“Wally” Award nominations due July 10

Wally’s wife, Laurel, presents the inaugural Bruce Walford Community Service Award to Elaine and Wayne Hotelling at the 2008 Laurel Run.  In the background are Wally’s father, Slaney, and friend Jim Jowsey.  The Hotellings were chosen to receive the award for creating Laurel Run in honor of their oldest daughter, and for their volunteer community efforts in Chautauqua County and Southern Erie County.

Nominations are being accepted until July 10 for the third annual Bruce Walford Community Service Award.

“Wally” passed away in April 2007.  Wally was the Manager of TRC’s Mary Andrews Work Center on East Chestnut Street in Dunkirk.  He also was well known in the Northern Chautauqua County area, particularly for his work in local theater.

To some he was “Boss;” to some he was co-worker; to some he was family; to others he was friend; to some he was the man who gave you water when you desperately needed it; but to all of us he was Wally.  Wally was deeply involved with Laurel Run, and it's been said that while Laurel Hotelling and her family are the heart of Laurel Run, Wally was the soul.  At the Laurel Run Planning Committee's first meeting following Wally's passing, the enormity of his contribution was fully realized - there were some big shoes to fill.

Photo on right: Nancy Ann Battaglia was the recipient of the 2009 award. Nancy has helped a group of people with mental illness to become active, contributing members of the community.

In order to remember Wally and continue his legacy, his family and friends created the Bruce Walford Community Service Award.  The award is presented each year to a person who exemplifies the qualities that Wally practiced, without thinking, in everyday life: a commitment to the community; selflessness; the initiative and the ingenuity to forge forward and make things happen; and enthusiasm and exuberance that inspire others.

Whereas Wally brought the general community — vendors, volunteers, co-workers, consumers, friends, and relatives — into what he did, the award selection committee is seeking nominations from all these populations to be considered for the 2010 award.

The winner will be chosen from the submitted pool of nominees by a committee of Wally’s friends and family. The committee members will analyze how each nominee demonstrates the virtues and values that Wally lived in his life, as well as the degree to which each nominee exhibits community involvement.

Click here for an online nomination form.  Or, you may mail a PDF file with the name of a nominee and the reasons that make that person deserving of the award, and mail it to Laurel Walford, 193 Arthur Avenue, Angola, NY, 14006.

This year’s award will be presented at the 14th annual Laurel Run on Saturday, July 17, in Silver Creek.  For more information about the award, contact Laurel.Walford@fredonia.edu.