Pat-tential energy: Chambers honored at banquet

Friends, family and fellow Rotarians gathered Thursday, June 5, to honor Nevada resident Pat Chambers with the 2008 Nevada Rotary Club's Citizen of the Year Award.

In 1942, J.C. Bean, managing editor of the Nevada Daily Mail was named the first Citizen of the Year, then a project administered by the American Legion. Since then, many others have joined the ranks of those chosen, including 10 attorneys, six educators, five journalists, three doctors and a host of civic leaders who made their mark on the community, according to a brief history of the tradition of naming a Citizen of the Year in Nevada provided by the Nevada Rotary Club.

The Citizen of the Year Award is given to a person who has had a long-term record of giving to the community. The recipient need not be a Rotarian; any community member is eligible for the award. Former recipients of the award, Rotary Club members, and the public-at-large are asked for nominations, and a committee made up of former Citizen of the Year recipients selects the winner.

Chambers, an independent living specialist at On My Own, Inc., is active with numerous local humanitarian organizations, including the American Red Cross, youth organizations, and much more.

Chambers said he was speechless when he was told of the award,

"There is no place that the grass is greener, thicker, taller or a brighter shade of green than in Nevada and Vernon County," and that "If you roll up your sleeves and work hard," even those who move to the area as he did in 1987 are a part of Vernon County.