ANNA MARIA – The Anna Maria Island Garden Club is the winner of the city’s Distinguished Citizens of the Year award.
The club will receive its award during the March 14 city commission meeting that begins at 2 p.m.
The annual award selection process is guided by a 2010 city resolution that states, “The purpose of this committee is to recognize citizens of the city of Anna Maria who have made outstanding contributions to the community of Anna Maria.”
Each year, the mayor and commission appoint a Citizens Recognition Committee that considers the nominations and declares a winner.
On Feb. 29, the two-member committee consisting of Duncan Real Estate owner Darcie Duncan and former Anna Maria Commissioner Doug Copeland met for the first and only time, joined by Mayor Dan Murphy, Deputy Clerk Fran Berrios and semi-retired city employee Debbie Haynes.
The nominees also included To Inform Families First (TIFF) founder Christine Olson and a joint nomination of the Island’s two weekly newspapers, The Anna Maria Island Sun and The Islander.
City Commission Chair Mark Short nominated the Garden Club, where his wife, Pat, is an active member. The nomination form notes the AMI Garden Club has 120 members, focuses on beautification and education projects throughout the Island, and has improved City Pier Park in Anna Maria by co-funding the installation of two wind sculptures. The club recently initiated a similar wind sculpture installation in Holmes Beach and has another planned for Bradenton Beach.
Bradenton resident Amy Hill nominated Olson, who in 2005 lost her 22-year-old daughter, Tiffany, in a motorcycle accident. The accident occurred 15 minutes from Olson’s home, but it took law enforcement more than six hours to notify her of the fatal accident. This inspired her to create the To Inform Families First (TIFF) emergency contact system that utilizes emergency contacts associated with a person’s driver’s license or state identification card. First implemented in Florida, the TIFF program is now in place in more than a dozen states. Olson also spent many years working at the Rod & Reel Pier while living in Anna Maria.
“Christine used the personal tragedy of the death of her daughter to create TIFF. Christine worked hard to create a solution that allows families to receive more timely notification in an emergency,” the nomination form says.
In their nomination of the two Island newspapers, John Kolojeski and Suzanne Seiter stated, “In this era when over 2,500 weekly publications have gone out of business around the U.S. over the last 20 years, our little community here on Anna Maria Island has not one, but two, thriving weekly publications filling all the needs of the community. Both papers have excellent journalists who should be working at major publications. We get opinions on the important political issues affecting the Island, as well as current events, sports, entertainment and environmental updates. People tend to take a newspaper for granted until it’s gone someday.”
SELECTION PROCESS
Before reviewing the nominations and selecting this year’s winner, Copeland and Duncan questioned the inclusion of organizations and businesses as nominees.
“On first reading, I said none of these people qualify. I think the resolution should be changed if we’re going to include businesses and organizations,” Copeland said.
“That’s exactly what I thought,” Duncan said.
Copeland said he was okay selecting a winner that day, but he and Duncan agreed the city commission should amend the resolution and clarify the eligibility requirements before appointing next year’s selection committee.
“That’s a good point and we can clear it up and rewrite the resolution,” Murphy said of the 2010 document that dates back to Mike Selby’s time as mayor.
Murphy noted the resolution doesn’t define what a citizen is and he said Roser Church and The Anna Maria Island Sun are among the five organizations or non-residents that previously won the award.
“Recognizing them for the work they’ve done for this city is what this is all about,” Murphy said.
Murphy noted the Garden Club is based in the city and many Anna Maria residents are members, including club president Kathleen Morgan, who also serves as a city commissioner.
Regarding the newspaper nominations, Copeland said, “I would lean more towards a club than a business, especially since both are located in the city of Holmes Beach – even though they do a good job for the citizens of Anna Maria.”
After noting Olson no longer lives on the Island or works at the Rod & Reel Pier, Copeland said, “That leaves the Garden Club. That would be my choice.”
Duncan praised all the nominees and agreed the club best meets the criteria outlined in the resolution. After noting that the Garden Club hosted its annual fundraising fashion show at The Center the previous day, Duncan said a lot of people don’t realize how much the Garden Club does for the city. Copeland said the club’s members made landscaping improvements to City Pier Park and Murphy said the club has advised the city about landscape maintenance, pruning and native vegetation.
After declaring the Garden Club as this year’s winner, Copeland said, “Personally, I’d like to see more citizens receive it. We’ve got so few citizens. It would be nice to recognize them.”
