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February 1, 2006

Zionsville honors community leaders

Chamber names two Town Criers

Staff report

Apparently you don’t have to be present to win the Zionsville Town Crier Award.

Steve and Vicki Snider proved that Saturday evening, Jan. 28, at the Greater Zionsville Chamber of Commerce’s community awards dinner. The couple was unable to accept the award in person at the event attended by more than 100 community leaders at the Palomino Ballroom.

“I’m going to give the award, and [their] acceptance speech, too,” quipped Harold Wright, the Zionsville merchant who steals the show with his jokes each time he takes the podium.

“If you don’t know Steve and Vicki Snider, you should get acquainted with them,” he said on a more serious note. “They’ve done a lot for Zionsville.”

Perhaps no one knows that better than Zionsville resident Tom Melind, who accepted the Town Crier award for the Sniders. Melind is best known for the renovation of Lions Park for which Steve Snider’s company, The Snider Group, donated the excavation work.

Snider also contributed excavation work for the Zionsville United Methodist Church, soccer club, Boys & Girls Club of Zionsville and others, according to Melind, who nominated the Sniders for the award.

It also was an unusual night because the Sniders weren’t the only Town Criers named. Zionsville’s John and Linda Guthrie also received the award, which began in 1967 to recognize those who have made outstanding contributions to the town.

Cheri McKamey presented the Guthries’ award.

“They are very special people,” she said. “John and Linda have brought so much enthusiasm to this community.”

The pair are known for their service to the Lions Club. Linda Guthrie was the club’s first female president and helped reorganize its Fall Festival event. John Guthrie was also Lions Club president.

“You’re our family,” Linda Guthrie told the audience.

“I’m completely blown away,” John Guthrie added. “We appreciate the opportunity to live and serve with you.”

Dubay Youth Sports Award

The evening began with Tom Easterday presenting the Community Foundation of Boone County’s Lionel Dubay Youth Sports Award to Jade Marsh.

“This year’s recipient has shown tireless dedication to youth sports in Zionsville,” Easterday said. Watson has coached little league and youth football, boys and girls basketball, tee ball, and is a member of the Zionsville Little League board of directors. He also has taught golf lessons.

“He makes it known that each child has a contribution to make, and it is valuable to the team effort,” Easterday said.

“My wife kept a good secret,” said Marsh, who was surprised by the award. “I love to coach youth sports.”

Community Service Award

Easterday also presented the Community Service award, which was given to the Zionsville Pathways Committee. The committee started in June 1985 as the Bicycle/Jogging/Walking Path Task Force.

Paul Watson chaired the committee in the early 1990s, when it obtained federal transportation grants and completed engineering and construction of the pathway system, which Easterday said rivals any in the nation. Watson accepted the award on behalf of the committee.

Watson praised the efforts of the Zionsville committee and others working to connect trails from Indianapolis to Lafayette using abandoned railways.

“It’s an exciting thing to think about,” he said. “I wish them the best.”

Dahlia award

Phillip Owens, owner of Jewel Box Jewelers in Zionsville, presented the Dahlia Award to his staff member Gale Sammons. Created in 1996, the Dahlia Award is given to an employee of a Zionsville business.

Owens recognized Sammons for her rapport with customers, which includes not only knowing their names and faces, but also their recent purchases.

“Most people ask for her, not me, anymore,” Owens joked. Sammons also chairs the chamber’s Lincoln Park Concert Series.

“It’s a great place to work,” Sammons said in accepting the award. “I love being a part of [the customers’] lives.”

Brick in Our Foundation

Jerry Harris, who has decades of volunteer service to the town as a reserve policeman and volunteer firefighter, received the Brick in Our Foundation Award.

Zionsville Town Marshal Jim Wampler said Harris has been a reserve officer since 1965, the same year Wampler had his first contact with the police as a young man — for driving without a license.

“He started in the front door, and I came in the back door,” Wampler joked.

Zionsville Fire Department Deputy Chief Brian Miller helped present the award, saying that Harris also has 30 years of firefighting service to his credit.

“Jerry has been in fire service as long as “ can remember,” Miller said. “We wish to thank you for your dedication to the town.”

“It’s something I’ll always cherish,” Harris said of the honor. “Zionsville is a place that has been a dream to live in and raise our children. ... We need to remember we all work for God.”

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