Deadline approaching for J.D. Simons Community Volunteer Award nominations

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  The deadline for the J.D. Simons Community Volunteer Award nominations is July 5.

The Colfax Commercial Club will be presenting the first annual J.D. Simons Community Volunteer Award during the Colfax Founder’s Day Main Street Block Party August 6.

The J.D. Simons Community Volunteer Award is intended to provide recognition to an individual who has made the Colfax community a better place.

The Colfax community includes the village of Colfax as well as the surrounding area.

Nomination forms can be printed off from the Colfax Commercial Club’s website at www.colfaxcommercialclub.com.

Nomination forms also are available at the Colfax Messenger office, the village clerk’s office, the Colfax Public Library, Colfax Arts & Antique Mall, the Colfax Health Mart and at the Colfax Health and Rehabilitation Center.

The nomination form for the J.D. Simons Award asks for information about the nominator, the nominee, a description of the nominee’s service work, what sets the individual apart, statistics about the  individual’s impact on the community (number of lives impacted, dollars raised, number of volunteer hours, number of volunteers mobilized) and the nominator’s connection to the individual.

J.D. Simons is recognized as the founder of Colfax in 1864.

Newspaper articles published in the Colfax Messenger prior to and after his death in 1918 indicate that Simons was a kind man, well loved by many, who was a business owner, an entrepreneur, and a proud and a staunch supporter of the Village of Colfax.

Placing and dedicating a gravestone for J.D. Simons at Hill Grove Cemetery next to the final resting place of Mrs. Simons was part of the Colfax Sesquicentennial Celebration in 2014.

To this day, it remains a mystery as to why there was no gravestone at Hill Grove Cemetery for J.D. Simons.

In addition to the presentation of the J.D. Simons Community Volunteer Award on August 6, the Founder’s Day Main Street Block Party will include the dedication of the J.D. Simons Memorial Park on Eighteen Mile Creek.

J.D. Simons’ first cabin was located on the shores of Eighteen Mile Creek.

The Main Street Block Party also will feature bands on Main Street from noon to midnight; a craft fair on Main Street; food vendors; a beer garden; and other activities.

Nominations for the J.D. Simons Community Volunteer Award can be mailed to the Colfax Commercial Club at P.O. Box 417, Colfax WI 54730 or dropped off at the village office in the Colfax Municipal Building, at Colfax Arts & Antique Mall on Main Street in Colfax or at the Colfax Messenger office on Railroad Avenue.