Playhouse honors hometown heroes

Great Friend to Families Award nominations accepted through Jan. 23

Do you know someone who loves kids, cares about parents and caregivers, and who has worked for years to

make the High Country a better place for families?

If so, you have until Jan. 23 to help that person become the first winner of the Great Friend to Families Award presented by The Children’s Playhouse.

The award-winner will be presented with $500 to donate to the High Country nonprofit of their choice, a piece of art by glassblower Glen Randle, and will be honored at a luncheon on Friday, February 27th. All nominees will be recognized at the luncheon.

Sponsored in part by The Children’s Playhouse, First Citizens Bank and Earth Fare, the Great Friend to Families award will recognize sustained contributions by an individual to the well-being of young children and their families in the High Country area.

Playhouse executive director Kathy Parham said this is a great way to say thank you to someone who has made a difference for families. “It might be a teacher, doctor, nurse, coach, social worker, philanthropist or volunteer,” she said. “When you think of helping families, who pops into your mind? Don’t you think that person deserves some recognition?”

Nomination forms are available online at www.goPlayhouse.org, and members of the community and nonprofits are encouraged to nominate their favorite friend. Forms can also be requested by calling The Children’s Playhouse at (828) 263-0011. The winner will be chosen by a distinguished committee of local leaders: Boone Town Council member and local businesswoman Liz Aycock, Boone Area Chamber of Commerce president Dan Meyer, and Margaret Moore, retired teacher and wife of ASU football coach Jerry Moore. The deadline for nominations is Jan. 23. Parham said that the nomination form is short and simple and easy to complete.

The award will be presented at a luncheon on Friday, Feb. 27, which will also feature a speech by Sheri Lynch of Charlotte’s the LINK Radio Network. Lynch is the author of two humorous books on her parenting experiences.

The luncheon will also raise funds to support family resource services at The Children’s Playhouse, enabling the children’s museum to provide scholarship memberships to low-income families, to offer free parenting classes for community members, and to build its free lending library of parenting books and developmental toys.

Sponsors for the award are still being sought, and individuals and local businesses are invited to take part. For more information, contact Kathy Parham at kathy@goPlayhouse.org. Tickets to the luncheon will go on sale in January.

Located at 400 Tracy Circle near downtown Boone, The Children’s Playhouse boasts a number of play areas including an art room, dress up area, puppet theater, loft, pretend kitchen, block play area, train table, indoor Romp and Stomp, and music classroom, all tucked into an intimate, child-friendly space. The Children’s Playhouse is supported in part by Watauga County, the town of Boone and the High Country United Way. For more information, call (828) 263-0011 or visit the Web site, www.goplayhouse.org.