On Tuesday, February 5, Temple Parks and Leisure Services recognized outstanding volunteers at the annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner.

In 2012, 385 individuals volunteered 14,556 hours for Temple Parks and Leisure Services and 36 volunteers contributed over 100 hours each.

“We are very fortunate to have such a great community of volunteers,” says Parks and Leisure Services Director, Ken Cicora, “We would not be able to offer the outstanding services and programs we do without their amazing generosity.”

Every year the Department recognizes the year’s most outstanding volunteer with the Fred Poteet Volunteer of the Year Award. “Fred was a volunteer at the Visitor Center for nine years. Fred always won the Most Volunteer Hours for the Year Award – averaging 20 hours per week all year long. Unfortunately, this past year, Fred passed away. He is truly missed,” said Cicora.

This year’s Fred Poteet Volunteer of the Year Award was given to Brian Schenk. Brian has been volunteering at the Temple Railroad & Heritage Museum for several years. He lives in Austin and takes the Amtrak twice a week to work at the museum. Brian has helped catalogue well over 1,800 tools, thousands of photographs, and hundreds of books for the museum. This is a very important job that is greatly appreciated.

Most Volunteer Hours was awarded to Dale Dutschman with 606 hours! Dale has a true compassion for other people. He helps greet and prepare coffee in the morning, helps with the lunch service, and even makes minor repairs to just about anything in the building. Dale is greatly appreciated by both Community Center staff and visitors for his helpfulness and his enjoyable personality.

Special recognition was given to the Terrace Gardens Adopt-A-Park volunteers led by Laura Grey-Riley as the Adopt-A-Park Group of the Year. They have made many trips to the park to clean-up and walk through, staying in close contact with Parks and Leisure Services to make sure the park stays at its best! This group serves as a great example of how, by working together, you can make positive changes to the community.

“The Adopt-A-Park program has grown tremendously with the support of our wonderful volunteers,” said Adopt-a-Park Manager Angela Cases. “These volunteers are crucial to keeping our parks safe and clean and we are very thankful for their support.”

The Jackson Park Neighborhood Association Adopt-A-Park was awarded for the most volunteer hours. The members strive to go above and beyond maintaining their park to the highest standard. This group even manages a Facebook page with information about the park, history, photographs, and more. Their many park clean-ups and other improvement projects show that this Adopt-A-Park group takes great pride in making sure the park is admired not only by those in the immediate area but by all in Temple.

The Wilson Park Recreation Center Volunteer of the Year Award went to Amelia Ecevido. Amelia spent several years in our camps as a camper and is now a junior camp counselor spending almost 500 hours assisting with Camp Heatwave, Camp Adventure, Camp Holidaze, and overnight camping trips. “She has led talent shows, hiking trail games, adventure games, and even helps cleaning. She is a great volunteer and a true role model for youth in our camps,” said Camp Director, Peanut Henderson.

The Sammons Community Center Volunteer Award was given to James Lambert. He has led an established, non-denomination spiritual awareness group every Monday for six years! This group started out small and has grown thanks to our dedicated volunteer and his warmth and compassion. James makes a bold difference and we are honored to have him as part of our volunteer staff at Sammons Community Center.

The Athletics Volunteer of the Year Award went to Mike Jones. Mike has volunteered with the athletics division for over six years coaching youth basketball and is even coaching two teams this year! He teaches his players the fundaments of basketball as well as respect for each other and their opponents. He has given many hours of his time over the past several years and has made a difference in the lives of the youth that he has coached.

The Gober Recreation Center Volunteer of the Year was awarded to Angela Bulls. Angela is with STARRY Counseling and provides counseling services through the Positively Pink Girls Club. She helps provide the young ladies a strong foundation to take on any struggles that they may encounter in life. Angela is making a difference in their lives and we are glad to have her as part of this girl’s enrichment group.

The Sammons Golf Links Volunteer of the Year Award was awarded to Herb Fuson. Herb has volunteered for two years and this year was even more committed to improving the golf course, the volunteer program, and the golfers over experience. He has helped train new volunteers, assisted in developing new procedures at the golf course, and has gone out of his way to make a difference on the golf course and to the golfers.

Genevieve Gregg received the Aquatics Volunteer of the Year Award. She has shown a great deal of support for the community, specifically the children who swim at Clark Swimming Pool. She volunteers and has even raised sponsorship dollars from the community to ensure the boys and girls could participate in swim lessons and be able to enter the swimming pool each day.

A new award, the Railroad and Heritage Museum Volunteer of the Year went to Sharon Sifferd. Sharon has helped organize and catalogue hundreds of items into the museum database. This is a time consuming process, but is much needed. Sharon has been instrumental in helping reorganize and catalogue these items.

Another new award, the Special Events Volunteer of the Year Award was given to Jim Thigpen and Kendall Young. These two gentlemen have given numerous hours of their time to help organize and conduct the Annual Temple Christmas Parade. They provide much needed assistance to plan and carryout all of the tasks to have a successful and fun Christmas Parade each year for the community.

This year’s dinner was sponsored by the Scott & White Health Plan who provided a very gourmet pork loin healthy choice meal.

During the dinner, volunteers were served by the Temple Parks Foundation members and Temple Parks and Leisure Services staff. “This is our opportunity to show our appreciation for all that these great people have done for us,” said Cicora. “It is part of the dinner that I look forward to every year.”

If you would like to join our amazing group of volunteers, please contact Angela Cases at 254.298.5774.