of children in my daycare.”

She is also very involved with her church and helped and fed evacuees during Harvey.

“While some people ride out their later years focusing on the rest they deserve, Cathy has not stopped listening (and acting) to the call God has placed in her life,” the letter read. “She lets nothing get in the way of attending to those around her and filling needs where she finds them… she is a mother to many and a light wherever she’s called.”