Reeder Citizen of Year





Suzanna Reeder

Suzanna Reeder

Suzanna Reeder was named Citizen of the Year for 2012 during the 2013 Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce Celebration and Citizen of the Year event on Thursday, April 4.

Reeder was recognized for her largely “behind the scenes” work benefitting less fortunate Port Aransas residents, youth, Kiwanis Club and her church.

“I’m overwhelmed; unbelievably honored. Dumbstruck,” Reeder said.

“It’s so wonderful. It’s just great,” she added.

Reeder said she is “grateful to this little town. We’re all so blessed.”

One of her projects, called Home for the Heart, involved securing volunteers and materials to build a home for Cherry Lee Cooper, a longtime resident of and hair stylist in Port Aransas. The project enabled Cooper, who died last year, to secure a loan to build a salon adjacent to her home. Home for the Heart earned Reeder the Jefferson Award from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

Suzanna Reeder, the 2012 Citizen of the Year, is flanked by her son, Walter Sohl of La Jolla, Calif., right, and her stepson, Carson Einkauf, on Thursday, April 4. The award recognizes Reeder’s years of broad-based contributions to the community. In addition to the clock held by Sohl, Reeder was presented a ukulele in recognition of her love of the instrument.

Suzanna Reeder, the 2012 Citizen of the Year, is flanked by her son, Walter Sohl of La Jolla, Calif., right, and her stepson, Carson Einkauf, on Thursday, April 4. The award recognizes Reeder’s years of broad-based contributions to the community. In addition to the clock held by Sohl, Reeder was presented a ukulele in recognition of her love of the instrument.

A founding member of the Port Aransas Kiwanis Club, Reeder has been in the thick of the club’s fundraising efforts for scholarships, whether manning a bake sale, helping with the annual Beach Dash or gathering listings for the club’s annual Community Birthday Calendar. She also was instrumental in setting up the youth branch of Kiwanis, the Key Club, at Port Aransas High School.

Suzanna Reeder, right, the 2012 Citizen of the Year, is presented a ukulele by Ann Bracher Vaughan, president and CEO of the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce-Tourist Bureau during the awards ceremony on Thursday, April 4. Glenn Martin, chairman of the bureau, presents Reeder with a commemorative clock.

Suzanna Reeder, right, the 2012 Citizen of the Year, is presented a ukulele by Ann Bracher Vaughan, president and CEO of the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce-Tourist Bureau during the awards ceremony on Thursday, April 4. Glenn Martin, chairman of the bureau, presents Reeder with a commemorative clock.

Reeder is an active (and the people who nominated her put the accent on active) member of Trinity-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, where she has been a member for more than 20 years. She has served as president of the Episcopal Church Women’s group, on the bishop’s committee and the Altar Guild. She has volunteered with the church’s Pancake Suppers on Shrove Tuesday, for the mission and outreach programs at the church, and lends her gardening expertise to the parish landscape. For the past several years she has been the primary operator of the church’s Second Time Around Shop thrift store.

Recently she secured funding for a stained glass window, for which she assisted with the design and install, in memory of former church secretary, the late Sarah Maxham and in honor of all past and present church secretaries.

Reeder has long been a champion of youth, and at one time set up a primitive skate park behind what is now the Computer Center. She lobbied long and hard to see, in 2000, a first-rate, competitive skate park at the Port Aransas Community Park. The effort involved countless meetings with city council members, parks and recreation department directors, planning and grant writing over a nearly 20 year period.

In addition, Reeder has served on the city’s Recreational Development Board and as an election judge.

Also, it is thanks to Reeder that the South Jetty newspaper was founded. She and her late father, Ray Reeder, started the newspaper in 1971. She was joined by Steve Frishman in the endeavor, and she eventually sold her share to him. In 1981, Mary and Murray Judson purchased the newspaper from Frishman. Part of the purchase agreement was to keep the name of the newspaper founded by Reeder.

In making the presentation, Ann Bracher Vaughan, president and CEO of the chamber, said Reeder “has served her fellow man all her adult life, and is most comfortable working behind the scenes and shies away from taking credit for her efforts.”

Vaughan noted Reeder’s love of the ukulele, and presented her with a ukulele as well as a plaque recognizing her contributions to her community.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t play the ukulele,” she said later. What she hopes will come of this will be a weekly ukulele club. “Ukes only,” she said.

Reeder was escorted to the podium by her son, Walter Sohl of La Jolla, Calif., and stepson, Carson Einkauf of Port Aransas.


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