2007 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS

2007 Individual Distinguished Service Award Winner

Dr. Nancy Davis - 2007 Distinguished Service Award Winner
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WAYNESBURG--The Waynesburg Area Chamber of Commerce has selected their 2007 Distinguished Service Award recipients. Chosen for the individual award was Dr. Nancy Davis of Dilliner, longtime educator and founding coordinator of Westmoreland County Community College’s Greene County Education Center. The Waynesburg Volunteer Fire Company was selected as the organization winner. Mr. John R. Gardner will also be honored with a posthumous Distinguished Service Award.

Each year local residents are invited to make nominations for the two awards which are based on lasting contributions to community welfare, participation in civic organizations, evidence of leadership ability, success in vocation, personal and/or business progress, and cooperation with other individuals and organizations. The award has no relation to work performed for the Chamber of Commerce.

Nominated by Cindy Bailey, Editor/Publisher of GreeneSpeak, Dr. Davis currently serves as the Greene County Education Center’s workforce development coordinator. “Dr. Davis’ role as a public educator since the mid-60s has influenced Greene County’s young people greatly, but her crowning role has been the part she played in establishing a branch of WCCC here in 1999 with 64 students enrolled,” Bailey noted. “The job of scheduling those evening classes in the five school districts must have been daunting when she was headquartered in the basement of the former East Franklin Elementary School. Yet her perseverance did not go unnoticed by WCCC administrators and local community leaders. In fact, the college was relocated to the EverGreene Technology Park just one year ago, firmly establishing it here in Greene County. These days well over 200 students attend the college each semester. Through it all, Dr. Davis has remained above the political fray and managed to encourage the commissioners and other community leaders to help support this effort so that people of all ages here can afford post-secondary education. “Nancy has also worked for many years alongside her husband, the Rev. ‘Blackie’ Davis, who pastors Sugar Grove Baptist Church. And despite the personal tragedy of losing her only son in a plane crash, Nancy has continued to remain a critical advocate for Greene County’s young people, establishing, along with her husband, a scholarship fund in her son’s memory through the Community Foundation of Greene County where she is a founding board member.” Davis holds a B. A. from California University, an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction, and received her doctorate from West Virginia University. At Central Greene School District, Davis was something of a pioneer in public education, beginning her career as a classroom teacher, later becoming Special Education Program coordinator, Title I Director, Director of Curriculum and Instruction and finally Superintendent from 1983-1990. She has served as president of the United Way of Greene County, is on the board of the Waynesburg Chamber, and was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Waynesburg Rotary in 2003.

2007 Organizational Distinguished Service Award Winner

Waynesburg Volunteer Fire Company
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In a year when Greene County made headlines across the country for the tragic Franklin Township fire which killed six young children and the mother of three of them, the Distinguished Service Award Committee thought it fitting to honor the Waynesburg Volunteer Fire Company for their commitment to protecting the Waynesburg area and surrounding communities. Always among the first responders on scenes of human tragedy, including a large number of traffic fatalities this year, and ranging from fires and vehicle accidents to industrial accidents and natural disasters, these volunteers also devote many hours to fund-raising and community service. According to “The Waynesburg Volunteer Fire Company: Seventy-five Years of Service to Others,” by Dr. G. Wayne Smith, the company formed in 1926, a direct result of the Downey House Fire which broke out Dec. 23, 1925. At the time, the town’s fire fighting operation consisted of a loosely organized group of volunteers under the direction of Chief J. R. Davis who was also police chief. The town owned one hose and one cart. Five volunteer firemen died in that fire and property losses were about $1 million. A group of concerned citizens met in the Long Building March 4, 1926 to form a modern fire company. First order of business: They purchased a 750-gallon pumper for $12,000. That first year, the company responded to eight calls, all structure fires. Through the decades, Waynesburg’s volunteer firefighters have been on the scenes of Greene County’s worst disasters, including the 1928 Mather Mine explosion in which 30 volunteers were on duty for 872 hours. One hundred-ninety-four coal miners died in that disaster. After the record-breaking Thanksgiving snowstorm of 1950, volunteer firefighters spent a week at the firehouse so they could respond to any calls. By the 70s and 80s the number and variety of calls required ever more sophisticated equipment, like rescue vehicles and mobile command centers, and better training, as much as 50 hours annually. In 2000, the fire company fought the horse barn fire at the county fairgrounds where 17 horses died. They also were on the scene in 2001 when the 115-year-old Waynesburg Milling Co. burned, and they managed to extinguish it before it reached Jacobs Petroleum Products across the street.

These days, firefighters are routinely called out well over 100 times each month to handle chemical emergencies, power line calls, vehicle accident extrications, carbon monoxide calls, “pump detail” during floods, and animal rescues, among other things. The Distinguished Service Award Committee agrees with Dr. Smith, who notes that since 1926, the Waynesburg Fire Company has “...answered the calls with confidence, with efficiency...and great compassion, many times risking their lives and well-being to save the lives and property of others. It is impossible to thank them adequately for what they do.”

Posthumous Distinguished Service Award

John R. Gardner
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In March of 2007, Greene County Commissioner John R. Gardner passed away. It was a sad time in the County with black buntings flying at the courthouse. John, who many referred to as “Mr. Greene County”, happened to be a commissioner at the time but was so much more to so many. His service to the community started in the 1970’s when he volunteered as the first zoning inspector for the Borough. In 1979, he was appointed to the seat of County Commissioner to fill the seat vacated by the death of Ernest Lemley. John was subsequently elected to three more terms, in 1980, 1996 and 2000. John had also worked part-time as a drive for Central Cab, driving charter buses for many local high school teams and universities, including Waynesburg University and WVU. He was an elder at the First Presbyterian Church and a former member of the Board of Trustees of Waynesburg University. He had served as both chief and president of the Waynesburg Volunteer Fire Company. John’s grandfather, Ross Burns helped to organize the early Jacktown Fairs. John attended this fair and the Greene County fair for many years. He appreciated the work and dedication it took for 4-H members to raise, show and market their animals. Plus the fairs gave John an opportunity to do what he loved – talk with the people of Greene County. In the late 1970’s John began purchasing a market lamb at these fairs and in the 1990’s he began buying a market swine as well. He also purchase many “meat pens” of rabbits, but always donated them back to the 4-Her or to the 4-H scholarship fund. Purchasing these animals became a way for John to give back to the community and help the 4-H program. John touched the lives of many of the people in Greene County through many different avenues. While his service as County Commissioner readily comes to mind, he had his sights set on helping move the county and its people forward. “What was unique about John was that he seemed to have the time for every individual in this county, not just his friends,” said Waynesburg Borough Manager Jed Howard, who knew John his whole life. To date, two scholarships have been established in John’s memory. The 4-H scholarship will be given to a graduating Greene County senior 4-H club member who is not eligible for the Bamburger Livestock Scholarship and the second will be given to a graduating Greene County senior enrolled in the culinary arts program at the Greene County Technology Center.

Dr. Davis, Mr. Gardner and the Waynesburg Fire Company will be honored at the Chamber’s Annual Membership Meeting and Banquet to be held Nov. 17 at Waynesburg University Benedum Dining Hall. The public is welcome to attend and may purchase tickets at the Chamber office prior to November 12th. For more information, call 724-627-5926.

Past Distinguished Service Award Winners

 

To download the 2007 nomination application, click the link below.