For her outstanding community service work with the Kiwanis Club, Nancy Slauson received the Kiwanis’ highest honor, the George F. Hixson Award, Saturday night.
Drawing from a booklet written by John F. Yegge, Sweet Home Kiwanis President Jane Strom said, “Kiwanis is a verb. It’s something you do.
“Lots of Kiwanians do it a couple of hours a week, some a lot more; but in all of the doing, there is a single purpose – service to our communities, especially to benefit the neediest members of our communities.
“Weekly meetings, sometimes laved with horseplay and seemingly senseless ‘fines,’ accompanied by sometimes mediocre food, laughter and sometimes tears, build bonds among Kiwanians that strengthen the team for the times when there is serious community service work to be done….
“Tonight, we would like to pay Nancy Slauson for her years of unstinting service to our club with the Hixson Award. This banquet is in her honor. Nancy, we honor you for your years of service to the Kiwanis Club of Sweet Home.”
Slauson has been involved in a variety of work on behalf of Kiwanis for the community, including blood drives, roadside cleanup, Key Club attendance, Dinner with Daisy, Mothers Against Drunken Driving and much more, including hours of preparing the correct paperwork for Kiwanis International reports.
“My personal reflection is that Nancy is always pitching in when someone needs help,” Strom said.
“Carrying on for (late husband, John Slauson) is one of the reasons I’m still around,” Slauson said. She also called Kiwanis one of her three families, including church and her family. “You guys help keep me going.
“Let’s keep up the good work, and thank you so much for loving me and putting up with me.”
Slauson was born and reared in Tillamook. She married John Slauson, and they lived for 35 years in Gresham where they were active in the Jaycees. They have four children and 10 grandchildren.
“Hers and John’s ‘leading by example’ as parents and grandparents is reflected in her children’s and grandchildren’s achievements,” Kiwanis District Lt. Gov. Kevin Hagerty said. “In addition to raising the children, Nancy worked for Pacific Northwest Bell and in the food industry.”
Slauson joined Kiwanis the year after moving to Sweet Home. The year after that she was named secretary. She has spent some nine years as club secretary.
The Hixson award was created in 1983 by the Kiwanis International Board of Trustees, Hagerty said. It is named in honor of the first Kiwanis International president, who served from 1916 to 1918.
First-time Hixson Fellowship members receive two numbered medallions bearing the likeness of Hixson. Both medallions hang from a blue and white ribbon. One is encased in a walnut and velvet shadow box for display. The other is worn at high-visibility Kiwanis functions. A lapel pin or tie tack is also presented.
“Nancy became a member of this fellowship through a $1,000 donation by the Kiwanis Club of Sweet Home to Kiwanis International in Nancy’s name,” Hagerty said. “The donation in Nancy’s name was to recognize Nancy’s many years of service to the Kiwanis Club of Sweet Home. Not only does Nancy participate in numerous activities for the club; but she has served as secretary for many years.”
The award was presented at a dinner held at Lorene’s Restaurant with Kiwanians from Sweet Home and other area chapters, including Albany, Lebanon and Corvallis.