Jefferson Awards

David S. Adams - Founded and nurtured the Public Officials Dialogue. Adams created the Public Officials Dialogue on the belief that people who come together to share a meal, stories and experiences, also build strong relationships and are willing and ready to cooperate on issues of community concern.

LIMA — Wapakoneta's bike safety lady came away with the big prize Tuesday evening at The City Club during the annual Jefferson Awards presentations.Marlene Froning appeared overcome with emotion when her name was announced as the judges' choice among eight regional winners of the public service award.“I like helping people. It makes you feel so good inside to know that you've been able to help someone. I'll be there for them when they have bad times,” Froning said through tears as she accepted a $700 check. “I know we've had our bad times and we've made it. Now I can go and buy more helmets!”Twenty five years ago, Froning lost her son, Keith, to a car-bicycle accident when he was 9 years old. From her family's grief was born an annual Bicycle Safety Day in Wapakoneta. Now in its fourth year, the program covers the full spectrum — from ensuring children's bicycles are mechanically safe to informing the children and parents about all manner of different traffic laws and safety tips. Each child also receives a properly-fitted bicycle helmet.Froning and the other seven winners for the 2012 Jefferson Awards were chosen from nearly 50 nominations from across the region. As the overall winner she will represent the Lima area at the national Jefferson Awards ceremony in June in Washington, D.C. At that ceremony, Five gold medallion Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Awards will be presented for greatest public service benefitting local communities.Each of the winners received a $350 check for the volunteer organizations they represent. Each recipient was quick to deflect credit for their work, saying they are just a few within a community of exceptional volunteers. They all acknowledged the networks of people who surround and help them make their organizations reach their goals.“There are thousands of people throughout the community who do what we do,” said Bill Hanz, a 31-year volunteer soccer coach with the YMCA. Hanz honored the parents who put their trust in his coaching, including three couples he'd invited to sit at his table for the Old Barn Out Back-catered banquet.“The privilege of having your children with me and the trust you have placed with me and the people that have helped me has really been quite an honor,” Hanz said.The Lima News Marketing Director Bill Clinger, who was co-master of ceremonies with Your Hometown Stations news anchor Amyre Makupson, said this year's winners are the most geographically diverse, including winners from St. Marys, Delphos, Ottawa and St. Marys as well as from the immediate Lima area.“That is truly a testament to what you folks do for your communities, and again, we thank you because you are all winners,” Clinger said.The Jefferson Awards program is sponsored by The Lima News, Your Hometown Stations and the United Way of Greater Lima.

WAYNESFIELD — It is far from an easy job or one without its share of frustrations and sadness. Children sometimes die waiting for their chance to come to the United States for surgery. A few have died while here or on their way. Some of the stories of why they need help in the first place are imaginable.“With one phone call, my life can go ‘oh my goodness,’” Tami Shobe says of running Children’s Medical Missions West, a non-profit, Christian organization that brings children from other countries to the U.S. for medical treatment.Shobe, of Waynesfield, is one of this year’s local Jefferson Award winners. She was nominated by Lima’s Dr. William Scherger, who has helped some of those children.It is those success stories — and there are many — that makes the work and worry all worth it for Shobe, who started the organization nine years ago.“Ninety percent of the time they are good stories,” she said. “It is amazing to see the transformation, especially in the heart kids. Some of them are awfully tiny. They are sickly, and when they go home you can hardly believe it is the same child.”One-year-old Xin Rui will likely be one of those success stories. Staying with a host family in Fort Wayne, Ind., he recently had surgery to repair a cleft lip and palate. When he is healed, Xin Rui will return home to his family in China. Early this week, his host mother brought him to see Shobe. It is the first they have seen each other since she picked him up from the airport nearly two months ago. Shobe will be the one to return him to the airport, too.Shobe can only explain her commitment with a simple response that she loves children. Before she and husband, Greg, started their family of six children, the couple fostered children. They have fostered 20 children over 28 years.“We just always liked children,” she said. “We wanted a large family. We just enjoyed the kids.”The Shobe family first started hosting children for Healing the Children, an organization that also brings children here for medical reasons. She later became coordinator of the Ohio-Michigan chapter.She started her own organization largely because she wanted to help children in Africa, especially those in Burkino Faso. She had family members who had visited there.“That was where my heart was, in Africa,” she said. “Burkino Faso is the third-poorest country in the world, but yet they are such nice kids. They have a good sense of family values there, good family structure.”Children also come from places like the Ivory Coast, Uganda, Nigeria, Chad, Honduras, Haiti and most recently two from China. Just this week, Shobe brought three children from Haiti and three from Africa. She meets every child at the airport to deliver them to their temporary families. Conditions include heart problems, urinary issues, brain tumors, club foot and other orthopedic problems. Many of the issues are rather minor and fixable in the United States, but are much more serious in the poverty-stricken countries.“We do a lot of cleft lip and palate. You don’t think of that as life threatening, but I have had many children die before I get the paperwork done because they can’t nurse and they don’t have bottles and formula,” she said, adding that orthopedic surgeries give children hope. “It gives them a better quality of life,” she said. “If they never walk in those countries, they are nothing but beggars. They can never have any hope.”Shobe currently has 30 children in the U.S. The organization helps around 40 a year. Children are spread around the country.Once a doctor accepts a child and is willing to do the procedure for free, Shobe goes to work on contacting a hospital and then finding a host family. Word of mouth has proven the best way to find host families. If needed, Shobe contacts churches for help. Like she experienced too, once families host a child, they usually want to do it again.“The amazing thing is you go into it thinking you are going to bless this child and in the end you are the one who gets the true blessing out of it,” she said. Part of the work for Shobe is securing donations to support the program. One way she raises money is through an annual golf outing. “I am very thankful to all of my host families, doctors, hospitals and the communities that give of their time. I could not do this without everyone,” she said. “Lastly, all the credit goes to God. Without him none of what I do would be possible.”For details on Children’s Medical Missions West or to find out how to help, go to www.cmmwest.com.You can comment on this story at www.limaohio.com.

