Saturday, June 1, 2013

Exemplary Service Honored at Second Annual Heritage Awards

On May 23rd, Leadership Southern Maryland presented its most prestigious award to three individuals whose service has benefited not only their respective counties, but the entire Southern Maryland region. The Heritage Awards are intended to honor individuals within the community who embody one of the organization’s three tenets – Leadership, Service, and Mentoring. This year’s event, held at the beautiful Sotterley Plantation, called attention to the importance of meaningful and innovative service, while providing a networking opportunity for LSM alumni.

Past president of LSM’s Board of Directors and Executive Director of Civista Health Foundation Susan Vogel said, “We really wanted to align ourselves, in several ways, with the heritage of Southern Maryland, showcasing our traditions and legacies and chose a venue that really speaks to that.”

Vogel explained that Heritage Award recipients receive a signature crystal oyster which displays a polished pearl in addition to a plaque commemorating the honor. “It’s fitting,” she said, adding, “the symbol will be a reminder to our winners of the regional heritage we share and that they indeed are a pearl among our strong and growing LSM family.”

For Calvert County, the group commended Harriet Yaffe, Executive Director of the ARC of Southern Maryland. Since 1998, Yaffe has worked to effectively create a positive impact for children and adults in the region with intellectual and developmental disabilities through her work with the ARC, while growing the organization to the success it is today. In addition to protecting these individuals’ human rights and supporting their life-long inclusion in the community, the ARC operates with the core belief that those receiving services should have as much control of their own lives as possible. Yaffe has been an advocate throughout the region, lending her leadership skills to many boards.

“Harriet has dedicated her career to helping others,” said LSM Executive Director Karen Holcomb. “She is a leader of action, an inspiration to the individuals she serves and a cherished member of the community.” Yaffe was also a founding member of LSM and continues contributing her time to support regional collaboration via the group’s Leadership Council.

The Charles County recipient, Evelyn “Evie” Hungerford, was recognized for her willingness to commit her time, talent and contagious energy to many important areas in our community. Frequently sought as a key player on a variety of boards, Hungerford has garnered a reputation as a “roll your sleeves up” person with a strong will to succeed, said Vogel, who presented the award.
 

Hungerford is the president and owner of Hungerford Associates Consulting and is very involved with the Charles County Chamber of Commerce. Her passions for education and the arts, combined with her can-do attitude, have benefited the community in a bevy of ways. From her board work with Annmarie Garden and the Indian Head Center for the Arts to her leadership with the College of Southern Maryland Foundation, which raised more than $1.5 million for scholarships, construction and renovations, Hungerford’s volunteer efforts have benefited the community greatly.

St. Mary’s County award winner Glen Ives came to Southern Maryland as Commanding Officer of Naval Air Station Patuxent River. “His high regard for the people that worked with him and the war-fighters they support is his legacy at Pax and carries forward to his current role as Group Vice President of Sabre Systems,” announced LSM Board of Directors president Bert Johnston.

Embracing the community, Ives gives his time and leadership skills to numerous boards, including the Southern Maryland Navy Alliance, The Patuxent Partnership, Annmarie Garden’s Ann’s Circle, Inc., College of Southern Maryland Foundation and the Board of Trustees for St. Mary’s College of Maryland.  He is Honorary Chairman of the United Way, Christmas in April and the Special Olympics. The retired Naval Officer continues to support a plethora of groups with interest in maintaining a healthy and stable Patuxent River Complex. “Glen Ives is a man who truly embodies leadership and service through his passion for his country and the community where he lives,” Johnston said.

The three winners chatted after the award presentations, knowing each other from various boards they’ve served on together, and caught a glimpse of the crystal oyster LSM bestowed on them for their outstanding service. “I feel kind of guilty getting recognized for something that I completely enjoy doing,” Ives said, adding he was honored, nonetheless.

Ives is a graduate of the state-wide Leadership Maryland, while his wife, Barbara, attended the regional Leadership Southern Maryland, both Class of 2009. He said he has always admired the level of camaraderie and shared, localized experience an LSM alumni enjoys and pointed out the advantage to the program being “right here at home.” Evie Hungerford commented, “It’s just a beautiful thing to see the things you’ve poured yourself into grow.” She said she’d like to see something done to encourage younger generations to step up and get involved. “Rolling up the sleeves and spending face-to-face time is necessary to get stuff done in the community,” she said.

Yaffe agreed with both sentiments, adding she has sent someone, often a young leader, from the ARC staff through the LSM program for the last five years. Humbly, she said, “I absolutely did not expect this … I was just astonished to receive this award.”

Award winners and alumni enjoyed an evening of conversation and networking with food from Earth 2 Home and a bar featuring selections by Rob Plant of Blue Wind Gourmet thanks to the generosity of sponsors like SMECO, Dominion, BG&E and Community Bank of Tri-County, among others.

Next year’s award will focus on mentoring and then the cycle will start again.  These acknowledgements often go to those who work diligently to improve the community without much fanfare and Leadership Southern Maryland continues to teach others how they too can be a part of the regional collaboration that shapes the vision of tomorrow. For more information about Leadership Southern Maryland, visit www.leadsomd.org.
 

Carrie G. Munn

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