KP Citizen of the Year Award Returns After Pandemic; Headlined by Local Hero

The Key Peninsula Lions Club will hold its 36th annual Key Peninsula Citizen of the Year Award banquet at the KP Civic Center March 25 beginning at 6 p.m. The long-standing ceremony had been postponed since March 2020, and the award will go to one of the original nominees for 2019.

“Anybody who lives on the peninsula, works on the peninsula or even owns property on the peninsula who makes whatever you feel is an outstanding contribution to society is eligible (for the award),” said Hal Wolverton, KP Lions Club vice president. “It was designed for volunteers, but it’s not limited to volunteers because some people go way above and beyond.”

The winner is chosen by Lions Club members voting by secret ballot. The current nominees were submitted to the Lions in 2018. The club will again solicit nominees at the end of this year.

A number of other citations are given during the celebration to commend local achievers in addition to the Citizen of the Year, in keeping with the Lions Club motto: “We serve.”

The evening also includes a variety of auctions and raffles and other fundraising opportunities to donate to the Lions Club. “Whatever we get goes right back into the community,” Wolverton said.

The KP Lions provide eyeglasses and hearing aids to KP residents, awards the KP Lions Memorial Scholarship to high school students, organizes highway cleanups and an annual Volksmarch, volunteers its labor and expertise to maintaining and improving KP parks, distributes free dictionaries each year to every third-grader on the KP and to Key Peninsula Middle School, and makes grants to local nonprofits, according to Wolverton.

The keynote speaker this year will be long-time Lions Club member, KP booster and raconteur Hugh McMillan.

The event will include dinner and a no-host bar, and there is usually a chance to meet community leaders, local officials and elected representatives. Tickets often sell out in advance and are available online for a donation of $25.

For more information, go to the KP Lions Club website.