City of Mason City recognizes volunteers

MASON CITY — The City of Mason City’s 19th Annual Volunteer Recognition Awards Banquet was held on Tuesday. Around 60 volunteers were recognized for their work on behalf of the city’s Volunteer Service Department on various projects.

City Administrator Aaron Burnett says particularly this year, the city has had an extraordinary year of volunteering within the community with several different events, highlighted by RAGBRAI.  “With RAGBRAI, the number of hours that citizens in the community dedicated towards making the city better and carrying out that huge project of hosting 20,000 people to our community was a huge success. I’m really glad that we were able to host that yet again recognize all those important volunteers.”

Burnett says other projects include Adopt-A-Street, Adopt-A-Lot, Beautification, Parks, MacNider Museum events, Highland Golf Course, and other special projects including school partnerships, graffiti eradication, tree plantings and administrative assistance.  “Something I like to highlight every year because it’s just a special occasion to recognize all those volunteers that do extraordinary work to beautify the community. Day in and day out, there’s countless people that really need to be recognized. It’s always a long list of folks that are up for awards.”

Karen Byrne and Craig Clark were this year’s recipients of the “Shining Star Award”. Byrne volunteers her time at the cemetery putting numerous hours of work on the History Walk. Clark has been volunteering with the Recreation Department for many years, overseeing and maintaining the Koloni Bikes.

You can see the full list of winners via the news release below.

 

 

SHINING STAR RECIPIENTS and ROOKIE OF THE YEAR HONORED

MASON CITY, IOWA, November 10, 2022, The 19th Annual Volunteer Recognition Award Banquet was held earlier today at the MacNider Art Museum Salsbury Room. The theme this year was Gems. Around 60 volunteers were recognized for their work on behalf of the Volunteer Service Department on various projects including Adopt-A-Street, Adopt-A-Lot, Beautification, Parks, MacNider Museum events, Highland Golf Course, and other special projects including school partnerships, graffiti eradication, tree plantings and administrative assistance.

Karen Byrne and Craig Clark were this year’s recipients of the Shining Star Award. Karen volunteers her time at the Cemetery putting numerous hours of work on the History Walk, to help make this project a huge success.

Craig Clark has been volunteering with the Recreation Department for many years, overseeing and maintaining the Koloni Bikes.
The 2022 Shining Star Team recognition was awarded to RAGBRAI VOLUNTEERS donating countless hours throughout the entire Mason City community to welcome the thousands of riders, making this event a memorable success.

Rookie of the Year Award in its 3rd year was presented to a new volunteer to Mason City, December DeBattista. Her volunteer efforts made the Halloween Party for the Recreation Department enjoyable for all!

This year the GEM theme included two different awards (Going the Extra Mile) that were awarded to Jane Fischer and Robert Berggren; Jane for her huge support of the Beautification gardens for the RAGBRAI event and Robert (Bob) for his volunteer time with numerous groups and projects, above and beyond his job!

The Shining Star Award is awarded to individuals and teams or businesses that contribute to the needs of the City. It’s through their efforts that others see the commitment and dedication they share with the community.

City Council members were present to help celebrate the contributions volunteers make to the city organization. Mayor Bill Schickel gave his appreciation and thanks to the Volunteers, City Administrator Aaron Burnett presented the Shining Star Team Award, Recreation and Cemetery Department Staff assisted in presenting the Shining Star Awards and Rookie of the Year. Volunteer Department presented GEM Awards.

The Volunteer Service Department is a department of the City of Mason City, Iowa. The City Volunteer program promotes and coordinates volunteer opportunities within City departments to citizens seeking to enhance the community by donating their time and skills to various municipal projects. For more information on volunteerism, contact Mary Litterer @ 641-421-3372 or [email protected]