Friday is last chance
Citizen of Year nominations due by 5 p.m.

Tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 12, is the deadline to submit nominations for Citizen of the Year.

The recipient of the Citizen of the Year will be announced before Friday, Nov. 9, the date for the "Party in Port A" that is replacing the annual Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce- Tourist Bureau's banquet to honor the Citizen of the Year.

Four nominations have been received so far, according to Ann Bracher Vaughan, executive director of the chamber-tourist bureau, which sponsors the award.

The award recognizes individuals for past and current service in several aspects of the community. Nominees must have a record of giving back to the community in volunteer time without expectation of personal or professional gain. The number of nominations a single individual receives has no bearing on his or her selection as Citizen of the Year.

Nominations will be reviewed to determine that all nominees are eligible based on the criteria for the award.

Nominations, with background information that demonstrates the nominee meets the criteria, should be mailed to Citizen of the Year, P.O. Box 1117, Port Aransas, TX, 78373, or taken by the South Jetty newspaper office, 141 W. Cotter, before 5 p.m. tomorrow. Nominators should use the form found on Page 11A in this edition of the South Jetty and provide the information requested on a separate sheet of paper attached to the nomination form.

Instead of a banquet atmosphere, the event will be an "island casual" party amid decorations that will recall Port Aransas of yesteryear and contrast it with Port Aransas now, welcoming long-time residents to mingle with the city's newer inhabitants.

Tickets will sell for $25 a person, down from $50 last year, and tables of eight will sell for $250, down from $500 last year.

After a dinner of hamburgers, hot dogs and boiled shrimp, the Citizen of the Year will be honored for his or her long service to the community.

Then, the party begins. Music will be by Flashback, a dance band that plays music from the 1950s to today.

Previous recipients of the Citizen of the Year Award are, starting in 1991, Dale Bietendorf, the late Lillian Graham, Mark Creighton, Una Farley, the late J.C. and Wanda Barr, Georgia Neblett, Mike Hall, the late Barbara Sheppard, John Thompson, the city's first responders in 2001, George Horner, Pam Greene, Betty Crawford, Charlie and Linda Zahn and Richard Safford.