They Inspired the Awards

By Karen Lubieniecki, STAFF WRITER



Chaya Caplan was Volunteer of the Year at the 34th Annual Audrey Robbins Humanitarian Awards; Chase Brexton Medical Services received the ninth Casey Willis Making a Difference Award; and Willis McGahee received the 15th Annual Rev. John Holland Humanitarian Award. The 12th Aronson Memorial Awards went to Samantha L. Ferro and Magid A. Wahee. Students from Community Based Learning Centers received Elsie Waters scholarships at the 13th Annual Community Homes Awards Banquet, and Donna Jacobs won the third grant named for Mark Ryder.

We know this year's winners, but what do people remember about those who inspired the awards?



Mark Ryder/Mark Ryder Original

Choreography Grant

Mark Ryder's 2006 death merited an eight-paragraph New York Times obituary. The young dancers taking the stage for "A Christmas Carol" during the years 1980-1987 may not have realized that the man dancing Scrooge with them had also danced with Martha Graham and had had a very respected national dance company.

Caryl Maxwell Gazman, for whom he was a mentor, started her classical ballet school because modern dancer Ryder encouraged her to create a performance outlet for students. Students from his days as a head of the dance department at University of Maryland, College Park, may remember their funny, 6-foot-tall teacher who was not afraid to make silly faces while instilling in them an understanding of dance as more than performance, and a creative process.

Ryder died in 2006, but Alzheimer's disease had stolen him from the local stage close to 15 years before. Created by his wife, Mary Ratcliffe, after his death, the award honors the achievements and creative exuberance Ryder brought to dance, to young professionals and to his community.



Rev. John Holland/Reverend John W. Holland Humanitarian Award

"I revered him. Respected him. Looked up to him," said Dr. Vernon Gray, administrator of the Howard County Office of Human Rights. Dottie Moore, who knew Holland not only from when she was a child, but as a professional at the Community Action Council (CAC), remembered his tenacity and forthrightness.

"Rev. Holland was a person who didn't dance around an issue. ... When you finished a conversation with him, you knew where you stood. If it was right, it was right. If it was wrong, it was wrong."

A lifelong resident of Howard County, this quietly peaceful reverend had a small congregation but was a pastor to many, and played a major role in the civil rights battles at a time when Howard County was still segregated, and in caring for county residents in need. He opened his church so there could be a site for senior programs.

State Del. Liz Bobo remembers him as a man who, in 1977, reached out, took her around to his church and educated her about the black community out in the smaller part of the county. "He was a very gentle, kind man who lived his life taking care of other people."

Holland died in 1987 walking in the woods he often went to for solitude and reflection.



Casey Willis/Casey Willis Making

A Difference Award

Dave Willis thinks one of the most amazing thing about his mom was how she did it all: Busy with PTA, Democratic politics, and community activities, including the Rotary Club and Heart Association, she still made sure the family had dinners together. It might be late - 9:30 or 10 [p.m.] - but we all sat down together as a family."

Willis not only did it herself, she made sure her family shared and understood the importance of giving back to the community. Willis remembers being whisked off with his mother to go to some kind of activity, still in his Little League uniform.

"She felt responsible for teaching [us] kids how to give back to the community. ... Instead of touch football at Thanksgiving, she decided that instead we would go to Baltimore City to work in the soup kitchens on Thanksgiving Day."

Willis died in 2000, and her husband, Eugene "Pebbles" Willis, presented the first annual award, named for his wife. Pebbles Willis, an orthopedic surgeon, died in August 2009. Starting in 2010, the award will honor both their achievements as the Casey and Pebbles Willis Making a Difference Award.



Barry Aronson, M.D./Aronson Memorial Awards

"Barry Aronson was a jock," said Dr. Sam Sydney, past president of the medical staff at Howard County General Hospital. A star quarterback at Ohio Wesleyan, he played flag football and could bench press 400 pounds. He took his passion for sports to Columbia and coached football at Oakland Mills High School and was the team doctor for the wrestling team.

The year before his sudden death in 1986, Columbia Magazine readers' poll selected him as the county's best physician.

His wife, now Barbara Aronson Cook, said: "Barry was an athlete at heart. He had a passion for his work and for his sports." According to Sydney, Aronson indeed pushed himself very hard, and wanted those around him to push themselves.

Aronson worked to keep HCGH up with the times, encouraging new technologies and keeping it on the cutting edge of new developments in areas like arthroscopic reconstruction, then in its infancy. The professional staff at HCGH honored both his passions when it established the Aronson Memorial Award.

In December 2009, the hospital changed the award's name for 2010 to also honor another "passionate but gentle" physician active in sports: Dr. Eugene "Pebbles" Willis.



Audrey Robbins/Audrey Robbins Humanitarian Awards

"The first time I ever took a child from a parent's custody, she went with me," remembered Linda Zumbrum, assistant director for Community Initiatives at the Department of Social Services. Robbins would go the extra mile, not only for staff, but for clients.

On the nomination form for the award created after Robbins' sudden death in 1974, it notes that Audrey Robbins was a former director of Social Services who "constantly worked beyond the structure of Socials Services to provide shelter, food, assistance and emergency help to those in need." How she did that defined who she was and why people created an award in her name.

Dottie Moore noted, "Audrey wasn't a person that would sit behind a desk." Moore, who was with the Community Action Council for 36 years, worked closely with Robbins for many years. One call stands out. Robbins called her one day. There was a 14-year-old child in desperate need of new foster care. Her foster family had returned her, and she had no place to go. "Dottie," she said, "can you make some calls?"

Moore did, but had no luck, which she reported. Robbins wouldn't take "can't" for an answer. "Have you exhausted all your resources? I have this child and I need to have a place for her by 4:30." More calls, no luck. Dottie capitulated at 4:15 - and Robbins herself brought the child down to stay one night with a caring person: Moore herself. Adele stayed two years and today is happily married, with children, because of Audrey Robbins, a humanitarian wouldn't abandon her.



Elsie Walters/Dr. Elsie J. Walters Scholarships

"Elsie Walters was a warm person - very down to earth. She had a Ph.D., but made everyone comfortable. She wanted to make sure the kids [in Columbia Housing's complexes] got a fair shot - the help they needed," said her long-time friend, Relda Fennell.

That a community-based learning center even exists is because Elsie Walters had a dream and was tenacious. Her dream was a school homework program for children, which came into being through her efforts but after her death.

According to Carole MacPhee, who succeeded Walters at Columbia Housing, Walters' program was the first after-school money from the state. But even before Walters came to Columbia Housing, she was committed to caring for families. This mother of three was responsible for opening up a homeless shelter for families in D.C.

She was also persuasive, and persuaded Fennell to take a job at Columbia Housing instead of leaving the area (Fennell has stayed 15 years).

Elsie Walters died suddenly in 1986, but her dream lives on in the scholarships given in her name to students of the program she created.