LIMA — Jefferson Awards judges have named eight local winners of the prestigious national public service award. The winners will be recognized at a banquet March 27 at The City Club. At the banquet, sponsors also will announce which of the eight winners will attend the National Jefferson Awards ceremony in June in Washington, D.C.The local winners are Kay Ahten, of Delphos; Art Brinkman and Jim Sherrick, of Lima; Marlene Froning, of Wapakoneta; Bill Hanz, of Lima; Chas and Beth Myers, of Ottawa; Edward Noble, of St. Marys; Suzanne Kaliher Plumb, of Lima; and Tami Shobe, of Waynesfield.“Although we have selected eight of the 46 nominees to receive this award,” said Leila Osting, director of human resources for The Lima News, and chair of the Jefferson Awards judges’ committee, “every nomination is a winner because everything these people do makes our community a better place to live and raise a family.”The Jefferson Awards program is sponsored locally by The Lima News, Your Hometown Lima Stations and the United Way of Greater Lima.A news release from United Way provided the following details about the winners:Kay Ahten was named a winner for her leadership and volunteer work with Trinity United Methodist Church in Delphos and with the Delphos Canal Commission Museum.Museum volunteer Linda Baker said Ahten was “really the driving force behind the renovations to the second floor of the canal museum. If it hadn’t been for her, we’d still be working at it.”Art Brinkman and Jim Sherrick, owners of the Silver Shears Barbershop, are Jefferson Award winners as founders of the “Barbers Giving Bikes” program. Within five years, the bikes giveaway has grown from two bikes to 163 this past Christmas.“There’s something about a bike at Christmas,” Sherrick said. “It’s something every kid at a certain age looks forward to.”Award winner Marlene Froning’s community work grew out of a tragedy in which her son Keith died as a result of a bicycle accident. Because of that, Froning became an advocate for bicycle safety. Froning fought for a bicycle helmet law in Ohio and helped organize Bicycle Safety Day in Wapakoneta.In its fourth year, the event offers free helmets to children, inspects their bicycles and allows them to ride through a bicycle rodeo course.Bill Hanz has been a volunteer at the Lima YMCA for more than 30 years. He is a volunteer youth soccer coach and mentors young bike riders. Hanz also provides what he refers to as “driving Miss Daisy” services to people who lack transportation to church or other locations. Margie Basinger said, “Bill Hanz doesn’t think twice, for he feels he’s been blessed and volunteering is what you do when you see the community as your home.”Chas and Beth Myers earned a Jefferson Award for their volunteer efforts in developing Putnam County Habitat for Humanity, for which Chas serves as president.The couple also worked on flood relief following the 2007 flooding in the Ottawa area. Chas was coordinator for flood rebuilding projects and he and Beth donated countless volunteer hours to this effort.Award winner Edward Noble, of St. Marys, has spent many of his 94 years in service to the community through Goodfellows, an informal organization that distributes food baskets to families at Christmas.Noble coordinated the Christmas giveaway and, each year, passed the hat at Rotary to collect funds for the food baskets. Noble also was the longtime president of The St. Marys Community Foundation, which awards scholarships and loans to students and which now oversees the Goodfellows project.Suzanne Kaliher Plumb is a Jefferson Award winner for volunteering with a number of organizations, including her church, Cub Scouts, YWCA, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association.Among her leadership positions, Plumb spent 25 years as chair of the YWCA’s board of trustees.She is also president of the board for Church United Pantry, a food pantry that helps families through occasional emergencies. She also works with the annual Christmas Tree Festival and is a member of the City of Lima Planning Commission.Tami Shobe earned a Jefferson Award as founder of Children’s Medical Missions West, a mission dedicated to helping children with medical needs from all over the world. The group has no paid staff and is, in fact, a “one-woman show.”Shobe arranges for host families and free medical care and pays for the children’s travel with donations from generous people. To date, her organization has helped 240 children.You can comment on this story on www.limaohio.com.

