by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

The Sewanee Civic Association’s May 5 awards ceremony honored Sewanee local legends Ken and Lynn Taylor and Doug Cameron. Selected by community nomination, the 42nd annual Community Service Award went to the Taylors. The nominating petition praised the Taylors’ talents and contribution of “grace and good taste” to “making Sewanee a better place to live.” The SCA board selected Cameron for the Summa Cum Award. Cameron, who received the 1986 Community Service Award for being “a volunteer nut,” commented at the time, “I’m not done yet.” Cameron’s generous giving of his energy and insight to the community in the 39 years since then stand as proof.

The Taylors’ nomination highlighted the couple’s behind-the-scenes role at Lessons and Carols, weddings, and countless University events, bringing a special shine to everything they touched. The petition described the couple’s shop Taylor’s Mercantile, as “an oasis of beauty and necessity” offering visitors a shopping experience that calls for lingering and leaving behind the world’s too prevalent “unsavory, derelict influences.”

Cameron served on the Sewanee Volunteer Fire Department for more than 50 years and is a 32-year veteran of Sewanee EMS. The list of local boards he has lent his time and wisdom to include the Community Action Committee, Blue Monarch, Mountain Goat Trail Alliance, and the SCA. He is a founding board member of Housing Sewanee and the South Cumberland Regional Land Trust. Beyond Sewanee, Cameron has served on the board of the Cloud Forest School Foundation, the Land Trust for Tennessee, the Tennessee Environmental Council, Leadership Franklin County, the American Canoe Association, and Merrie-Woode Foundation. For his commitment to outdoor adventure and conservation, he was recently inducted into the Southeastern Whitewater Hall of Fame.

Following the awards ceremony, SCA President Kiki Beavers updated members and guests on SCA projects and programs. SCA hosts Sewanee Classifieds, an online community bulletin board, with SCA dues paying members automatically subscribed. The Community Chest Fund drive is within $3,800 of reaching the $123,456 goal. Sewanee Elementary School, the Children’s Center, the Mountain Goat Trail, Community Action Committee, and Senior Center are among the quality-of-life enriching Sewanee presences that rely on Community Chest funding. The SCA will accept donations until the end of May, in the hope budget cutting won’t be necessary. Send donations to Sewanee Community Chest, P.O. Box 99, Sewanee, 37375.

This past year SCA also hosted a school supply drive for Sewanee Elementary School children, and two nonfood supply drives for the Community Action Committee to provide the financially challenged with necessary items that cannot be purchased with SNAP benefits (i.e., food stamps) such as cleaning supplies.

The SCA’s most ambitions project, the Welcome Center located in the former Hair Depot building, will soon enter Phase 3, opening the center for public use. The $170,000 project, underway for the past three years, required significant renovations to the building. Grant funding, contributions, and an especially generous donation from the University class of 1973 have moved the project forward. The Center will feature a Historic Downtown Sewanee display and interpretive displays provided by Tennessee State Parks and the South Cumberland Tourism Partnership. Structurally, a new front door and windows are still needed along with replacing a rear gutter. The final critical need is for volunteers to staff the center on Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., May through October. Sewanee residents Bruce McMillan and Annie Armour offered to strategize on finding staffing volunteers.

The SCA elected the following as officers for 2025-2026: Beavers, president; Ken Taylor, recent past president; Trae Moore, vice president; Ben Trahan, secretary; Bentley Cook, treasurer; David Michaels, member at large; Kate Reed, member at large.

The SCA will begin accepting Community Chest applications in August. Dues are payable Sept. 1-30 for 2025-2026, marking the SCA’s 117th year.