Mayor, Council Honor Local Volunteers

The Herndon Community Center was packed with happy faces Sunday evening for the Mayor's Volunteer Appreciation Night.

The annual event thanks locals who have volunteered at least 100 hours of their time in their communities - which says a lot, considering there were more than 400 honorees invited this year.

The night's program thanked the 400+ volunteers by name, and each was given a wrapped gift from the Mayor and Town Council.

Mayor Lisa Merkel also presented the 2013 Distinguished Service Awards during the night's festivities. This year, one corporate award and four individual awards were presented.

This year's corporate award went to Griffins-Owen Insurance, for the many occasions when the company donated meeting space and resources to local organizations.

Robin Carrol was honored with an award for her thousands of hours spent as a volunteer helping the ArtSpace get up and running, and obtaining thousands of dollars in grants so the space could hire part-time help. Thanks to Carrol, Mayor Merkel said the space has been able to host countless exhibits, classes and workshops.

Rudy Tassara of the Herndon Rotary Club was honored for his tireless work devising, organizing and hosting events such as Tango Night and raffles for the annual HubCaps dance to raise money for the Club's youth scholarship program, and for donating his time and skill repairing vehicles to sell at deep discount for local low-income residents.

Ivan Young of Reston Interfaith was honored for his years of service tutoring challenged youth through the Herndon Enrichment Program, as well as programs such as the food drives Reston Interfaith holds each year.

And, for the first time in 12 years, a teen was presented a Distinguished Service Award by the Mayor.

Kyle Alger, 17, a junior at  received an award for his leadership in revitalizing the town's annual nature festival last year, after Friends of Runnymede Park said the group had decided not to hold it. Kyle single-handedly took the initiative to organize the festival and spearhead efforts to raise the needed funds, while even expanding the event's repertoire of features and activities, with his own unique spin, calling it "NatureQuest."

The event also included a special guest speaker, Julie Carey, Northern Virginia bureau chief for News4, who spoke about the special qualities embodied by volunteers, who are "the people who can't say No."

Hors d'oeuvres, desserts and beverages were served, and a group performed light piano and vocal music as well.

Did you attend Sunday's event? What do you think of this year's distinguished service award recipients? Tell us in the comments.