Exchange Club seeks inductee for Book of Golden Deeds

The Fort Smith Noon Exchange Club is seeking nominations for a name to place in its Book of Golden Deeds, a local program of recognition of “dedicated volunteers” that is almost 70 years old.

According to Scott Monroe, the club member who oversees the Book of Golden Deeds process, the 68th annual presentation is slated for 6:30 p.m., Feb. 5, at the Fianna Hills Country Club. (It is a private event, and not open to the public.)

“The deeds of the (inductees) include founding and participating in services to youth, the elderly, the disadvantaged, the ill, and all of our fellow citizens,” Monroe said.

The National Exchange Club Web site offers the following synopsis of the purpose of the Book of Golden Deeds: “Volunteer efforts are very important to our society and should not go unnoticed. The National Exchange Club’s longest running project, the Book of Golden Deeds Award, recognizes dedicated volunteers who give endless hours of their time and talents toward making their communities better places to live. Ever since the Exchange Club of Huntington, Ind., sponsored the first award in 1919, thousands of unsung heroes and heroines have been recognized.”

Monroe explained that nominations are solicited from the general public, and a secret committee of “Exchangites” is appointed by the club president to select the recipient. (Nominations are still being accepted and can be mailed to: Exchange club president, Paul Rivaldo, at P.O. Box 180895, Fort Smith, AR 72918. The nomination simply requires the name and address of the nominee, plus a list of private good deeds for which the person is being nominated. The nomination form is at the end of this post, and extra pages can be used.)

“No one except the committee members and the president will know the identity of the winner prior to the event, and indeed, another challenge is to arrange for the honoree to be in attendance at the dinner without discovering the surprise,” Monroe said.

Prior recipients of the award are invited, and Monroe said about 10 or more will attend.

“The highlight of the evening is a presentation that recounts many of the contributions of the latest winner, saving the revelation of the name to the very end, while the attendees attempt to figure out who it will be,” Monroe explained.

The list of honorees, first began in Fort Smith in 1942, includes Dr. Roger Bost, Charolotte Tidwell (the first non-white to receive the award), J. Fred Patton and Janie Glover.

“Among my favorite honorees is Mrs. Rose Weinberger, an amazing lady far ahead of her time,” Monroe said.

Monroe noted that she founded the Junior Civic League in 1942, helped women find jobs during the Depression, helped to form the original board of Twin City Hospital — the only medical facility for blacks. Weinberger also established a library for blacks, organized the Young Women’s Community Guild, and served with the Mental Health Association, the league of Women Voters, the St. Edward Hospital Auxiliary and the Federation of Women’s Clubs.

“Two weeks after arriving in Fort Smith in 1931, she was made a member of the board of the YWCA, and helped organize the YWCA branch for black women and girls,” according to Monroe’s notes.

The list of prior Book of Golden Deeds inductees are:

1942 : Mr. George D. Carney, Sr.
1943 : Miss Margaret F. Baird
1944 : Mr. Ben I. Mayo
1945 : Major Carl Miller
1946 : Mr. Clarence F. Byrns
1947 : Mr. R. Earl Farnsworth
1948 : Mr. Charles F. Wilmans
1949 : Judge Joseph Morrison Hill
1950 : Mr. T. Leland Hunt
1951 : Mr. Louis Cohen
1952 : Mr. Ed Wright
1953 : Mr. Stanley E. Evans
1954 : Dr. D. W. Goldstein
1955 : Mr. Elmer H. Cook
1956 : Dr. Ralph Crigler
1957 : Mr. Morgan Wright
1958 : Mrs. Annie Brown
1959 : Mr. R. K. Rodgers
1960 : Mr. Clarence Higgins
1961 : Mrs. Willie Crane
1962 : Miss Ed Louise Ballman
1963 : Dr. Roger B. Bost
1964 : Dr. Fred G. Roebuck
1965 : Mrs. Anne W. Ayers
1966 : Mr. John R. Thompson
1967 : Miss Ruth Armstrong
1968 : Miss Gladys Krone
1969 : Mrs. Alma L. Gallaher
1970 : Mrs. Marie Stone
1971 : Mr. D. L. Ford
1972 : Mrs. Virginia Fort
1973 : Mrs. Roscoe McKee
1974 : Mrs. Gloria White
1975 : Mr. J. Fred Patton
1976 : Mrs. Dorothy Cheyne
1977 : Mr. Tom Futral
1978 : Mr. Edward T. Schrotz
1979 : Mrs. Claudia Vaughn
1980 : Mrs. Rose Bethell
1981 : Mrs. Marionette Thompson
1982 : Mr. Bob Kuykendall
1983 : Mrs. Rose Weinberger
1984 : Mrs. Janie Glover
1985 : Miss Jimmie Delle Caldwell
1986 : Mrs. Vivian Yoes
1987 : Mr. C. Grady Secrest, Sr.
1988 : Mrs. Sylvia Lassen
1989 : Mr. Robert Miller
1990 : Dr. John A. Bayliss
1991 : Dr. Samuel E. Landrum
1992 : Mrs. Nancy J. M. Orr
1993 : Dr. Theodore Skokos
1994 : Mr. Jon Grimm
1995 : Ms. Floy Looper
1996 : Mrs. Mary Prewitt
1997 : Dr. Art Martin
1998 : Mayor Ray Baker
1999 : Mr. Dan Richardson
2000 : Mr. & Mrs. Clyde Chaney
2001 : Mrs. Sandy Parker
2002 : Mrs. Fran Still
2003 : Mrs. Patricia Shaw
2004 : Mr. Bert Wright
2005 : Mrs. Deborah Avillion
2006 : Mrs. Charolette Tidwell
2007 : Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Caldarera
2008 : Mrs. Maureen Didion