“Ever since I’ve come here, I’ve tried to do my best for everything we’ve done,” Graham “Teed” Howard told the room.
And that’s exactly why he was in that room, holding a handcrafted clock with his name on it, and displaying his trademark, humble smile.
Howard was surprised with the 2019 John D. Rudd Award for community service last week, the highest award given to a Brown County volunteer. It’s named for its first recipient, a revered public servant whose name now graces the ball diamonds at Deer Run Park.
Normally, this award is presented at the Brown County Community Foundation’s Annual Report to the Community, an in-person gala celebrating volunteerism and philanthropy. But this year, to avoid gathering during the pandemic, award and grant winners were revealed in a program broadcast on YouTube, with segments being prerecorded and strung together by Rainwater Studios.
As is tradition, last year’s Rudd award winner, Judith Stewart, presented the award to this year’s winner.
“Thank you ever so much. I’m overwhelmed, really,” said Howard, 94.
“And you know more about me than I know myself,” he joked, after listening to Stewart list some of the reasons why he was chosen.
Howard was nominated by Mike Laros, Jim Tichenor and other friends. Stewart called him “a true American hero and civic-minded leader that has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to bettering the lives of others.”
Howard is a U.S. Army veteran of World War II and Korea, and fought in Europe during the last part of the Battle of the Bulge. He helped to liberate Buchenwald concentration camp, “leaving an everlasting impact on him that fueled his lifelong mission to love, nurture, and take care of others,” Stewart said.
“Today, at age 94, he is still interested in people and understanding what they do, how they do it and why they do it.
“This passion has guided him in his service in Brown County.”
Howard “retired” to Brown County, working as a real estate agent. An Eagle Scout, he had spent nearly 40 years working for the Boy Scouts. He also worked in forestry in his younger years, which fueled his love for Brown County, his nominators said.
Here, he soon found a community — or several of them.
Howard served as state director for Brown County Realtors, serving on risk reduction and governmental affairs committees.
He engaged with the Scottish Society of Greater Bloomington, where he continued to do Scottish dancing up until this year. He also was deeply involved in learning Native American culture, an interest he picked up as a Scout leader so he that he could teach his troop.
Gov. Evan Bayh named him a Distinguished Hoosier in 1996.
In 1998, Howard and his wife, Mary, started a salad dressing company, Hootie Doot. Howard himself was the “delivery boy” until he had to get his knees replaced. The products were sold in 22 stores and shipped to as far away as Oregon, California and North Carolina before the couple scaled back their work drastically about five years ago.
Overall, Howard has been active in nonprofit service organizations for 60 years, including 47 years of membership in the Rotary Club.
“I appreciate this. The John D. Rudd Award really means a lot to me, and I’m proud to be a real citizen of Brown County,” Howard said.
“… I’m just a member of Brown County forever and ever, and I say ‘thank you’ to everyone for supporting me.”
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Volunteer of the Year
Dozens of Brown County organizations and causes are supported by volunteers, and each year, the Brown County Community Foundation recognizes some of those people.
Fourteen volunteers or volunteer groups were nominated for recognition by the organizations they serve. Pam Raider was selected as the winner of the 2019 Volunteer of the Year Award by the foundation’s Advancement Committee.
Raider was nominated by the League of Women Voters of Brown County, which she serves as vice president. But that’s not the only cause she supports.
“She is one of the few whom everyone knows they can turn to when they need something,” her nominators wrote. “She researches and writes articles on issues important to voters and working to protect voters’ rights. She is passionate about advocating for peace, for education, for human rights.”
This past year, she undertook a special project of writing a history of Suffragettes in Indiana, in honor of the 100th birthday of the League of Women Voters and of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote.
Raider also has served on the board of the Brown County Community Foundation, and has been a key player in the Brown County Radio Hour, a show that highlights Brown County people, music and culture.
Raider said she was “kind of overwhelmed” with the recognition. “You don’t serve to get an award; you serve because it enriches your life and makes everyone else’s better,” she said.
The community foundation donated $500 to a charity of Raider’s choice.
Other volunteer nominees were:
Ken Gindling, Hope for Hearts Horse Farm
Dave Seastrom, Indiana Forest Alliance and Brown County Hour (Volunteer of the Year 2018)
Jan Swigert, League of Women Voters (Volunteer of the Year 2018)
Connie Casey, BETA
Pam Boer, BETA (Volunteer of the Year 2017)
Dee Suding, Brown County Weekend Backpacks
Teresa Brown, Brown County Weekend Backpacks
Jim Drum, Habitat for Humanity (Volunteer of the Year 2015)
Martha and Mark Tritask, Brown County Children’s Fund
Russell Vire, Brown County Playouse
Colleen Smith, Brown County resident (Volunteer of the Year 2018)
All volunteers at Mother’s Cupboard Community Kitchen
Chairman’s Award
The chairman of the Brown County Community Foundation Board of Trustees chooses a group or individual each year to recognize what they feel is an important contribution to the Brown County community connected with the mission and vision of the foundation.
