2008
For more information
about the
Community Spirit Award,
email Rachelle Zimmerman
or call 307-633-3145.
Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
Community Spirit Award Past Winners
Greta Morrow - 2007
Positive and courageous are just two words used to describe the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle’s 2007 Community Spirit Award recipient, Greta Morrow.
A bone marrow donation helped her battle cancer in 2002. Now, the former high school educator donates her time to helping others. Greta organized the Annual Day of Giving to encourage others to do the same.
Participants were encouraged to drop off food or personal care items. They were also asked to donate blood and register as a tissue, organ or bone marrow donor.
“We’re all in this world together,” she said. “We’re all in the same boat. We were born into an imperfect world. We struggle, and when we help each other, the trip is so much easier and pleasant.”
Greta also works to connect other cancer survivors with support and resources. She has become an advocate for insurance reform and coverage for clinical trials. Greta was an Ambassador to the 2006 Celebration on the Hill in Washington D.C. to lobby for increased funding for cancer research and access to healthcare.
Greta has been active with many organizations such as the American Cancer Society, I Can Cope, Meals on Wheels and Road to Recovery. She is also a Deacon at First Presbyterian Church of Cheyenne and has been an active member for 32 years.
Dana Bates Metzke - 2006
The Wyoming Tribune-Eagle’s 2006 Community Spirit Award recipient Dana Bates Metzke is known for getting things done.
Active in the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, the Cheyenne Rotary, the Laramie County Library Foundation and the Wells Fargo Community Bank community advisory board. Metzke has also served as the president of the Cheyenne Symphony Foundation board. She is credited with raising the endowment from $130,000 in 1997 to its current $1.5 million.
Metzke has also worked on the boards of the Wyoming Transportation Museum and Learning Center and the University of Wyoming American Heritage Center, as well as the publicity committee for Denim ‘N Diamonds, an annual fundraiser for the United Medical Center Foundation. She’s also a volunteer driver for Meals on Wheels.
Previous Community Spirit Award Winner Fred Baggs commended Metzke not only for her efficiency but also for her upbeat attitude toward community service.
“Community service is one thing anyone can do,” Metzke said, echoing the words of the late Martin Luther King, Jr. “All you have to have is a desire to make the community better.”
Jerry
Jessen - 2005
Vowing to “volunteer until I drop,” Jerry Jessen accepted the 2005 Wyoming Tribune-Eagle Community Spirit Award in a ceremony Thursday, Sept. 22 at the Old West Museum.
A professional engineer, Jessen has donated his time and expertise to the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities, the building of the Junior League Baseball Complex and the planning of the Sherard Water Treatment Plant. He’s served on the Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce board of directors and contributed for many years to Cheyenne Frontier Days, serving as security chairman and general chairman of the CFD General Committee, as well as president of the CFD board of directors. He has also chaired the Western Spirit Art Show and Sale and served on the board of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum, where he continues to volunteer.
He has also been active in the Cheyenne Jaycees, Cheyenne Rotary Club and Boy Scouts.
In nominating him for the award, Cheyenne resident Roger Lawrence wrote that Jessen has “given tirelessly to the community’ and is one of those individuals “responsible for making Cheyenne what it is today and what it will become in the future.”
Carol Farthing - 2004
Mrs. Farthing is described as an inspirational leader by those she has worked with on a wide variety of civic organizations and projects.
She has been active with many organizations including the Old West Museum, Cheyenne Civic League, Cheyenne Frontier Days, the United Medical Center Foundation and Laramie County Cowbelles. Her long-time love of sewing has resulted in her making more than 100 costumes for CFD parades.
"There are events in your life that define your future and I had one of those about twenty years ago,” Mrs. Farthing said.
“I became critically ill and when I recovered, I decided I had
to live each day to the fullest. There were three things that I decided
I would do, and one was to let my family know every day how important
they were to me. The second was to be the kind of friend that my friends
had been to me and the third, to leave my community better for my having
been a part of it."
Roslyne
W. Kaufman - 2003
Mrs. Kaufman is known as a strong-willed woman who gets things done. She has frequently been called on to work on special projects, solicit and organize volunteers and raise money for many worthwhile civic projects, and has a particular interest in human services.
She is very proud of her involvement in the establishment of the Cheyenne Community Clinic, which provides primary healthcare to low-income Laramie County residents who have no medical insurance.
