City of LFP Honors Good Neighbors, Environmentalist Mamie Bolender

The City of Lake Forest Park gave 12 individuals and organizations Good Neighbor awards and honored environmentalist Mamie Bolender at the City Council meeting Thursday night.

Bolender receieved kudos from the city and fellow citizens for her work on environmental issues as a leader in the Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation. She deflected much of the praise saying that the organization made her work possible as did the fact that she is retired and had time to do the work. However, the audience gave her much of the credit.

Nominees had to live and work in Lake Forest Park, make notable contributions to their Lake Forest Park neighborhoods, other citizens of LFP or to the community at large. Nominees could not be employed by the city of LFP or have received an award within the last five years. The recipients of the 6th Annual Good Neighbor Award Ceremony included the following:

Benjamin Potter: Recognized for mowing the lawn of an elderly neighbor without being asked.

Patti and Rick Giboney: The couple has lived in LFP for 30 years and Patti served on the Shoreline School Board. Rick has served as a youth basketball coach. They both work with special needs children.

Church of the Redeemer: Reverend Canon John Fergueson, Rector, accepted the award on behalf of the church which sponsors the Market Bucks food program at the LFP Farmers Market for people who need food buying assistance. Over $5000 is given by the Church of the Redeemer for this purpose.

The Milner Family: Five members of the Milner family were recognized for their musical talents such as their fiddle playing at Lake Forest Park Commons.

Lisa Koontz, Christine DePinto and Greta Hardin: The trio of women organizes the art docent program in local schools. The art docents programming occurs six times a year in every grade.

Candy and Gary Richards: The Richards' created the Secret Garden tour in LFP and built the Web site for it.

Lake Forest Park Presbyterian Church: Associate pastor Mike Young accepted the award on behalf of the church which serves as a meeting place for a variety of people including people trying to overcome substance abuse and the LFP Rotary. The church's volunteers also are made available to larger community for a variety of purposes including assisting with flood events.

Aaron Stadler: The videographer who is the winner of three Emmys and numerous regional awards was honored for his work chronicling community events in LFP.

Jim Hansen: Hansen was honored for being a good friend and neighbor, helping people get to the hospital, participating in city events and creating the Rails and Trails mural on the Burke-Gilman, to just name a few of his activities.

Bob Franks: Franks was honored for coaching YMCA youth basketball, coaching two teams so more kids could participate and covering registration fees for those who could not pay.