In the past year, volunteers in Salem have helped combat senior isolation, cleaned up parks and organized community events that brought people together with live music.
On Sunday, Oct. 20, the city’s volunteer award ceremony honored a handful of the 3,616 people who volunteered this year. All together, city volunteers spent 158,716 hours working to, improve, help and support the Salem area.
The award ceremony began at 3 p.m. on Sunday at the Salem Public Library. Recipients got a red carpet welcome and time to chat and snack as the Sprague High School string quartet played in the background.
At the end of the ceremony, which took place in the Loucks Auditorium, Mayor Chris Hoy revealed a surprise award, which was not in the published list that went out last week.
“I get to honor somebody who’s had a significant impact on my time as mayor and on the community and the city,” Hoy said tearfully. He called up Gretchen Bennett, who received a standing ovation.
Bennett, the city’s homelessness liaison, has worked alongside Hoy at the city since 2017. She often works with people who are upset and in crisis and has “the toughest job in this city,” Hoy said. Bennett is also the city’s human rights and federal compliance manager.
Last week, Salem Reporter published information about the award ceremony and a list of winners. Here’s more about the volunteer work that earned recipients city honors.
Recipients were selected through a community nomination process by the Salem City Council and city boards and commissions, in addition to several awards selected by the mayor.
This year’s winners:
Al Loucks Business – Government Partnership Award
RiverCity Rock Star Academy makes music accessible no matter the barriers. While announcing the award, Councilor Deanna Gwyn described RiverCity’s work to provide creativity, connection and cultural enrichment to transform lives.
When it started in 2015, the academy had three teachers and very little recognition. Nine years later, RiverCity has 20 staff members who believe that everyone can be a musician. Through a partnership with Make Music Salem, the academy has helped host over 270 performances around the Salem-Keizer area.
Distinguished Project Award
Canine Corps volunteers bring wagging tails to visit Salem seniors living alone or in community care facilities. In 2023 and 2024, dogs spent over 200 hours playing and being pet by over 1,000 seniors in the area.
The project, part of the city’s senior center, Center 50+, provides emotional support, reduces stress and “softens” the effects of isolation and loneliness for seniors, Councilor Virginia Stapleton said.
Outstanding City Advisory Group Volunteer Award
Carlee Wright, a member of the city’s cultural and tourism promotion advisory board, is a “gift to everyone who’s in Salem,” Councilor Vanessa Nordyke said. Wright, editor and “instigator” at Press Play Salem, helps run the community-focused website which covers local entertainment, art and culture.
With her marketing experience and friendly demeanor, Wright is “a boon to the community,” Nordyke said. While busy being the “creative force” behind Press Play Salem, Wright is also the Elsinore Theatre’s marketing director.
Outstanding Neighbor Award
The Outstanding Neighbor Award recognizes individual and group effort to help improve a Salem neighborhood. This year’s winners, one team and one individual, hail from south Salem.
The Fairmount Emergency Readiness Team, referred to by many as “FERT,” is a group of Fairmount neighbors who want to educate and prepare their community for disasters. The team, led by Paul Howard and Katja Meyer, hosted its fourth annual readiness fair last month to continue educating the neighborhood on emergency services and resources.
Recently, the readiness team got a shipping container and filled it with emergency supplies for the community. The container, an emergency “cache,” is stationed at Fairmount Park.
The second south Salem winner was Seleste Liyanage of the Southeast Salem Neighborhood Association. Liyanage joined the neighborhood association’s board almost 10 years ago and has kept extensive track of projects in the neighborhood.
Liyanage helps keep the association’s project archives updated and tracks the neighborhood’s ongoing projects.
Salem Spirit Award
The Salem Spirit award recognizes people or groups that are constantly promoting Salem and working to improve the city.
Brian Hart wears many hats. He volunteers in art and radio, works part time with music and production. Hart is currently a member of the city’s Public Art Commission, the vice president of KMUZ radio station, RiverCity Rock Star Academy’s social media coordinator and a producer at Allied Video Productions.
Hart worked on the city’s street painting program, RiverCity’s Make Music Salem and used to make weekly podcasts.
Mayor Chris Hoy, who presented the award, said Hart’s leadership, creativity and “tireless efforts” are an inspiration.
Make Music Salem also won the Salem Spirit Award and was recognized for its annual event celebrating the start to summer and music. Since 2016, Make Music Salem has provided the community with access to music and a diverse variety of Salem’s music tastes and talents.
Councilor Micki Varney, who presented the award, said the event is “one of the most cherished events for Salem’s cultural community.” Make Music Salem has organized over 270 performances and given the community spaces to connect and enjoy or play music together.
Varney said the event’s impact is “immeasurable.”
