Volunteer Awards Presented at Orange Park Town Hall By Nick Thompson Webster describes a volunteer as a person who voluntarily undertakes or expresses a willingness to undertake a service. Tuesday night, January 28th, the Town Council of Orange Park expressed its gratitude by awarding certificates of appreciation to over two dozen individuals and trophies to three volunteers who stood out among the rest. Interim Town Manager John Bowles opened the evenings meeting with a prayer and The Pledge before giving a summary on the number of hours logged by the towns volunteers and the dollar figure it had saved Orange Park. Volunteering doubled from 2012 to 2013 (359 man-hours to 777) which saved the town an estimated $6,000. He said that with the 65 active volunteers and the 35 volunteer committee members, events such as The Fall festival, Carrie Clarke Day, Hometown Holiday in the Park, and Kids Fishing Day would be difficult to showcase. Mr. Bowles yielded the floor to Vice-Mayor Marge Hutton who, with the help of Town Clerk Sarah Campbells calling out of recipients names, presented each volunteer with a certificate. Mayor Jim Renninger concluded the awards presentations by providing trophies to two Volunteers of the Year recipients and one Community of the Year recipient. The first volunteer award went to 16-year old Trinity Christian Academy freshmen Riley Graf. The mayor remarked on how hard a worker Riley had been at all the events he had volunteered for, and was never afraid to take on additional tasks with a strong and relentless commitment and enthusiasm. When asked later, Riley said his immediate goal was to graduate high school, and his long term goal was to attend and finish college and become a 3rd-generation firefighter. The second volunteer award was extended to Anjie Palmer, a middle-aged mom whose normal occupation is working in a Clay County learning center. Mayor Renninger noted that she was instrumental in the Farmers Market event and extremely valuable in the work at the towns skate park, which she said the completion of the park was her main goal. The last award of the evening, the Community of the Year trophy, was presented to Todd Hanson of the Orange Park School of Music. The mayor elaborated on how Mr. Hanson used his technical expertise in electronic equipment in combination with his proficiency in providing live, local entertainment to the towns events. Todds professionalism had shown brightly in each endeavor he had pursued.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 17:53:20 +0000
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