For immediate release
For more information, contact
Bonnie Prigge
or
Caitlin Jones
ST. JAMES—Chrysa Niewald, of Owensville, was honored with an outstanding volunteer award during the Meramec Regional Planning Commission’s (MRPC) Annual Dinner and Awards Banquet, held Oct. 24 at Osage View in Linn. Each year, MRPC honors residents, local agency representatives and organizations in the Meramec Region who contribute to their communities by volunteering their time, talents and support. This year’s event was hosted by Osage County, the City of Linn and State Technical College of Missouri.
Niewald was nominated by Owensville Mayor Kevin McFadden for her 15-year effort that started in 2009 when Niewald pulled together community members in a meeting regarding the possibility of making the former Rock Island rail line a biking-hiking trail through the town of Owensville. In 2015, Ameren agreed to donate the rail corridor, which in 2023, the Rock Island Trail came under the auspices of Missouri State Parks and became Missouri’s 93rd state park. Niewald, a passionate trail advocate, has been instrumental in this transformation, participating in every groundbreaking ceremony along the 144-mile trail. Niewald’s efforts contributed to the formation of organizations like MORIT, the founding of the Rock Island Trail State Park and the Friends of the Rock Island Trail (FoRIT), which she still acts as the glue, the fundraiser, the organizer to this project. Her other volunteer and community involvement list is huge: Lions Club, teacher, high school counselor, assistant principal, principal, grant writer (for A+ program, sidewalks, etc.), tourism committee leader for Owensville Chamber of Commerce, Girl Scouts, Total Eclipse organizer, hosting German students, Delta Kappa Gamma, scholarship reviewer, Artworks on Main organizer, supporter and board member to many bike organizations and many more.
“It was so good to come together in-person and honor our volunteers,” said MRPC Executive Director Bonnie Prigge. “We are only able to honor a few volunteers each year, yet we extend our gratitude to the hundreds of volunteers in our region who truly make our region such an amazing place to live, work and visit. We are successful because of our volunteers. We hope that by recognizing a few volunteers, we can inspire others to volunteer their time and invest in their communities.”
The night included a reception that began at 5:30 sponsored by the City of Linn, Legends Bank – Linn, Darryl and Corliss Griffin and Archer-Elgin Engineering, Surveying and Architecture. A silent auction, held during the reception, raised $1,284 to offset the costs of the dinner. Approximately 150 people attended this year’s event. The dinner was catered by Annie’s Station in Loose Creek.
Other individuals and community organizations recognized for contributions to their communities are:
This year’s other youth award recipients were:
The Eugene E. Northern award, the highest honor given by MRPC for volunteers and community service, was presented to Stan Podorski of Salem for 2024.
Podorski, nominated by Dent County Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson, has owned KSMO Radio in Salem since 1984. He has volunteered for the Police Personnel Board, Handicapped Services of Dent County Board, Salem Area Chamber of Commerce and Healthy Dent County Prevention Coalition. Podorski has also served as the president of the Salem Area Business Association and City of Salem Park and Recreation board and is currently the president of the Dent County Salvation Army Unit.
While chair of the park board, Podorski worked to get a Transportation Alternatives Program grant for the city to create a new trail from the city park to the high school, had a splash pad installed at the city park and worked to get an all-inclusive playground at the city park called Billy’s Playground. He also had the municipal swimming pool and pool house renovated, improved walking areas around the field at the park and helped to secure property for the creation of soccer fields inside city limits.
Podorski created a free four-page news flyer called ‘Your World Today’ that included local news, sports, obituaries and other community events daily Monday through Friday. Today, this is still delivered in over 40 locations in Salem and Bunker.
Volunteering with the Dent County Fall Festival Board and Salem FFA Chapter, Podorski oversaw the systems and emceeing numerous Miss Dent County contests at the fall festival. He improved the sound system at the old festival grounds before designing and installing an all new outside speaker system at the Dent County Commons in the Livestock Barn, the rodeo arena, the grandstand and the youth building. Working with the school, Podorski was the driving force in raising over $9,000 to renovate the press boxes for football and baseball at no cost to the school. When the high school gym ran out of press box space, Podorski and KSMO paid for materials so maintenance staff could build two additional crow’s nests in the gym.
In his 40 years in Salem, it has been Podorski’s desire to make Salem a better place.
The Lender of the Year award was also presented during MRPC’s Annual Dinner. Working in partnership with the Meramec Regional Development Corporation (MRDC), MRPC recognizes lending institutions who partner with MRPC/MRDC on local business projects. For 2024, the Lender of the Year award was presented to Maries County Bank. Maries County Bank partnered with MRDC to collaborate financing for a new business in state. MRDC and Maries County Bank have had a longstanding partnership working to help businesses.
Staff members were recognized at the 2024 awards banquet for years of service included:
Each year, MRPC employees are asked to select one staff member who performs above the call of duty, exhibits exemplary work performance, voluntarily promotes the organization and exhibits a positive work ethic and attitude. MRPC’s 2024 employee of the year was Eva Voss, Senior Community Development Specialist.
Formed in 1969, MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities. Mary Heywood, representing the unemployed, serves as chair of the board. A professional staff of 28 offers technical assistance and services, such as grant preparation and administration, housing assistance, transportation planning, environmental planning, ordinance codification, business loans and other services to member communities.
To keep up with the latest MRPC news and events, visit the MRPC website at www.meramecregion.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/meramecregion/.
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