Joe B. Avery Community Spirit Award Reception Announced

ARKANSAS CITY, KAN. (Oct. 16, 2023) The City of Arkansas City’s annual Joe B. Avery Community Spirit Award presentation will return on Tuesday, Oct. 24.

A special awards presentation ceremony and reception will begin at 6 p.m. Oct. 24 at USD 470’s Avery Learning Center, 2500 N. 15th St. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. This year’s award recipient will not be announced until Tuesday night’s reception.

Members of the Community Spirit Award Committee and the City Commission will be present for the awards presentation. A social reception will follow the awards ceremony. Schmidt Jewelers provided Community Spirit Award engraving services.

About the Joe B. Avery Community Spirit Award

Joe B. Avery, a former Ark City Human Relations Commission member, passed away in 2008. He was the first recipient of the award created in his honor, the Joe B. Avery Community Spirit Award.

This award is bestowed to a deserving community member who displays the values of community spirit and diversity, as selected by a City-appointed commission or committee. The award celebrates those who make an effort to enhance the lives of others through service and a passion for furthering cooperation and humanitarianism among the citizens of Ark City.

The 2023 Community Spirit Award Committee includes Charles Tweedy, Chairman; Tammy Lanman-Henderson, Vice-Chair; JoAnne Bierle, Kim Hager, and Joni Spiser.

Past recipients of the Joe B. Avery Community Spirit Award have been:
2009 — Joe B. Avery and Bruce Watson
2010 — Dr. Nick Rogers
2011 — Pastor James Watson Jr.
2012 — James Fry
2013 — Curtis Freeland
2014 — Delphia Jennings
2015 — Kerry Schnackenberg
2016 — Jim and Carol Owens
2017 — Carlla Pike, Kalin Taylor, and Rob Carroll’s Sandblasting & Painting
2018 — Christopher and Mitchell Gingher
2019 — Jill Hunter
2020 — Mike Evinger
2021 — Anita Judd-Jenkins and Foss Farrar
2022 — Rags Smith