It’s time to think of local people of action who are dedicated to serving others.
The Rotary Club of Wilsonville is now accepting nominations for the 2023 Wilsonville First Citizen award. The deadline is January 31, 2024. Nominations can be submitted to www.wilsonvillerotary.com/nominate.
The First Citizen award honors a local community member or couple for their exceptional volunteer service to the local community. A committee made up of Rotary and other Wilsonville community leaders will review the nominations received, then select a small group of First Citizen finalists, who will be announced in February.
Out of these finalists, the individual or couple that is selected as the 2023 Wilsonville First Citizen will be announced at the club’s annual Heart of Gold Dinner and Auction, scheduled for Thursday, April 11, 2024 at the Oregon Golf Club. More details will be announced soon.
Since 2002, the local club has presented the First Citizen award to 28 people, either individually or as part of a couple.
“We have volunteers all around us that put others above themselves,” Club President Gladys Boutwell said. “They want to make a difference in our community, which then translates into a bigger ripple effect. We want to show them that their efforts are appreciated.”
Boutwell encourages Wilsonville residents to submit a thoughtful nomination so that someone special they know may be recognized.
“Our club celebrates people of action through the First Citizen award,” she said. “We want to recognize unknown heroes who bring joy to those that they serve with a smile. Who do you know that serves others with passion? Who do you know that deserves recognition?”
Besides honoring Wilsonville’s First Citizen, Heart of Gold event serves as the main fundraiser for the Wilsonville Rotary Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Money is raised through sponsorships, auction purchases, donations, raffle and game tickets, dinner tickets, and other contributions that night.
The Wilsonville Rotary Foundation, in turn, provides funds for all of the numerous service projects conducted or supported by the Rotary Club of Wilsonville, including:
- Wilsonville Rotary Summer Concerts — These FREE summer concerts in Town Center Park provide high quality family entertainment to benefit polio eradication through voluntary donations to End Polio Now.
- Through A Child’s Eyes (TACE) — A two-day annual event at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility to strengthen inmate families and break the negative intergenerational cycles that lead to incarceration.
- Good Eggs Omelet Breakfasts — Rotary partners with local schools and other organizations to create fundraising breakfasts and dinners with multiple revenue streams.
- Rotary Youth Exchange — These exchanges send local students abroad for short-term and long-term exchanges and host international students for the same in Wilsonville.
- Dolly Parton Imagination Library — This program provides free books monthly for young readers from Wilsonville, in partnership with the Wilsonville Public Library. Wilsonville Rotary is paying so that children of adults in custody at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility can also participate, regardless of address.
- College Scholarships — The club awards several scholarships to deserving high school graduates from Wilsonville to support their future education.
- Support of Scouting BSA — The club sponsors one Scout troop and two Cub Scout packs in Wilsonville.
- Peacebuilding — The Rotary Club of Wilsonville is an official Peacebuilder Club and has installed three Peace Poles in the community — Wilsonville City Hall, Town Center Park, and Wilsonville High School — with more to come.
The club also supports international service projects conducted throughout the world by the Wilsonville club and other area clubs, and responds to needs as they arise.
At the last Heart of Gold Celebration in April 2023, Tammy Sue Bradley accepted the 2022 Wilsonville First Citizen award. She is a longtime Wilsonville resident who has served our community in many ways, particularly youth sports, as a coach, announcer, and volunteer.
Prior winners include Lisa Krecklow, Elaine Swyt, Jake and Dianne McMichael, John Budiao, Jordan Scoggins, Tim Knapp, Sherine and Jaimy Beltran, Donna Bane, Kathryn Whittaker, Jay Puppo, Dick Spence, Debi Laue, Lonnie and Julie Gieber, Theonie Gilmore, Anne Easterly, Ron Anderson, Bob and Judy Woodle, Alan Kirk, Doris Wehler, Sue Ludlow, John Ludlow, Charlotte Lehan and Dr. Laura LaJoie Bishop.
To nominate a community member (or couple) who is an exceptional volunteer go to www.wilsonvillerotary.com/nominate. Questions? Send an email to president@wilsonvillerotary.com.