Nominations Being Accepted for Grand Visionary Awards

Media Release  
For Immediate Release

Date: July 26, 2012

Media Contact: 
   Dan Boss
   Program Publicity Specialist
   Voice: 231-929-5047
   Email: info@thegrandvision.org
 

Nominations Being Accepted for Grand Visionary Awards

Northwest Lower Michigan—The Grand Vision annual event planning committee is now accepting nominations for the 2012 Grand Visionary Awards. A Grand Visionary is someone who exemplifies The Grand Vision by engaging his or her community in activities that further Grand Vision principles. He or she is dedicated to the resiliency of the region and shows passion for successful implementation of Grand Vision-inspired projects.

"In every county engaged in The Grand Vision there are those individuals who not only have the ability to visualize the future but are willing to invest their most precious commodities in the pursuit of these efforts; their time and energy," said Kim Pontius, Grand Vision spokesman. "We need to recognize these visionaries and thank them for sharing these most valuable of personal resources that I believe they invest in the regional community for the benefit of our children's children whom they may never meet."

Nominations should include the following:

- Nominee’s name, phone number and email address
- Nominee’s organization, if applicable
- Project/activity in which the nominee participated during the past year
- 100 words or less explaining why the nominee is a Grand Visionary
- Name and phone number of person/organization nominating the individual

Please email your nomination by August 31, 2012 to info@thegrandvision.org. One Grand Visionary will be selected for each of the six counties in the region: Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, and Wexford. Winners will be announced and honored at The Grand Vision annual report to the community events, to be held in all six counties in early October.

In 2011 five individuals and one organization received Grand Visionary Awards. They were: Jeff Seiting, Kalkaska Village President; Marc McKellar, Grand Traverse County Road Commissioner; Paul Skinner, Planning Commissioner, Village of Empire; Pete Garwood, Antrim County Administrator; Vance Edwards, Director of Cadillac/Wexford Transit Authority; and the Honor Area Restoration Project.

"The Grand Vision is such a great thing and over the years I've wholeheartedly supported it," said Paul Skinner, one of the 2011 Grand Visionary award recipients. "To be recognized for doing that was an added bonus."

The Grand Vision focuses on six issue areas identified by the more than 12,000 community member votes from across northwest lower Michigan. Each year The Grand Vision’s team of conveners from each issue area celebrate an individual or organization that embodies the spirit and dedication to the principles of The Grand Vision in moving community ideas to action.

Those principles are:

• A regional, multi-modal transportation system that supports energy conservation
• A unique and vibrant set of communities that strengthen the local economy
• A diverse mix of regional housing choices with affordable options
• Protected and preserved water, forests, natural and scenic areas.
• Local farms and regional food systems as a viable part of our economy
• Sustainable-energy uses in construction, transportation and economic development

For more information visit the website, thegrandvision.org.

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