It isn’t often that someone wins an award for “Life of the Party,” but once a year at Sweet Briar College, lucky staff members – the word “lucky” being used ever so tongue-in-cheek – are bestowed this and other equally illustrious honors at the Unsung Heroes Banquet.

The 2006 Unsung Heroes Banquet was held Friday, April 21 at the Florence Elston Inn and Conference Center. Although the event is a moral-boosting afternoon of good food and fun, it has a serious side with awards being given to the Unsung Hero and Heroine of the Year. The Hero and Heroine are chosen by a student vote; employees chime in on the fluffier awards.

The 2006 Unsung Hero was Stacey Carter, a mail carrier with the Sweet Briar post office, and the 2006 Unsung Heroine was Lelia Johnson, of housekeeping.

Unsung Hero Stacey Carter.
Unsung Heroine Lelia Johnson.
Past events honored the college’s hourly employees – more specifically those working for the physical plant, food services and auxiliary services – but this year the event was expanded to include secretaries, support staff, campus safety and Sweet Briar stable employees.

“We consider the Unsung Heroes to be anyone who is not eligible for the Excellence in Service award presented at Commencement,” said Suzy Harvey ’06, of the Sweet Spirits, one of several student groups involved in the event. “These people make life at Sweet Briar so wonderful.”

The first such banquet was held in 2004 and was the “brainchild of [2004 SBC graduate] Brianna Beckham, who wanted to celebrate the people on campus that never get recognition for how much they give,” said Lea Pyne ’06, also a Sweet Spirit.

Prior to the presentation of this year’s awards, Chaplain Guy Brewer said, “We have found that heroes are not hard to find. Look around you. You are all heroes and sheroes to us. …We want to send a heartfelt appreciation for all you do on campus to keep us moving. It is our pleasure, our privilege, to honor you today.”

Maurice Davis is "Mr. Life of the Party."
Other awards included “The Three Stooges,” Joe Carter, Joe Pendleton and Douglas White, all of the physical plant; “The Class Clown,” Lewis “Squeaky” Jones, groundskeeper, and “Mr. and Mrs. In-a-Pinch,” housekeeping superintendent Jerry Allen and Pat Clements, administrative assistant with the president’s office.

“The Peacemakers” award went to father-son team Tom Shelton Sr. and Tom Shelton Jr., both carpenters with the physical plant, and housekeeper Hilda McCray and Maurice Davis, set-up coordinator with the physical plant, were dubbed “Mr. and Mrs. Life of the Party.”

A special award was also presented to Chaplain Brewer, who will be leaving Sweet Briar to take a faculty position at Anderson School of Theology in Anderson, Ind. “We’ve come to know him as our friend, our mentor, counselor,” Heidi Trude ’07 said. “He means the world to all of us. We are truly going to miss Chaplain Brewer when he leaves this year.”

Chaplain Guy Brewer is both honored and amused by his award.
In accepting the award – a cross-shaped clock – a laughing Brewer said, “…I certainly believe I will be the only man in Indiana with a clock with pink hands on it. This is what’s known as both a beloved memento and a conversation starter. Thank you very much. It’s such a great privilege of my life to have been among you. Thank you for that.”

– By Suzanne Ramsey, SBC staff writer