DELPHOS — Sherry Fetzer, a local representative for the national Jefferson Awards, didn't come away with a prize Tuesday night but has certainly made an impact on her community.The Delphos resident was invited to attend the 39th annual ceremony in Washington, D.C., for the Jefferson Awards, which recognizes volunteers, for her “Up To The Challenge” program. Fetzer created the locally funded nonprofit organization while raising an epileptic daughter to provide social activities for disabled children and adults. The program holds events such as softball in Allen, Van Wert and Putnam counties.Fetzer's program received $350 when she was named one of eight local finalists and $700 when she was named the 2011 local representative. The program “Up To The Challenge” began when a friend of Fetzer's with an autistic son became frustrated with the lack of family activities available. Fetzer, who also faced challenges raising her epileptic daughter, set about creating the program.The first softball game of about 40 players with various challenges took place in July 2003. In addition to that, anywhere from 60 to 100 people attend swimming, bowling and dancing events.The organization has never seen a shortage of volunteers, according to Fetzer. She herself has knocked on doors in Delphos seeking donations. “We could not do any of this without the volunteers and all our families,” Fetzer told The Lima News. “Our community is starting to really get on board.”Twenty-two people were nominated for the Jefferson Awards, and local judges reduced the number to eight before selecting one person to represent the Lima region. Your Hometown Lima Stations, the United Way of Greater Lima, and The Lima News sponsor the local Jefferson Awards for Public Service.You can comment on this story at www.LimaOhio.com.

DELPHOS — There’s a moment every dedicated foster parent knows.“It’s almost indescribable, just being able to see in their faces what appears to be joy in the realization that somebody cares for them,” said Quan Cory, a longtime volunteer with Specialized Alternatives for Families and Youth. “Sometimes, it’s so quick and so slight, like a little half-grin, you might miss it.”Cory, 54, of Cridersville, has seen that fleeting expression of joy countless times as a SAFY volunteer. A self-described “minister of help,” Cory has been a foster parent for more than 14 years, volunteering as a family and staff advocate on SAFY’s boards since 2000.The not-for-profit foster care and adoption agency, headquartered in Delphos, serves 4,300 difficult-to-place foster children in eight states every year.Now a member of SAFY’s board of directors, Cory says she misses the direct contact of foster care but takes comfort in knowing her work as a director has a much broader impact. With her firsthand experience, she represents to the board the clinical aspects of foster care as well as policies pertaining to foster parents, children and staff. According to SAFY Marketing Director Amy Rode, Cory’s role on the board is to voice the concerns of SAFY’s clinicians and families, and to follow through with actions that ultimately ensure those with the softest voices — the foster children — are heard.“Quan Cory is nominated for the many acts of kindness she performs daily to assist others, and for her work on the board of directors,” Rode wrote when nominating Cory for the 2011 Jefferson Award. “Her volunteer work makes our community a kinder, gentler place to live where families and children are valued above all else.”The rewards can be tough to measure, especially in Cory’s specialty of short-term respite placements — short-term stays while more permanent family settings are arranged. The demands can be equally hard to measure.“She understands foster parenting involves more than the resources that are provided by the state and time marked,” Rode said in the nomination.In addition to the many respite foster children, Cory and her husband, Ted, an Ohio Department of Transportation employee, raised three long-term foster children along with their daughter, Cassondra, 34, and son Michah, 25. They consider all five children their family. “Everybody’s children are everybody’s children,” Cory said.One of Cory’s most rewarding days as a foster parent was the result of her desire and ability to help beyond the call of duty. It involved one of her three long-term adoptions. The young man was 16, the only remaining resident of an area independent living facility that was about to close. Cory and her husband were warned it would be a difficult placement because of the youth’s severe attachment issues.“After about a month of visits, we decided to try,” Cory said. “We were told this young man was hardened and would never bond with anyone.”He stayed with the Corys throughout the remainder of his high school life and went on to college. “In time, he began to call my children his brother and sister but never called me or my husband mom and dad,” she said. “Every once in a while on a good day he would refer to us as his aunt or uncle, but we were never mom or dad.”One day the young man called home from college. When Cory answered the phone, he said, “Hey, Ma! How are you doing?” He has called her “Ma” ever since.“Out of all the kids I have been in contact with, throughout all the successes and failures, that was my single greatest moment,” Cory said. “This child who had a horrible upbringing that society said would never allow anyone to become close to him, and one day he felt enough love in his heart that we became his parents. That’s the greatest! He still struggles, but that’s OK because we’re his family.”In addition to her work at SAFY, Cory volunteers as an administrative assistant and office manager at Greater Christ Temple Church. Her church ministry of helps often includes driving parishioners to the doctor or to get groceries. She routinely visits the sick in hospital. She’s a longtime Sunday school teacher and volunteers in the church’s kitchen.In the summer, Cory works with two youth camps in southern Ohio. At one camp she mentors seventh-grade girls; at the other, she’s the head cook.You can comment on this story at www.limaohio.com.

