The Solon Senior of the Year Award has been honoring seniors who have contributed to the community since 2006. The Solon Senior of the Year is a senior citizen from the Solon area who has shared their expertise, time, and effort as a volunteer in the community, including programs and activities that benefit the lives of our seniors.
The past recipients are: Jack Neuzil 2006, Wayne Croy 2007, Milt Hunt 2008, Pat Ikan 2009, Marie Kroul 2010, Bev Noska and Elaine Reynolds 2011, Anna McAtee 2012, Jean and Bob Stinocher 2013, Fred Bark and Rita Brannaman 2014, Don Erusha and Marv Stastny 2015, Larry and Marcy Olson 2016, Jeanne Erhart and Phylis Fiala 2017, Dave Frisbie and Duane McAtee 2018, Sandy Hanson 2019, Judy Shulista 2020 and Kris Brown 2021.
The Solon Senior of the Year Nominations Committee has announced the deadline for receiving nominations for this year has been extended to Tuesday, March 15, 2022.
Nomination forms are available at Solon City Hall, Solon Public Library, and Solon Post Office. Please contact Pat Ikan, Nomination Committee chairperson, for more information or a nomination form at P.O. Box 148, Solon, IA 52333, [email protected], or (319) 624-2643.
Other members of the Nomination Committee include Rita Brannaman, Jeanne Erhart, Phyllis Fiala, Dave Frisbie and Marcy Olson.
All committee members are past Solon Senior of the Year award recipients.
After receiving the nominations, the committee will make recommendations to the Solon Senior Advocates Board, which selects the recipient.
The 2022 Solon Senior of the Year will be recognized at a Solon City Council meeting and during the annual Beef Days Parade.
To be eligible, the nominee must be at least 65 years of age by May 1 of the year in which they are nominated.
The nominee must be a resident of the Solon area, but not necessarily of the town itself. They must live within the Solon School District, unless the bulk of their service has been done within the Solon area.
The nominee’s record of service to the community should be based on voluntary efforts and not for work done as a paid employee or an elected official.
The selection criteria follows:
• A two-page nomination form should describe the details of the nominee’s volunteer work: length of service, approximate number of people impacted by the service, and the variety of service activities in which they were involved. Special attention should be drawn to leadership roles the individual has taken on.
• Monetary contributions to community projects by the nominee will not be considered.
• Work done for pay as an employee will not be considered. The nominee need not be retired.
• The nominee must still be living; the award will not be given posthumously.
• The nominee should have been a resident of the Solon area for at least the last five years.