Joyce Johnson wins Cloverdale Civic Award

CLOVERDALE -- The Cloverdale Lions Club recently presented the 14th annual Cloverdale Civic Award to Joyce Johnson.

The nominations for this award come from the general public, and the Lions Club would like to thank everyone who submitted a nomination form. Over 50 people were in attendance to celebrate the presentation.

Johnson was presented this award as a thank you for the numerous volunteer hours she devotes to the betterment of the Cloverdale community.

As a long-time owner of the Pizza Niche, she employed a lot of students and taught them the importance of work. She always kept her business along Main Street very nicely decorated, which gave visitors to Cloverdale a good impression of downtown.

She was a long time member of the Cloverdale Chamber of Commerce and was very active in a lot of their activities. She was an integral part of starting the Cloverdale Main Street organization and all of the successful projects that they have completed. She has always been very involved in her church, including taking an active part in the Ladies Guild and by serving as a religious education teacher for many years.

Johnson has been a big supporter of many of the Cloverdale Lions Club projects by volunteering for projects such as Adopt-A-Highway, working the food booths at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and helping with the pre-school photoscreening project. Other past activities include being an original member of the Cloverdale Business association, serving on the board of the Putnam County Food Pantry and being a volunteer worker of the Johnson-Nichols Health Clinic. She also has volunteered as a "Lunch Buddy" at the Cloverdale Elementary School and is currently a volunteer for the Advocate Hospice program.

Johnson has reached out to help in many ways.

She joins previous Civic Award recipients Mona Smith, Bob Hostetter, Don Walton, Jeff Rich, Rosemary (Davis)Berry, Jack Davis, Dr. Keith Ernst, Eric Hayman, Vera Hughes, Adeline Knoy, Bill Henson, Judy Whitaker and Wayne Sutherlin. Mrs. Johnson was presented a plaque by members of the Cloverdale Community Civic Award Committee, and her name has been inscribed on a plaque that is displayed in the Cloverdale Town Hall. Members of the Cloverdale Community Civic Award Committee this year are Larry Haltom, Charlie Simon, Norv Gottula, James McKee, Michelle Zimmerman and Todd Lewis.