CONTINENTAL — Don Smith, of Continental, has always been an advocate for children.As a probation officer in Putnam County, he witnessed firsthand the best and worst of what children live through. Or so he thought.But a chance encounter with a pamphlet on juvenile diabetes turned his world around. And since that chance encounter eight years ago, Smith has become the greatest individual supporter in the history of Diabetic Youth Services in Maumee, raising more than $60,000 for the agency since 2004.“He’s really been a godsend to us,” said Tim Eichenauer, past chairman of the board of that organization, who nominated Smith for a Jefferson Award. “It’s very rare that somebody would take on something like this, but he just does it out of the goodness of his heart. He’s almost a benefactor to us. His support is part of the reason we’re still around.”How does Smith do it? A lap at a time.“I swim a mile every day. One day when I was heading to the Defiance Y to swim, I saw a DYS pamphlet advertising a swimming fundraiser. I mentioned it to my doctor, and he said if I swam 100 laps rather than my normal 70, he’d give me $100 for DYS. That first year I raised $1,700,” Smith said.After that event, he and his wife, Connie, went to the DYS banquet. “I’ve seen kids at their best and worst, but I’ve never seen anything like what we saw that night. The stories they told were amazing. When we left for home, we went the first eight miles unable to even talk. Finally my mother-in-law said what we were all thinking, ‘We don’t even know how fortunate we are.’”After that, Smith began looking more deeply into the organization.“I’m always skeptical about how money is used, so for me the easiest way to find out is to ask the consumers. And, each parent and child that I talked to about the DYS camps said they’d be lost without it. This is one of the rare groups that actually does what it says it will do.”Smith also visited the camp the agency runs for the littlest of diabetics in Sylvania as well as the Defiance camp for older children.“Parents are reluctant to send their diabetic children away for an overnight, so the supervision provided at these camps is unbelievable. They are able to help these kids have a great time, while at the same time educating them about their diabetes.”Totally convinced, Smith upped his participation in fundraising.“I swim a mile every day, but now I set aside my birthday on Feb. 2 as Pledge Day, and on that day, I swim four miles. I start around 8 in the morning and swim laps until just before noon. It’s just straight swimming, about 4 miles. I’m 62 years old, and that’s exhausting, but I believe in the cause.”The money Smith raises helps 110 children from 6 to 15 years old attend camp. The cost to send one child for a week is almost $1,000, Eichenauer said. And, Smith pledges that every penny he raises goes strictly for camp costs. In fact, he donates the time and money he and Connie put into the fundraising. “All the money I raise goes to the camp,” he said.But along with raising money, Smith is happy to help raise awareness about DYS.“All my life I was taught to leave the world a better place than when you came into it. I have a talent, I can swim. I turned that into a passion to help people. This award is a home run outta the park, but the biggest thing for me is that it allows us to get the word out about juvenile diabetes.”And even greater than any award is the thanks he and Connie receive from the young campers and their parents.“I have a manila envelope at home that we keep these wonderful thank-yous in. I wouldn’t sell it for anything,” he said, his voice cracking.And as long as possible, he plans to continue raising money to help these little ones.“Until there’s a cure,” Smith said.

