Recreation backers honored

The Foundation for the Betterment of Carson City Parks and Recreation 2001 Special Recognition Awards have been bestowed upon individuals and organizations who have contributed to improvement of the city's recreational facilities.

Awards were presented recently to the late Harold B. Wright, Catherine "Katie" Pollock, United Rentals -- Carson City and the local Kiwanis Club.

For more than 40 years, until his death in September 2001, Wright was a volunteer for the chain gang for the Carson High School football program. For 20 years he umpired Little League, Babe Ruth Baseball, high school leagues and fast-pitch softball.

In the 1960s, he helped start the Youth Baseball Association, which became Carson City Youth Sports Association. He was instrumental in the acquisition of the land where Governors Field is today. After retirement in 1977 from the State Highway Department, he worked for the City Parks Department as an inspector and designer.

Both a parent and teacher, Pollock has been active in groups such as Mothers' Baseball, Parent Teacher Associations, T-Ball, Little League, Babe Ruth, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Political Action Commission on Education, science fairs and conventions, Children's Museum, the visitors bureau's Kit Carson Trail and Nevada State Committees on Education.

Pollock was honored as Volunteer of the Year.

United Rentals has supported the Parks and Recreation Department's activities as seen in the donation of canopies and miscellaneous equipment for the barbecue station at the Carson City Little League District Tournament held at Governors Field. The company donated a storage unit for the new community garden at Lone Mountain Cemetery.

United Rentals has allowed the city to try various types of equipment at no charge.

The foundation has given United Rentals the Business of the Year Award.

For more than 13 years the Kiwanis Club of Carson City has been the sponsor of the annual Carson River Cleanup Day. The club's commitment to the river has advanced many recreational and resource preservation goals of the Parks and Recreation Department on city property, foundation officials said.

Kiwanis volunteers have picked up trash, removed debris and provided manpower to clean the city's river parks when the department's resources were limited. Over the past three years, the Kiwanis Club has donated funds to help with habitat restoration along the Carson River.

This year the Kiwanis has donated about $2,500 and the labor to install picnic tables and benches for Riverview Park and the Morgan Mill Road River Access Area. The contributions have made Carson City's River Parks a better place to visit and have improved the visual and environmental character of the Carson River, foundation officials said. The foundation honored the Kiwanis Club as Organization of the Year.