Twenty "Hometown Heros" Nominated for 2nd Annual Great Friend to Families Award
The 2010 Great Friend to Families Award Nominees are Julie Bostick; Kim Carter, Ashley McKinney, and Laureen Vilas; Matthew Crawford; Angie Dolen; Shirlee Gaines Edwards; Susan Jones; Kaaren Hayes; Dick and Joan Hearn; Virginia MacLeod; Pat Morgan; Tammy Nelson; Carrington Pertalion; Denise Presnell; Susan Weinberg; Delores Wilder; Roberta Yates; and Joan Zimmerman. Carter, McKinney, and Vilas are all therapists at New River Behavioral Healthcare and were nominated jointly as were husband and wife community volunteers Dick and Joan Hearn. Nominations for the award were due January 19th. 
This award will recognize sustained contributions by an individual to the well-being of young children and their families in the High Country area. The award-winner will be presented with a piece of stained glass by artist Julie Reed Neal and $500 to donate to the High Country charity of their choice.
All nominees are honored for their work at the ceremony. The winner will be chosen by a distinguished committee of local leaders, including last year’s winner, Watauga County Children’s Librarian Judith Winecoff. The other judges are Jason Triplett of Wachovia, and Bettie Bond of the Watauga Community Foundation.
The award will be presented at a luncheon on Friday, January 29th which will also feature a speech by
world-renowned writer and educator Nikki Giovanni, who was recently named one of Oprah Winfrey's twenty-five "Living Legends." Author of over 30 books for adults and children including Caldecott Honor Book Rosa about Rosa Parks, Giovanni is an especially inspiring speaker for this event.
The luncheon will also raise funds to support family resource services at The Children’s Playhouse, enabling the children’s museum to provide scholarship memberships to low-income families, to offer free parenting classes for community members, and to build its free lending library of parenting books and developmental toys.
Catered by Storie Street Grille, the luncheon will be from noon to 2 pm on Friday, January 29th at the High Country Home Builders’ Plaza (755 NC Hwy. 105 By-Pass in Boone).Tickets are $20 per person, of which $15 is tax-deductible. Click here to buy a ticket.
Award Sponsors
Sponsors for the award are still being sought. Individuals and local businesses are invited to be a part of this wonderful tribute to our hometown heroes. For more information, contact Kathy Parham at kathy@goPlayhouse.org.
Presenting Sponsors:
Major Sponsors:
www.YourArtisticSide.comContributing Sponsors:
Wachovia A Wells Fargo Company
Mast General Store
Drs Mayhew, Scheffler, Hardaway, and Conn (Othodontists and Pediatric Dentists)
About 2009 Great Friend to Families Award
The first winner of the Great Friend to Families award was Watauga County Children's Librarian Judith Winecoff and she designated the $500 prize to go to the Hunger and Health Coalition. A total of sixteen local citizens--Cynthia Brown-Greer, Laurie Cimino, Lindsay Cobb, Doug Galke, Kaaren Hayes, Karen James, Natalie Lewis, Karee Mackey, Todd Nolt, Sherrie Norris, Jane Penley, Denise Presnell, Jan Rienerth, Robin Triplett, Mary Willis, and Judith Winecoff—were nominated for the first ever award presented by the Children’s Playhouse. Click here for an overview of the 2009 nominees.