Rotary will honor finalists at annual Heart of Gold Celebration
It’s time to think of the others who are always thinking of others.
The Rotary Club of Wilsonville is now accepting nominations for the 2021 Wilsonville First Citizen award. The deadline has been extended to January 31, 2022. 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 was selected as the 2021 Wilsonville First Citizen will be announced at the club’s annual Heart of Gold Dinner and Auction, scheduled for Friday, April 8, 2022 at Langdon Farms Golf Club in Aurora. Tickets will go on sale soon.
Since 2002, the local club has presented the First Citizen award to 26 people, either individually or as part of a couple. “A line on a map may make Wilsonville a city, but it’s the volunteers that make it a community,” said Curt Kipp, club president for 2021–22. “We are all connected by the selfless efforts of volunteers in our schools, clubs, churches, community groups and neighborhoods.”
Kipp encouraged Wilsonville residents to submit a thoughtful nomination so that someone special they know will be recognized. “Chances are you know that person who says yes whenever assistance is required for a project or an event, or a sudden or ongoing need,” he said. “Our club created the First Citizen awards program to recognize these deserving volunteers. The list of past winners is a who’s-who of community servants. Who will be next? Now you can have a say.”
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, in partnership with the Wilsonville Public Library.
- 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 two Peace Poles in the community, 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 certain needs as they arise.
At last year’s Heart of Gold Celebration, Elaine Swyt accepted the 2020 Wilsonville First Citizen award. Swyt is a longtime Charbonneau resident who gives her time to several causes, including the Clackamas County Cultural Coalition; Wilsonville Arts, Culture, and Heritage Strategy Task Force; Charbonneau Art Festival; Boys and Girls Aid Cypress Branch; and CharbonneauLive.com. Prior winners include 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.