Thank You

Thursday, March 2, 2006

Monday morning, I was at the chamber of commerce office saying that this week's column is rather difficult to write. I was wondering what to say and how to say it.

Charlene Winfiel, tourism coordinator, suggested saying, "Thank you -- and stop at that." She gave me the answer to what was needed.

Therefore, I express my thank you, which goes to a large number of people. Still, I will not stop there as Charlene suggested -- even if it is a good idea. That would be a short column, but the message is there, "Thank you."

At and since Saturday night's chamber banquet, I wondered if I was dreaming and will wake up and realize it is not real. Others told me that I was not dreaming.

In recent years I have taken pleasure in writing columns about those who received awards at the chamber awards banquet. This year is different. I intend to write about the awards, but it becomes harder to say things about myself and to do it in a proper manner. I requested that Kathi Wysong send me information about the award as she usually does. She said that she would get it to me and I would be the only one with the information.

Before I went to the banquet, I had not received the information.

Saturday night, she said that she had only gotten the information together that afternoon. By Sunday evening, I received the information.

It was a great honor to me to receive the Individual Pacesetter Award. Wow! This is something that I never thought I would receive or should get. All of the glory goes to God. It is God who has led me through life and provided opportunities and experiences in life.

This is a great community to live in, many great people. It has been my fortune to work and associate with a large number of great people over the years. I came to this community as a young person, nearly 45 years ago. Many do not consider me young anymore.

It has been my pleasure to have witnessed many great individuals receiving the Pacesetter Award over the years. To be among that group of special people is humbling and meaningful. There are many pacesetters in the community who have never received recognition.

My experience in life has included receiving several recognitions and has collected my share of plaques. This newly received recognition stands out as a great honor.

As I have expressed to others, I have only been myself. There are a great amount of things that I feel that I should have done, but did not accomplish. One of the things that this recognition does is to motivate me, hoping to do more for the service to others in the future.

The community has given me and my family far more than I have given to the community. Nevada and Vernon County is a great place to work and live.

The awards presented Saturday night were for the year 2005.

It works out better to have the banquet this time of the year than in November or December when many of the chamber members are busy in preparation for the holidays. It was a special honor to have Sam Foursha to be the person presenting the individual award. He was introduced as Nevada's growth ambassador and our 2004 Pacesetter of the Year.

Sam said, "The Individual Pacesetter is recognized for their superior contribution to our community at large. They give unselfishly of their time and energy to the common cause -- promoting Nevada and Vernon County, constantly striving to make it better."

What Sam said certainly applies to the other two finalists, Dr. Ted Davis and Terry Ramsey. Both are high quality individuals and are pacesetters. I first met Ted when our daughters were living in the same house at CMSU. Later he came here as superintendent and will soon be retiring. With his leadership there have been many achievements. He always gives the staff and others the credit. Nevada R-5 maintains a high quality education program. Early in the evening, we both agreed that being nominated for the award is an honor in itself.

Terry is the Bushwhacker Museum coordinator. Her leadership has provided this community with a great museum. Most citizens in our community do not realize the high quality of the museum we have in this community.

Each year it gets better. If you have not been there recently, you will want to go there when it opens for the season. In addition to coordinating the museum, Terry does many other things in this community.

Several other awards were presented which will be discussed in future columns. Pacesetter sponsors included First National Bank, Heritage State Bank, Metz Banking Company, Team Bank, US Bank, Wilkinson Pharmacy and Grizzle Shelter Insurance.

There were nearly 260 in attendance for the event held at the Eagles.

The evening's event was highly successful with good food and recreation. The staff and volunteers did a great job of organizing the event and there were many donors that added to the success. The information about this annual event will continue.

To the board and the members of the chamber I want to thank each and everyone that made my special recognition possible. It is greatly appreciated. #