| Emery County Commissioner Drew Sitterud, Green River Mayor Glen Dale Johnson, Senator Mike Dmitrich, Nancy Dunham, and Representative Brad King at the volunteer dinner. |
Mayor Glen Dale Johnson hosted Green River’s Second Annual Volunteer Recognition dinner, held at the LDS Cultural Hall. This year’s theme was “Greek Festival.”
Senator Mike Dmitrich, Representative Brad King, and Emery County Commissioner Drew Sitterud helped Mayor Johnson award more than 350 Certificates of Appreciation to volunteers of all ages. These certificates also included three people from out of town who have spent many hours in service to Green River.
These were: Jim Huffaker, Dean of Continuing Education for CEU, Linda Varner, Carbon County Housing Authority, and Mike McCandless, Emery County Economic Development.
Mayor Johnson also presented more than 20 Certificates of Appreciation to businesses and organizations for their contributions to the community. It was announced that Green River has the highest amount of volunteerism per capita in the State of Utah.
Mark Manazer, Vice President, and Debbie DeVries, Senior Services Director, for Volunteers of America – Utah, presented 26 Presidential USA Freedom Corps Volunteer Service Awards to Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) participants. RSVP is for people 55 years old and above. Three levels of awards were presented: bronze for 100- 249 annual volunteer hours, silver for 250- 499 annual volunteer hours, and gold for more than 500 volunteer hours in a year.
Recipients from Green River were: Maxine Baker, Roland (Bud) Barton, Tom Burr, Connie Copenhaver, Terry Coppin, Nancy Dunham, Maxine Hall, Kay Jewkes, Dale Johnson, Janet Keele, Twila Kesterson, Doris Randolph, Geniel Reay, Clark Riches, Carol Riches, Fran Sweeten, Carlyle Tippetts, Carol Tippetts, Char Uptain, Verna Watterson, Bill Wilmarth, and Mary Wilmarth.
The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Lifetime of Service Award to Nancy Dunham.
Nancy received a well-deserved standing ovation for her many years of selfless service to Green River and its residents.
The meal of shish-kabobs, rice, Greek salad, and baklava was catered by the Tamarisk Restaurant and the Cowboy Club, and Smith’s Food King in Price donated the bread. The Green River High School Drama Department loaned the decorations.
After the awards were presented and the dinner was eaten, Joane Pappas White and her partner, Ken Lake, got people up and practicing some traditional Greek dances.
More than 150 people attended the Greek Festival and everyone is looking forward to next year’s Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on Jan.13, 2006. Green River is a better place because of the many volunteers who get involved. Volunteering is fun and benefits all of us.