Character Counts! is pleased to announce the winners of the 2006 First Annual Queen Anne’s County Community “Pillar of Character” Award, which focused on one adult winner and one teen winner. Congratulations to Mr. Carmelo Grasso, backstage crew leader for theatrical productions at Queen Anne’s County High School, as the adult winner, and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Newsome, a student at Queen Anne’s County High School, as the teen winner. John David Eisengrein, a resident of Centreville and student at Queen Anne’s County High School, nominated Grasso. Newsome was nominated by Kecia Grove, Executive Director of Chesapeake Rural Network, Inc., in Chestertown, Maryland.
Receiving certificates of recognition were Nancy Roe from the Department of Social Services, nominated by Jacki Carter; Reverend Sam Holdbrook-Smith, nominated by Miles Gray; Paul Gunther, nominated by AnneVan Benschoten, and Sylvia Wheeler, nominated by Attillio Zarrella.
At the November 14, 2006, Commissioners’ meeting, the winners were presented award plaques by Jacki Carter, Character Counts! Coordinator, and Mary Ruth Meredith, Co-Vice Chairperson of the Character Counts! Advisory Council, as Wayne Humphries, also Co-Vice Chairperson of the Character Counts! Advisory Council, read excerpts from each nomination letter. In prior years, the Character Counts! Advisory Council selected recipients for the Character Counts! “Volunteer of the Year” award. However, during the preparations for the 5th Year Celebration of Character Counts! in Queen Anne’s County last fall, it was agreed that this selection process should be a community-wide effort to choose a person, group, or business to receive this award. The award honors an individual, a business/industry, government agency, non-profit organization, and or middle/high school students who exemplified the spirit of the Character Counts! initiative through their actions and deeds.
To nominate a person or group, nominators were asked to write a brief description of not more than 300 words about the nominee’s activity or initiative that demonstrated the Six Pillars of Character: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. “I was thrilled to have a teen nominated by an adult, and an adult nominated by a teen as the first Pillars of Character awardees. Having the community involved in choosing those citizens of all ages who truly personify and implement the Six Pillars of Character on a daily basis is what Character Counts! is all about – a true community initiative,” said Carter.