Vern Miller Award
The Vern Miller Award goes to someone who has done outstanding, long-term service to the city.
Linda Bierly has focused her volunteer efforts on the environment and was previously the interim city councilor for Ward 8. Throughout Bierly’s environmental volunteering, she helped found the Glenn-Gibson Watershed Council and served on the Salem Parks Foundation.
In announcing the award, Varney recalled that, when she first started at the West Salem Neighborhood Association over a decade ago, Bierly mentored her by helping her write grants. In 2023, Bierly worked with the association to lead a street mural project.
Lisa Letney Award
The Lisa Letney Award was created in 2022 to honor Salem’s “Potato Lady,” whose advocacy included community organization, donating much-needed supplies and handing out hot potatoes as a source of warmth and food to Salem’s unsheltered community.
This year, it went to executive director of Helping Hands Resources, Laura Crofoot, who carries on Letney’s work of advocacy and helping people in need of basic needs and services. As the head of a nonprofit, Crofoot is personally involved in the donation of clothes, food, bedding and other necessities and drives around Salem to pick them up.
Since she is so involved in retrieving and distributing donations to people in need, Crofoot is well-known wherever she goes. While announcing the award, Councilor Jose Gonzalez said that “those living on the streets adore her.”
As Crofoot walked off the stage, award in hand, someone in the audience shouted, “We love you Laura!”
At Your Service Award
The At Your Service Award is given to volunteers who are nominated by a city department or division. This year, there were two winners.
Since 2022, Larry Eshelman has served over 400 hours with the Salem Police Department. Eshelman is one of around 100 volunteers who spend time working with Salem police.
One of the area’s Eshelman has worked in is the department’s squad car maintenance team. Eshelman is a volunteer and resident “extremely devoted to Salem,” Gwyn said.
The second winner was James Callaway, a library volunteer who’s always happy to help sort and return books. While presenting the award, Councilor Julie Hoy described Callaway as an always kind and positive person who loves helping the library staff.
“Thank you for fighting for the library,” Hoy said before handing Callaway his award.
Mayor’s Youth Achievement Award
The Mayor’s youth achievement award goes to young people making a difference in the community.
Through her position as executive director of Willamette Academy, Delia Olmos-García won for helping to bring young, Spanish-speaking voices “into the dialogue,” Gonzalez said.
Willamette Academy, a college-access program for 8th-12th grade Salem-Keizer students, partnered with a University of Oregon program to research civic engagement and media literacy in the community. She is the academy’s first director to attend and graduate from the program before leading it.
Mayor’s Merit Award
The Mayor’s Merit Award honors those in Salem taking on projects and responsibilities for the good of the community. This year, the award went to three recipients.
For over 50 years, Salem has maintained a sister city relationship with Kawagoe, which allows Willamette University and Tokyo International University to host students in each other’s countries.
Salem Kawagoe Sister City Organization is the volunteer-run organization that supports Salem and Kawagoe’s relationship. Its members were recognized on Sunday. The organization supports the international exchanges and provides educational programs for the Salem community about Kawagoe and Japan.
The second winner, Brian Sund, was recognized for his work in different roles volunteering for Salem and Marion County. Along with park maintenance, Sund has helped organize the pre-kindergarten through high school race, Awesome 3000, the Polar Plunge and Ironman 70.3.
Sund also serves on Marion County’s Solid Waste Management Advisory Council as a citizen-at-large and is a board member for Salem’s South Central Association of Neighbors.
The third award was a surprise for recipient Gretchen Bennett, the city’s homelessness liaison. Her name was kept off of the published list of winners to keep the award a surprise for her, Mayor Chris Hoy said at the ceremony.
Bennett, who has worked in the city manager’s office since 2013, helps people in crisis in Marion and Polk counties get the resources they need. She is also the city’s human rights and federal compliance manager. Hoy said that whether the situation is an Americans with Disabilities Act compliance issue, someone needing addiction services or a complaint about trash piles, Bennett is the answer.
Richard Swyers Public Works Employee Award
In honor of former public works crew leader Richard Swyers, who died in 2020, this award honors a public works employee who best represents Swyers’ work.
Luke Westphal first worked at the city in the early 2000s. He then spent 10 years at the Yamhill Watershed Council before returning to Salem in 2022. Since then he has been the urban streamside program coordinator.
Stapleton read a comment from a Salem resident who described Westphal as “a great representative of the city,” because of his helpful and friendly attitude when assessing the situation. Stapleton said Westphal exemplifies “being at your service.”
Watch the ceremony here:
Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].
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Madeleine Moore is working as a reporter at Salem Reporter through the University of Oregon’s Charles Snowden internship program. She came to Salem after graduating from the University of Oregon in June 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
