MOUNT VERNON — Sandy Crow gripped her husband’s arm as she made her way to the front of the Knox County Memorial Building ballroom, her emotions clear on her face. Crow had just been named the recipient of the Walter Rudin Award at the Main Street Mount Vernon awards dinner Thursday evening.
The Walter Rudin Award is presented to an individual in honor of his or her commitment to downtown Mount Vernon and the surrounding community. The past recipients of the award select each year’s winner.
Crow has been integral to the Woodward restoration project, numerous Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) projects, the Dan Emmett Music and Arts Festival, and many other activities. She has been an officer with the Danville Lions Club, chaired the Raccoon Dinner program for over 25 years, served as president and treasurer of the Danville Band Boosters, and directed the Danville-Howard Turkey Festival.
“I don’t know what to say, but thank you,” an emotional Crow said as she accepted her award to a standing ovation. “Our first love besides our family has been the city of Mount Vernon and the community of Knox County. When we moved back here we knew the community we were moving into and we wanted to make it great for our family and our friends.”
Crow credited the numerous volunteers and downtown groups that helped to bring their various projects to life. “All these things couldn’t happen without you,” Crow said. “I really appreciate it and I appreciate our family for putting up with us all these years and all our crazy ideas.”
In a video honoring Crow, her husband, Pat, recognized the hard work his wife has put in over the years as she labored behind the scenes to bring events and projects to life.
“She’s always in tune with what’s going on, she’s always on the ball, always two or three steps ahead of people at most meetings,” Pat said. “Her value to the community is almost immeasurable. She tends to be more in the background than she should be.”
When it comes to the Dan Emmett Festival, Pat said, she was as much of a director as he was. “She certainly has always been there as a right hand, not walking with me, but walking in the same step. Always together, always with the same mission in life, always with the same goals.”
The following businesses and individual were honored with awards.
Small Business of the Year Award: Coleman Gallery & Galerie Suite
“I’ve enjoyed having our gallery downtown,” said owner Vicki Coleman. “I enjoy being downtown and sure hope more people come downtown and shop.”
Mid-Sized Business of the Year Award: G.R. Smith Hardware
Large Business of the Year Award: First-Knox National Bank
“Thank you very much,” said Vicki Sant, President of First-Knox National Bank. “First-Knox does about $2.2 billion right here in Knox County. We’re pretty proud of that fact … We have about 175 that work between the two buildings that we have downtown. We’re very happy to be here. We want Mount Vernon to thrive, too. Mount Vernon does well, so do we. So thank you very much. We can’t do it without all those folks.”
Community Pride Award: The Alcove Restaurant
Nonprofit of the Year Award: MTVarts
“Thank you all for your support,” said MTVarts Artistic Director Bruce Jacklin. “This all started in my basement about 2014 with Janis Stone and Sam Barone. It’s amazing to see all the support we got and how its grown into what it is.”
“They say that the heart of a community is in the arts. We are so pleased and proud to be a part of that,” said MTVarts President Susan Moreland,” because our heart loves this community and we want you to love us, too.”
Spirit of Heritage Award: Lois Hanson
“When my husband Bert and I moved here in 1973, if you had told me I’d still be here, I would have laughed,” said Hanson, manager of Paragraphs Bookstore. “I knew I’d be going someplace bigger, hipper, more sophisticated. The idea that our roots have sunk so deeply here still stuns me … I am such a proponent of Mount Vernon. I love it, I love working downtown. The idea that I get paid to go to the bookstore everyday and talk to people about books, it’s just amazing. I just cannot thank anybody enough.”
