PORT TOWNSEND — Four community volunteers who have done outstanding deeds of public service received the 2011 Jefferson County Heart of Service award Tuesday.
“Today is about community, and it is about heroism and where the two come together,” said John Brewer, Peninsula Daily News editor and publisher, who served as master of ceremonies.
“This is a day about ordinary people making extraordinary community accomplishments and people whose unselfish efforts have made Jefferson County a better place.”
About 100 people filled the Northwest Maritime Center for the luncheon tribute, which honored Deborah Stinson, Joe Carey and Nora Porter, all of Port Townsend, and Myron Vogt of Port Ludlow.
The annual award, now in its sixth year, is co-sponsored by the Peninsula Daily News and three local Rotary Clubs — Port Townsend Rotary (noon club), Port Townsend Sunrise Rotary and East Jefferson County Rotary.
A panel of judges from the three clubs selected the award recipients from a field of nominations.
Criteria for the Heart of Service Award include longevity of service, number of people affected, time commitment and making a lasting contribution to the quality of life in Jefferson County communities.
“The people we are honoring today are extraordinary in spirit and deed,” Brewer said.
“They have made a meaningful difference in the lives of their neighbors and their communities and have inspired others, and they get things done.
“They are role models for all of us.”
Nora Porter
Porter was recognized for her passionate support of Habitat for Humanity of East Jefferson County and many other education and community causes, from the Port Townsend Foundation and Port Townsend High School Scholarship Foundation (both of which she helped create) to being a member of the Port Townsend School Board to longtime service on the Fort Worden Advisory Board and Peninsula College Board of Trustees.
“Friends really are an important part of what it takes to build a community,” Porter said.
“If you have good friends, you can drag them into doing projects, so it’s very dangerous to be our friend.”
Porter said good friends have good humor, good talent, good energy and good will, then corrected herself, with a laugh, to say “not Goodwill, Habitat.”
In providing service, credit is not important, she said.
“You can get a lot done if you don’t care who gets the credit,” she said.
“I see a lot of people in this room who aren’t getting any credit for doing some wonderful things for my hometown.”
Porter also worked in Olympia for state Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam.
Kessler, the House majority leader, represented Jefferson and Clallam counties and part of Grays Harbor County before retiring last year.
Porter received a bouquet of flowers during the ceremonies from Kessler, who couldn’t attend because she is vacationing in New Mexico.
Myron Vogt
Vogt helped found the Olympic Peninsula chapter of the Boeing Bluebills.
The Bluebills — a group of Boeing retirees, their spouses and friends — do volunteer work with local agencies and schools.
A primary goal is making it possible for senior citizens to stay in their homes for as long as possible.
Vogt, who was credited with using his resources and abilities to overcome obstacles in completing service projects, said the Bluebills have put in 75,000 volunteer hours since the organization was founded in 1997.
He told the audience how the Bluebills have installed 600 wheelchair ramps and 1,200 grab bars and performed hundreds of repairs in residences, along with volunteering for other community projects large and small.
“I bet I could look at everyone who is in an organization here, and we’ve done something for them,” he said.
“We try to take care of everyone who has a need.”
Vogt said he hopes to install at least 200 grab bars this year “because if you fall when you are our age, it can be pretty serious.”
Vogt said the Bluebills’ affiliation with Boeing helps them perform tasks when it is necessary to achieve favors from a large company “because large corporations tend to hang together.”
Deborah Stinson
Stinson was recognized for her work with many environmental and community sustainability efforts through the Local Investing Opportunities Network — or LION — EarthDay EveryDay, Local 20/20, the Climate Action Committee, Jefferson County/Port Townsend Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Groups and the Quimper Mercantile Group.
“When I moved here with my husband, we were attracted to the area’s natural beauty, the historical significance and the cultural opportunities,” Stinson said.
“But there is also a strong sense of community that was palpable when you walk down the street.”
After getting settled, Stinson said, she sought to “peel back the covers to see what some of that magic is” and became involved with Local 20/20.
“I learned a lot about what is here and how we can work to make sure that the generations who come after us have what they need in order to enjoy this wonderful, wonderful place,” she said.
Stinson then decided to take a year off from work as an information technology manager to explore volunteer opportunities, and it stuck.
“Six years later, here I am,” she said.
“The work that I’ve had the opportunity to do has been so rewarding.”
Stinson said the people she most admired have been unsung heroes “who make sure that the lights are always on or that there is coffee for morning meetings and all-night strategy sessions.
“If they weren’t there doing all those things, all the good work being done by these organizations may never have happened,” she said.
Stinson said she was able to use the skills learned in business to accomplish her volunteer work.
“There are so many things going on — and so many good things to be done,” she said.
Joe Carey
Carey, a Vietnam veteran and activist commander of American Legion Post 26 in Port Townsend, declined officer training school when he was in the Army because he didn’t want the responsibility of leadership — a trait that has since changed, Steve Rafoth of the Port Townsend Rotary said wryly as he introduced Carey.
After his Army service, Carey graduated from the University of Illinois and then spent some time in Europe “re-entering life,” as he put it.
Along the way, he married his wife, Louise, moved to California and later to Oregon, and settled into a groove of real estate finance before moving to Port Townsend in 2004.
Since that time, he has worked to rehabilitate the aging building housing the American Legion Post 26 hall at 209 Monroe St. in downtown Port Townsend and has been instrumental in establishing a winter shelter for the area’s homeless population in the building’s basement.
The building also is used by the JC MASH free medical clinic.
Carey also led a campaign that resulted in the new Scout House in American Legion Park.
He is easily identifiable by the beret he always wears.
“It happened one day on Siren’s deck [when he first wore the hat], and it has been there ever since,” Carey said.
“You wouldn’t know me without it. I barely know myself and put it on before I shave in the morning.”
Carey saluted his wife, Louise, and other associates who have helped him in his community efforts.
“We have a 70-year-old building, and our thumb is always in the dike,” he said of the legion building’s needed repairs.
“It never ends.”
As an example, Carey said the legion hall’s floor needed repairs, and it was rehabilitated through volunteer work from several contractors.
“This got done, but it took a whole lot more than me,” he said.
Carey closed with an invitation to the legion’s Memorial Day celebration May 30.
“We are going to have a great time, and I hope to see you all there,” he said.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
