(As submitted by the Black Swamp Humanitarian Awards Committee)
This year marks the 28th annual Black Swamp Humanitarian Awards dinner that will be held on Friday, Nov. 11, at Nazareth Hall in Grand Rapids. The first Black Swamp Humanitarian Awards dinner, held in 1989, was organized by former Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Betty Montgomery, and the late David C. Miller, former editor of the Sentinel-Tribune. Since 1989, more than 400 awards have been presented to individuals in recognition of their heroic deeds.
To be nominated for an award, the nominee either must be a Wood County resident at the time of the event or the event had to occur in Wood County. This year 11 awards will be given including the Life Risk, Service to Others and Good Samaritan awards. The Life Risk recipients are Brian Robinson, Brandon Conine, Dino Babers, Chelsea Lowe and Conner Beck. Patrolmen Tyson Richmond is receiving the Service to Others award. The Good Samaritan awards are being received by Wesley Stiner, Corey Stulpin, Robert Fyfe, James Oberlander and Thomas Harper.
Doors will open at 5:45 p.m. with the dinner following at 6:30 p.m. This event is open to the public. Friends, relatives and co-workers of the award recipients are welcome to attend the event for $15 per person. Those interested in attending may contact Dean King, committee secretary, at 419-463-4838 or kingbanker01@yahoo.com.
Nine Wood County funeral homes underwrite the cost of the awards program, paying for the plaques and dinners proved for the award recipients and their guests. The sponsoring funeral homes are Barndt Funeral Home, Wayne; Deck-Hanneman Funeral Home & Crematory, Bowling Green; Dunn Funeral Home, Bowling Green; Marsh Funeral Homes, Luckey & Pemberville; Peinert-Dunn Funeral Home, Tontogany; Smith-Crates Funeral Home, North Baltimore; Sujkowski Funeral Home, Rossford; Witzler-Shank Funeral Homes, Perrysburg & Walbridge and Wright-Habegger Funeral Homes, Grand Rapids.
The all-volunteer humanitarian awards committee is headed by Mark Wasylyshyn, Wood County Sheriff’s Department. Other committee members include Allan Baer, North Baltimore Police Department; Kathy Bomer, Boy Scouts of America; Tony Hetrick, Bowling Green Police Department; Holli Engle, Wood County Hospital; Dr. Joe Frederick of New Rochester; Kathy Heyman, Weston EMS; Dean King, Bowling Green Lincoln Auto Sales; Jeff Klein, Perrysburg Fire Department, Jan Larson McLaughlin, Bowling Green Independent News; Ryan Lee, Central Joint Fire Department; Steve Meredith, Bowling Green Fire Department; Jessica Miller-Blakely, Wood Lane Residential Services; Tom Sanderson, Bowling Green Fire Department; Gary Spencer, Bowling Green Police Department; and Rick Van Mooy of North Baltimore.
