Nominations are being accepted for the 2009 Citizen of the Year Award sponsored by the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce Tourist Bureau.

Nominations must be submitted by 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9.

The recipient will be honored at the annual chamber banquet on Thursday, Nov. 12.

The nomination form can be found at the South Jetty Web site, www.portasouthjetty. com. Click on Forms in the menu bar at the left, then select Citizen of the Year. The form can be printed, completed and mailed to Citizen of the Year, P.O. Box 1117, Port Aransas, TX 78373. Forms also may be picked up at the South Jetty office, 141 W. Cotter.

Ann Bracher Vaughan, executive director of the chamber, said the award recognizes individuals for past and current service in several aspects of the community.

“While it may be called the Citizen of the Year,” the nominees should be those who have given selflessly of their time, talent and resources over many, many years,” Vaughan said.

Citizen of the Year nominees should have long records of giving back to the community without expectation of personal or professional gain. The number of nominations a single individual receives has no bearing on the selection as Citizen of the Year.

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

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, Richard Safford, Chuck Borders and, in 2008, Barbara Behrens and Arlene Hughes.