LIMA — After a quarter-century of volunteerism, Jerome O’Neal’s impact has been felt far and wide across Lima and Allen County. O’Neal, president of Plus Management Services Inc., was instrumental in the start of the Community Enrichment Dinner. He was also involved in the creation of Allen County Health Partners, now Health Partners of Western Ohio. His volunteer efforts and spirit of giving back are what led to his nomination for a 2011 Jefferson Award for Public Service. “Jerome O’Neal has shown a strong background in volunteerism by serving many boards throughout the community along with developing services and programs for less fortunate in the area,” Georgiana Saffle wrote in her nomination. “His passion to ensuring the lives of others are improved is shown by the continuing service he gives to the community. His entrepreneurial leadership skills have been instrumental in Lima/Allen County becoming a better place to live.”O’Neal has been involved on the boards for the American Red Cross, YMCA of Lima, and the Easter Seals of Northwest Ohio. O’Neal is a past campaign chairman and past board president of the United Way of Greater Lima.O’Neal could not be reached for comment.Saffle wrote that in 1996, O’Neal was the first United Way campaign chairman to raise over $2 million.Beverly Prueter, former president of the United Way of Greater Lima, wrote in a recommendation letter that achieving the $2 million target wasn’t easy.“He recruited and led a team that built new relationships with individuals and businesses, and that took the United Way message all over the county,” Prueter wrote. “He personally met with many companies and their employees in his quest to complete the campaign successfully. The goal was exceeded in December of 1996.”Janis Sunderhaus, chief executive officer of Health Partners of Western Ohio, also was quick to praise O’Neal’s efforts.“He advocated for the needs of the medically underserved residents of Lima’s south end communities and participated in many early organization planning activities,” Sunderhaus wrote. “It is not overstating to say that Health Partners of Western Ohio may have never realized our current success without Mr. O’Neal’s contributions.”O’Neal’s service has also included stints as a board member for Allen County Visionaries, the Bradfield Community Center, St. Rita’s Medical Center and Lima-Allen County Leadership.Saffle wrote in her nomination that O’Neal’s company, which operates Baton Rouge Health Services, offers seniors and the community a variety of services, support and education on senior topics.“He has been instrumental in taking nursing facilities ‘out of the darkness and into the light’ changing the delivery of skilled medical services in the Lima area,” Saffle wrote.You can comment on this story at www.limaohio.com.

LIMA — Any questions about the success of David Smith’s retirement can be answered with a peak at his calendar.The retired school counselor leafs through a green, pocket-sized schedule book and all you see is ink. Every day, every page, as far as he can flick, filled with dates and times of volunteer responsibilities. It is literally a schedule with no time left. “That’s what our days look like,” he said with a touch of resignation. “My wife likes to say, no mater what comes up, ‘Dave will do it.’ That’s just the way it is. I have a hard time saying no.”Smith’s inability to say ‘no’ is good news to a variety of groups happy to have him helping out. The list of organizations he helps with his time and organizational skills runs for more than a page: Elida Optimists, Allen County Historical Society, Elida Breakfast Club, Allen County Fair and Immanuel United Methodist Church to name just a few. But the largest portion of his time is spent volunteering in area schools, a predictable turn for a man who spent more than three decades as a teacher and guidance counselor at Elida schools. “Working with the kids has always been the most gratifying work for me. You get to see the growth, the way they improve from the beginning of the school year to the end. That’s rewarding,” Smith said.In addition to his years working in the schools, Smith has served on the boards of both Elida and Apollo schools as well as the Northwest Ohio School Board Association and the Ohio School Board Association. He spends two days a week tutoring children at Shawnee Maplewood School. At Elida, he does everything from serve on the school foundation board to working as a remedial reading assistant for the Helping One Student To Succeed program.On top of all that, he works as a volunteer for the Real Money, Real World program, a hands-on educational program aimed at teaching children how to make smart choices about lifestyle and money.“They learn what it feels like to go through a monthly budget and pay the bills. They see how fast they can end up with no money left. And hopefully they understand when they say, ‘Mom, can I have this?’ why the money might not be available.”Smith may work with other people’s children, but his own kids have picked up on the lesson. His nomination for this year’s Jefferson Award came courtesy of his daughter and son.“He has volunteered in some manner wherever and whenever needed for as long as we have known him,” said his daughter, Laurie Smith Notestine. “His passion is to give back to the community which has given him so much. One of his core values is ‘Pay it forward.’ There is no doubt he has fulfilled this mission to the fullest, in the schools, community and in out family.”You can comment on this story at www.limaohio.com.

