Steve Town is Louisburg’s Citizen of the Year

A phone call Dr. Damon Dennis received Thursday may have been a surprise, he told the crowd at the Louisburg Chamber of Commerce Dinner that evening, but it was also touchingly appropriate.

The caller told Dennis he was trying to find out information about the annual citizen of the year award, as he had the perfect person in mind.

“I just got back from the band trip,” the caller told Dennis, “and Steve Town is amazing.”

Dennis told the caller he had good news to share, and the crowd of chamber members and family of the evening’s winner was happy too to see Town honored as Louisburg’s Citizen of the Year.

Throughout the evening, Dennis had kept the audience entertained with humorous slideshows and funny anecdotes. But Town, he said, “is just such a rock-steady guy. He’s hard to tease.”

Dennis managed to sneak one Girl Scout award into a slideshow filled with all that Town has contributed to the community — and the accomplishments were many. City councilman, volunteer fireman, parks board member, band aide, fireworks technician and dad are just a few of the hats that Town has worn with purpose.

Town must sleep in his uniform, Dennis joked, because he’s almost always the first fireman to arrive on the scene. He helped see the construction of the Louisburg Aquatic Center. His children haven’t been in the Louisburg High School band for several years, but Town is still an active member of the Band Aid organization, helping out at the group’s many fundraising events.

He was a sponsor on the band’s trip to New York City over Veterans Day weekend, where he volunteered his time to pick up a sick student from the airport and traveled twice in ambulances with two students who fell ill on the trip.

Twice a month, Town takes his seat in the Louisburg City Council chambers. He also shoots fireworks at city events and band performances. He’s been a Scout leader and a helping hand at chamber events.

“If ever a person knew about volunteering, being part of a community and being the kind of person that goes above and beyond, that’s Steve,” Dennis said.

Town said he was suspicious when he arrived and saw family and LHS band Director John Cisetti at a table together, and he had a few humble words to say about the honor when he accepted a plaque from Dennis.

The Chamber also presents Distinguished Service Awards each year. The 2013 recipients were Louisburg High School agriculture teacher and FFA coach Jim Morgan and Fire Chief Paul Richards.

Morgan has been teaching at LHS since he graduated from college more than 30 years ago, Dennis said, and he’s inspired hundreds of students and brought home an impressive amount of awards for the students and community to take pride in.

Dennis read a passage of a 2012 letter to the editor from Jeff and Beth Hines congratulating Morgan and the FFA on winning a national championship.

“If you have not had the chance to sit in Mr. Morgan’s classroom or to visit with one of the students that he has taught during his 30+ years in Louisburg, I want to make sure you understand just how special he is to the Louisburg community and LHS,” Dennis read. “…Mr. Morgan has transformed the Louisburg FFA and his entire Agriculture Education Department into arguably the best in the state over the past two decades.

“He has inspired countless students to accomplish things they never dreamed possible,” the letter continues.

Paul Richards was a young impressionable student himself when he joined the Louisburg Fire Department at just 14 years of age. “Fire work was in his blood,” Dennis said, and the department had to get special insurance for Richards and another eager teenager to join.

Since those days, Richards has overseen the department’s transformation from a small volunteer operation with a two-bay garage to a 24-person operation with a well-equipped station.

“They are a family,” Dennis said. “That’s a testament to Paul. He’s brought the fire department from a one-man operation to a first class organization.”

Much of Richards’ “family” of fire department personnel was on hand that evening to watch him accept his award.

In addition to presenting these honors, the members of the Chamber of Commerce took time to look back at last year’s accomplishments and discuss a few changes next year.

Several changes came to the organization last year, including hiring Executive Director Karen Chouinard and initiating a web design committee. The group’s fundraisers, Dining the County and Blazin’ the Burg, saw record numbers, and multichamber events brought business representatives from local cities and the metro area to enjoy Louisburg’s attractions.

Chamber Board President Julie Baalman thanked outgoing board members Mike Martin, Preston Price, Gayle DeHoff and Sue Knop for their service. The chamber does more and more each year she said, and new board members Jerry Dixon, Sheila Farrow, Cassie Vohs and Megan Long, as well as April Castle, who was re-elected to another term, will have a busy year ahead of them if that trend continues.

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