Mayor Knapp accepting the First Citizen award from Rotary president Richard Martens.
Wilsonville Mayor Tim Knapp was announced as the 2016 winner of the Wilsonville First Citizen Award on Saturday evening, February 25, 2017.
Knapp was among four finalists for the award, which is given by the Rotary Club of Wilsonville, and draws upon nominations submitted by the community. The award recognizes local leaders who have a history of making a difference and having a positive impact in the Wilsonville community. The other finalists were John Budiao, CEO of Military Coach; Kyle Bunch, agent with Kyle Bunch Agency of American Family Insurance; and Jean Tsokos, long-time Wilsonville community volunteer and leader with WilsonvilleSTAGE.
The award is given at the Rotary’s annual Heart of Gold Celebration, which salutes community volunteers. This year’s edition had a Hawaiian theme, called Mahalo To You, which means thanks as well as respect. This was the 16th annual edition of the banquet and fundraiser which was started in 2002 to honor Wilsonville’s community leaders who enrich the lives of all local residents.
“Tim Knapp has contributed to the community over the past several decades as a volunteer and an elected official,” said Richard Martens, club president, who chaired the First Citizen Selection Committee. “He has contributed a great many hours of service over the years, in a variety of roles from committee member on up to mayor. The Rotary extends its congratulations to Mayor Knapp, and to all of the finalists who have made our city a better place for all of our residents.”
Heart of Gold is the Rotary’s largest fundraiser of the year, with funding supporting education and community enrichment efforts in Wilsonville. While the final tally is still underway, early estimates demonstrate the generosity of sponsors and attendees, from which education and social support efforts in the city are funded.
“It is a tremendous compliment to receive the 2016 First Citizen award from the Rotary Club of Wilsonville and be among finalists who all have made significant contributions to our community,” Knapp said. “Year after year, the Rotary contributes to our city in important ways as a partner and friend. I am pleased to accept this award not just on my behalf, but for all the leaders and citizens of Wilsonville who work with such devotion to make this city the wonderful community that it is.”
Mayor Knapp being congratulated by his wife, Melodee after winning the First Citizen.
Knapp moved to Wilsonville in 1986 and served on several city boards, commissions and task forces before being appointed to the City Council in 2003. He was elected to the council in 2004, then elected mayor in 2008. He was re-elected in 2012 and 2016. His vision for Wilsonville as a connected, supportive community for all its citizens and businesses has been an underlying theme throughout his government and personal work.
During the banquet and celebration, attendees heard from a former inmate at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility who was released in 2016. She and her daughter talked about how they benefitted from the Through A Child’s Eyes partnership, which strengthens families and helps female inmates be better parents both before and after release. Without TACE, she said, she would not have the good relationship now shared with her daughter. Attendees at the Heart of Gold contributed generously to future TACE events after she and her daughter spoke, raising record amounts from the “paddle raise” to support mother-child connections.
Besides TACE, proceeds from the event support numerous other projects of the Wilsonville Rotary Foundation, including local omelet breakfasts to raise funds for schools; the Wilsonville Chess Program to help students learn discipline and problem-solving skills; producing the free Wilsonville Rotary Summer Concerts for residents and raising funds for polio prevention; college scholarships for Wilsonville high school graduates; international student exchange programs, inbound and outbound, that enrich Wilsonville students and their families; and annual projects that have brought solar energy to Africa and clean water to schools and clinics in the Third World.
For those looking ahead to next year, the club is already accepting nominations for the 2017 award, which will be awarded in early 2018. Nominations may be submitted to www.wilsonvillerotary.com/heart/nominate, or sent to president@wilsonvillerotary.com.