LIMA —The search is still on for the region’s top volunteers.The committee that hands out the annual Jefferson Awards for Public Service is making a final push for nominees for the annual award. Nominations must be submitted before noon Wednesday. Local winners are eligible to earn as much as $1,050 for the non-profit they represent, plus a trip to Washington, D.C., to compete for a national title.“We just want to remind people there’s still time to nominate someone. Take a look at the people that are really contributing time and energy to the various projects in the community, and help us recognize them,” said Leila Osting, chairwoman of the 2011 Jefferson Awards program and human resources director at The Lima News. The awards — sponsored by Your Hometown Lima Stations, United Way of Greater Lima and The Lima News — are open to any volunteer in the six-county region that includes Allen, Auglaize, Putnam, Hardin, Hancock and Van Wert counties. From the nominees, a panel of area judges will pick eight local winners, who will each receive $350 for their respective charities. Three of those winning nominations will be forwarded to a national committee, which will choose one of the three to attend the national Jefferson Awards ceremony in June in Washington. That finalist will receive another $700 for his or her charity and be in the running for one of five Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Awards for greatest public service.After 10 years of awards, there are hundreds of past nominees out there who have not won. Osting said she hopes to see a return of some of those names.“Even if they have been nominated in the past, they are still eligible,” Osting said. “We know there are lots of people out there who are giving so much of their time and energy to these organizations. We want to make sure they get a chance to be recognized.”Joining Osting as judges for his year’s awards are retired Allen County Commissioner Alberta Lee; Susan Heitkamp, of Auglaize County; Jose Nogueras, of Ohio Northern University; Tom Hendrixson, WLIO videographer; Louis Jennings, employee resource coordinator for United Auto Workers Local 1219, Lima Ford Engine Plant; Jeanne Beutler, United Way of Putnam County executive director; Kate Gribble, Van Wert Chamber of Commerce president; and Tom Thompson, United Way of Greater Lima labor representative.You can comment on this story at www.LimaOhio.com.

LIMA — After being the victim of a bicycle accident that nearly killed her, Sandy Monfort has stepped down from her job overseeing a community facility that treats non-violent criminals, typically those with drug addictions.

WASHINGTON — An area representative for the Jefferson Awards, Bonnie Shook, didn’t take home any awards Tuesday night, but just being there was a rewarding experience for her.

VAN WERT — Larry Webb said he doesn’t think he deserves recognition. He said he just gets people organized and they do the work.

BLUFFTON — Barbara and Arliss Plaugher are reaching out to the world’s poorest, helping them see one person at a time.

FORT JENNINGS — Mary Lou Krietemeyer , Fort Jennings enjoys organizing one of the biggest blood drives held annually in Putnam County. She wants it to be a success and works hard to make sure everything is done right, including providing home baked pies, homemade sandwiches and cookies for the volunteers and donors.

WAPAKONETA — History isn’t just about the past to Rachel Barber. It binds the present and future of a community together as well. That’s why the lifelong resident of Wapakoneta has worked tirelessly to reconnect the city with its heritage.

LIMA — Selecting Jefferson Awards recipients is never an easy task for judges, but nominating someone is getting easier.

LIMA - George Cox drove five World War II veterans to Washington a few years ago so they could see the National World War II Memorial. Now, Cox will go back to the capital as a result of that selfless dedication to others.

DELPHOS - Elmer and Dorothy Hoffman give their time for history in the hopes it will brighten the future.

COLUMBUS GROVE - When the United Way letter telling Dan Groman he had been selected as a Jefferson Award winner arrived, he was some 1,300 miles away helping to rebuild hurricane-ravaged Galveston, Texas.

SPENCERVILLE - George Cox had many chances to become bitter; he chose to focus on the kindness of his community and work to return it.

DELPHOS - It began with an idea to send care packages to maybe 15 local men and women serving abroad in the military.

LIMA - Nominations are being accepted for the local Jefferson Awards that honor volunteers.