She was also instrumental in the creation of what is now Stride Learning Center for developmentally delayed children, Needs Inc., Laramie County Attention Home and the Cancer Assistance Association.
Mrs. Kaufman has also helped United Medical Center raise money to purchase new equipment and broaden its medical services. She helped start the hospital’s Pink Boutique gift shop and the Christmas gift-wrapping program, two important fundraisers.
“I can’t repair the world,” Mrs. Kaufman says, “but I can make my space a better place to live.”
John
C. Cole - 2002
Mr. Cole is well known for almost 50 years of service to Cheyenne
Frontier Days, but his dedication to community service doesn't stop there.
The former Wyoming Department of Transportation official has donated his
time, efforts and voice to many activities. In the 1950s, Mr. Cole started
driving carriages in the Frontier Days parade. He went on to serve on
many rodeo committees and for more than 26 years, he has announced morning
events. His voice can also be heard at 4-H, FFA and Laramie County Fair
events. He has also been active in youth baseball leagues and has served
on the Laramie County Community College board of directors. As president
of the Jaycees, Mr. Cole oversaw the project to reclaim the swampland
of Lake Minnehaha, creating the area where the "Big Boy" locomotive is
now located. He is also known for his 32 years of service in the Kiwanis
Club. "You've got to be active if you want to see things done in the community,"
he said.
Fred
T. Baggs - 2001
Mr. Baggs was honored for his many accomplishments, not the least
of which was making sure Cheyenne had enough water to thrive and grow.
The owner of a custom clothing shop for men since 1991, Mr. Baggs, as
president of the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities, helped shepherd the
“Cheyenne Stage II” water project through the regulatory process,
guaranteeing the city a stable supply of water. He also helped Laramie
County Memorial Hospital obtain its first “CAT” scanner, helped
establish Cheyenne’s City Center Parking Lot and raised money to
put an elevator in the Cheyenne Civic Center. “Simply stated, Fred
Baggs consistently and continually gets things done,” Dana Metzke
said in her letter nominating him for the Community Spirit Award. “I
think people should do something for their community in whatever arena
they find satisfying,” Mr. Baggs said.
Paul
Smith - 2000
Well known as the owner of the Hitching Post Inn, Mr. Smith was honored
for his dedication to organizations such as the STRIDE Learning Center
and his work for the needy. Mr. Smith has been involved in the STRIDE
Learning Center for more than a decade, serving on its board of directors,
assisting with fundraising efforts and hosting an annual party for the
school’s students. He also launched the “Cheyenne Basket Brigade,”
which each year provides about 150 needy families with meals, toys and
other goods for the holidays. Mr. Smith has also served as a board member
for a number of charitable groups and helped organize Wyoming’s
first “Race for the Cure” as a board member for the Komen
Foundation “Saving animals, making kids happy,” Mr. Smith
said when explaining what he enjoys about his volunteer activities. “Having
the opportunity to work with people on these events. I find most people
who give of their time are also giving of their hearts.”
William
"Bill" Dubois - 1999
Mr. Dubois, the great-grandson of Col. E.A. Slack, was fittingly honored
for his more than 30 years of volunteer efforts on behalf of the event
created by his ancestor, Cheyenne Frontier Days. The teacher and historian
first volunteered at Frontier Days as a boy helping his father. Since
then, he has served on a number of the event’s committees. In fact,
the rodeo couldn’t start without him -- he has opened each performance
for more than 30 years by singing the National Anthem. In addition to
his years of service with Frontier Days, Mr. Dubois was the founding chairman
of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum and has been actively involved
in the Laramie County and Wyoming historical societies. “I think
it’s important that if we’re here and we’re in good
health, we need to earn it, and that involves getting away from one’s
self and doing for others,” he said upon receiving the award.
Nick
Nickel - 1998
The inaugural winner of the Community Spirit Award, Nick Nickel,
was honored for his participation in a wide variety of volunteer activities.
Since moving to Cheyenne in 1975, Mr. Nickel has dedicated his time and
efforts to causes as diverse as the Future Farmers of America, the DePaul
Hospital Foundation Board, Meals on Wheels and Laramie County economic
development groups. His efforts on behalf of Cheyenne schools resulted
in a $25,000 grant for one school. In addition, his auto sales company
provided Ford vehicles for use at Frontier Days for 24 years. In addition,
the former owner of Fassett-Nickel Ford has served as a member of the
St. Mary’s Foundation Board and on the math advisory council for
McCormick Junior High School.