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HOLMAN WATER QUALITY STEWARDSHIP
AWARD WINNERS
2011 Award Winner - Silas Allen
Silas Allen has been chief of enforcement since 1995 for the N.C.
Building Code and also for Cherokee County’s watershed and flood-damage
prevention ordinances. For the past 13 years, he has led “Big Sweep”
cleanups of the shorelines of Apalachia and Hiwassee lakes. Allen and
wife Bobbie live on land that has been owned by his family for more than
four generations and he has been involved with HRWC since shortly after
the organization's incorporation in 1995. When asked why he’s so
dedicated to his career with the county and has volunteered so many
hours beyond the call of duty, Allen said, "I care about water quality
deeply. It saddens me to see the streams and lakes fill up with silt and
trash."
Click here to learn more about Silas
Allen.
 2010 Award Winner - Lamar Paris
In
2010, Lamar Paris was serving his third term as Sole Commissioner of
Union County, Ga. Union County has the only locally managed
sediment and erosion control program in the upper Hiwassee River
watershed. Under Paris' leadership, the county cross-trained
building inspectors and sediment/erosion control personnel to save time
associated with addressing sedimentation complaints. And
inspectors use a technologically advanced system whereby field notes are
downloaded automatically into the computer back at the office.
Paris is also a 2008 graduate of the Institute for Georgia Environmental
Leadership, an intensive series of nearly weeklong workshops held in
different parts of the state over the course of one year. "We see
very few severe violations of water quality in Union County compared to
the other counties in the watershed," said Callie Moore, executive
director of HRWC.
Click here to learn more about
Lamar Paris.
 2009 Award Winner - James W. Dobson
Former Union
County, Ga. resident, the late Jim Dobson retired from a distinguished
career in agriculture research and administration, serving for more than
35 years as superintendent of the University of Georgia, College of
Agriculture and Environmental Sciences' Mountain Experiment Station near
Blairsville, GA. Jim served as Chairman of the Blue Ridge Mountain
Soil & Water Conservation District for many years and was a founding
board member of HRWC. Jim was active with these and many other
community organizations until his death in May 2010. Lamar Paris
introduced Jim at the 2009 banquet, saying "Many take a hike away from
the public when they retire and look after their own well-being.
But Jim has dedicated his retirement to making (the Hiwassee River
watershed) a better place to live."
Click
here to learn more about Jim Dobson.
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