This time, Brown County Democrat Editor Sara Clifford and reporter-photographer Suzannah Couch were presented with the award in recognition of the newspaper’s role “in providing information, connection and transparency in local government.”
“Our sincere thanks for the important contribution they make to our community,” said Jan Mills, chairman of the board.
Environmental Leadership Award
The Environmental Leadership Award, started in 2007 by Bill, Pat, Andrew and Matt Lloyd, honors a person or organization which protects or improves the county’s greatest natural assets.
The 2019 winner is the Helmsburg Community Development Corporation, a group of Helmsburg residents who decided to organize and take charge of their community’s environmental and economic wellbeing.
“More importantly for this award, they have been organizing a number of community cleanup days where neighbors work together to remove blight like old appliances and trash, tackling some beautification projects … (and) currently, they are working on a large stormwater project which undoubtedly has environmental implications through mitigation of natural and manmade pollutants,” said Maddison Miller, CEO of the community foundation.
“Overall, Helmsburg is looking awesome, and we’re proud to have an opportunity to highlight the work of this small but mighty group of neighbors who have come together to create real change in their community.”
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The Brown County Community Foundation awarded more than $80,000 in community grants in its regular 2019 grant cycle. The winners, announced last week, were:
Brown County Literacy Coalition, $5,500 to get an IU student intern to assist in further developing a tutoring/mentoring program for elementary and intermediate school children and to fund partial development of an app to streamline communications and scheduling.
Brown County Art Guild Inc., $3,744 to hire a graduate-level museum studies intern for two semesters to provide the professional attention required to adequately care for the priceless Marie Goth archive.
Mother’s Cupboard Community Kitchen Inc., $1,050 to allow the use of biodegradable take-out bowls and lids.
4Twelve Youth Group, $1,140 to get indoor activities like table tennis and air hockey for The Salvation Army’s youth.
Indiana Raptor Center Inc., $1,742 to help pay for a four-cage rehabilitation complex and a large eagle cage that are in need of rebuilding after 15 years of use, weathering and repair.
Keep Brown County Beautiful, $4,000 to support the Dumpster Days event, providing free large trash disposal service.
Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Brown County, $3,500 to support the Back to School Program, providing $60 vouchers to each school-age child whose family receives food and other items at the pantry/warehouse. Those can be redeemed at Walmart for shoes, socks, underwear and school supplies.
Aging and Community Services/Thrive Alliance, $10,000 to help provide a full-time dementia care coordinator shared in three counties (Bartholomew, Brown and Jackson) to develop crisis plans and monitor support groups and weekly respite care. This grant represents year one of a three-year commitment to this program.
Brown County Hour on WFHB, $2,840 for equipment to modernize the production studio and double the group’s capacity to create programming on its podcast channels.
Turning Point Domestic Violence Services, $3,500 to provide financial assistance to individuals and families working to re-build their lives after experiencing domestic violence.
Brown County Habitat for Humanity, $1,500 to purchase new equipment that meets OSHA safety standards.
Career Resource Center of Brown County, $10,000 plus a $5,000 1-to-1 matching grant to give the inmates at the Brown County jail an opportunity to obtain their high school equivalency; increase their math and literacy skills for college/work preparation programs; and learn conduct goal writing, resume writing, strength assessments, career interest surveys and employability skill lessons.
Human Services Inc. Head Start, $6,000 to buy pea gravel to help extend the classroom to the playground.
Brown County Solid Waste Management District, $5,500 for a new box truck to collect cardboard, plastics, glass and scrap metal from businesses in Brown County, and to pick up large items that have been discarded along Brown County roads such as TV sets, mattresses and appliances.
Brown County Humane Society, $4,207 for a new grooming tub in the new animal shelter.
Centerstone Indiana, $2,460 to purchase materials to support Centerstone’s art-based therapy program.
Peaceful Valley Heritage Preservation Society Inc., $5,300 to continue restoration of newly discovered and historic Henry Cross-carved tombstones in addition to the monument of former State Representative and Army veteran, William Browning, which currently sits in ruins.
God’s Grace Inc., $3,500 for On the Road Again, an annual event which provides students with clothing, hygiene items and personal care products along with styled haircuts so that students feel fully prepared to go back to school.
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