Donnabelle Jones and George Moyers
2009 First Citizens

Presentation speeches delivered by Nancy Kreger:
  
Our first honoree is involved in so many different projects and organizations that it is going to be impossible not to leave some out. Whenever and wherever people are getting together to do something for others and help is needed, you can count on seeing her there.

At any community club event, like Halloween or Christmas parties, the talent show, or just a meeting, she helps set up, clean up, make cookies, or whatever else needs doing. How many of us would be willing to clean this entire building every single week, for two years, without pay, when the club was short of funds? She did that. She’s also faithfully worked the Bingo nights for several years, which has raised thousands of dollars for improvements to this building, such as the new floor we’re enjoying this evening.

Every Christmas she wraps gifts for the Boy Scouts food and gift baskets. Last year she and two other people wrapped presents for 190 children and seniors. They went through dozens and dozens and dozens of rolls of wrapping paper and tape. And you thought Christmas Eve at your house was tough!

Among her talents are special skills at cooking, quilting, and ceramics, and she turns these around to give her talents back to the community. She bakes pies for the wildflower show, cookies for the community club Christmas party, cakes for the Halloween cakewalk. She donates quilts for the fire department’s and rally club’s raffles and as Christmas gifts for families in need. It’s only April and already she is making ceramic prizes for the kids at the Halloween party, as she has for several years.

She was the heart and soul of the VFW auxiliary from the time it formed in 1968 until it disbanded a few years ago. She baked cookies and sewed lap quilts for hospitalized veterans, and prepared meals for families after a death. Usually she’s the quiet, behind-the-scenes worker, but for the auxiliary she held offices from treasurer to president. She helped get our veteran’s memorial built, and still serves refreshments at the fly-over every Memorial Day.

This wonderful woman has lived in the Glide area all her life, first at Steamboat, then in Idleyld Park. It is impossible to know, remember or tell all the things she has done for us. For decades this community has been blessed with her generosity, her love for this community, and her willingness to work hard to make it a better place. That is what she has been quietly doing for many, many years. Very often, quiet, humble people like her aren’t given the recognition they deserve. Tonight, we have the chance to thank her for all that she does. Please join me in honoring Donnabelle Jones as Glide’s First Citizen 2009!

Like most people who give of themselves to their community, our second honoree contributes in many ways. He cuts firewood for the elderly and for fundraisers. He volunteers with ODFW. He plays Santa Claus for fire department Christmas parties. But most of all, for anyone who knows him, this man IS everything and anything to do with kids’ sports.

He has called the Glide area home since 1976. Almost immediately after moving here, he got involved with Glide’s Summer Rec program. He’s been involved ever since, coaching, running tournaments, serving on the board.

Sometime in the mid-80s, he got involved with Babe Ruth baseball. There too, he has coached, organized all-star tournaments, served on the board of directors. In fact, he’s currently president of Umpqua Valley Babe Ruth.

Not surprisingly, the school coaches noticed and recruited him. Next thing you know, he’s coaching both boys’ and girls’ junior varsity baseball, JV softball, and girls basketball. He became a roving instructor for junior high softball and baseball, linesman for volleyball games, helper at track meets.

What do you suppose someone like him does when the kids don’t have a good ball field? You got it, he helps build a new one. Preps the ground, puts in sprinklers, plants grass, builds dugouts. He worked first on the baseball field and, in the last few years, the new softball field. He has spent countless hours handpicking rocks out of infields.

You might assume his kids were on the teams, so his efforts were for his family. No, his son says his dad never coached him, and only coached his sister’s team for a short while. No, he does it for every one of our kids.

You might also get the idea that this man is all about sports. Wrong again! He’s all about kids. His son said, "He is a person who really cares about watching kids excel and grow through sports. Not many people are so interested in the youth of Glide and, indeed, all of Douglas County."

Go anywhere in this county and people know him because of what he has done for kids’ baseball. We are fortunate that he has been a member of our community and has given so much to our children -- past, present and future.

Please join me in honoring George Moyers as Glide First Citizen 2009!

Two other nominees were also honored: 

Debbie Anderson for her work with the Glide Fire Department as firefighter, EMT, and public information and education officer; for spearheading efforts to reopen the Glide Clinic and her continuing work as board member and president of the Umpqua Community Health Clinic; and her volunteer environmental education activities with the US Forest Service.

Don Good for his work with the Glide Senior Center, Senior Advisory board, county sheriff's department, researching local history, and sharing information from all these activities with the greater community.

Thank you to all of our honorees for everything they do to make our community a better place to live!