2009 - William V. Merriman
Winning an award for Community Service is usually the last thing on one’s mind when performing a benelovent/selfless/volunteer act, but once in a while someone else notices and that is what happened again this year when Tom Wiebell and his wife Almina decided to bring our attention to long time Westerville resident Bill Merriman.
As with most former Courtright Award nominees/winner, Bill Merriman doesn’t quite get what all the commotion is about. Bill does what he does because he believes in, and loves what he does.
Bill Merriman is a man that should be recognized, not just with an award, but for a life well spent.
The Following article was recently published in the Westerville News & Public Opinion.
Bill Merriman honored with community service award
Published: Wednesday, June 3, 2009 11:17 AM EDT
Westerville Historical Society President Bill Merriman recently was presented with the 2009 A. Monroe Courtright Community Service Award by the Rotary Club of Westerville.
A trustee of the Historical Society for the past 12 years and its president for the past three, Merriman recently spear-headed the effort to have Temperance Row district in Westerville added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The area south of Otterbein College was home to many leaders and workers for the Anti-Saloon League, which moved its national headquarters to Westerville in 1909 to help lead the campaign to enact Prohibition.
Temperance Row -- an 11-acre tract located between Park and Walnut Streets and Grove and University Streets -- officially was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct. 16.
Merriman is a former reporter, teacher, and communications specialist for Ohio State University and Battelle Memorial Institute. He has been a Westerville resident for 38 years.
In addition to the Historical Society, he's served on the Concord Counseling Center's board of directors, on a city Charter Review Commission, on the Uptown Review Board (when it was known as the Restoration Review Board), and as an elder and a deacon at his church, Central College Presbyterian -- all volunteer community service posts.
He joins a long list of distinguished recipients of the award, including Jim Grissinger, Jo Ann Davidson, Ned Mosher, Jane Bradford, Maurice and Dorothy McVay, and Esther McDermott.
The award is named after a former publisher of The Public Opinion, who was a charter member of the Rotary Club of Westerville and was known for his local philanthropy and community service efforts.
"I did know Monroe Courtright and am really pleased to be mentioned in the same breath with Monroe, and with (his late wife) Jean Courtright as well," Merriman said.
Merriman accepted the 2009 Courtright Award at a Rotary luncheon last month at Villa Milano.
He spoke about the Historical Society's efforts to put Temperance Row on the National register, and the community service efforts of those who have preceded him as the society's president.
"I did know Monroe Courtright and am really pleased to be mentioned in the same breath with Monroe ..."
--Bill Merriman