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Devoted PCCF Board Member Honored

Congratulations Dannie!

Your fellow board members thank you for your many years of service.

Dannie was inducted into the Senior Citizens Hall of Fame May 15, 2013.

Dannie R. Fouts is one of 11 central Ohio seniors who will be inducted into the Senior Citizens Hall of Fame this month through the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging. The ceremony for the event, sponsored by MediGold, will be held at 1 p.m. May 15 at the Martin Janis Center in Columbus. Colleen Marshall of NBC4 will serve as host. Fouts has spent most of his adult life volunteering, but never more so than after the age of 60.

In 2006, he and other board members of the Pickaway County Community Foundation visited the Nebraska Foundation to study its initiative, ‘Hometown Competitiveness.’ Afterwards, he was instrumental in leading two community retreats that resulted in the formation of the Pickaway Competitiveness Network. PCN’s mission is to prepare Pickaway County to compete in Ohio and the region by strengthening economic diversity, education and public and private leadership. Fouts has chaired the PCN steering committee since its inception, and he served as foundation board chair in 2008 and 2009.

Under Ralph Starkey’s leadership, the Community Foundation board was developing a 72-acre park in Circleville until Ralph suffered a fatal fall. Since Fouts was one of Ralph’s best friends and a fellow board member, he assumed responsibility for organizing volunteers to complete the project and formed The Friends of Circleville Parks. He chaired monthly meetings of the ten committees and led the completion of Mary Virginia Crites-Hannan Park, a leading recreational area used by all ages. At Community United Methodist Church, Fouts has held multiple leadership roles, including Sunday school superintendent and chair of the stewardship and finance teams. In 2010, he co-chaired a capital campaign to raise $275,000 for church renovation and outreach initiatives but achieved $450,000. For four years, he has been on the advisory board of the One Community Ministries, which assists prisoners in rehabilitation and re-entry into society upon release from prison.

He was asked to serve on the President’s Community Advisory Council at Ohio Christian University in 2008. A year later, he was named to its board of trustees, where he serves on the enrollment and advancement committees. A member of Circleville Rotary Club since 1988, Fouts was president in 2005-06. He chairs the charitable activities committee, providing financial assistance for projects in alignment with Rotary ideals. He sat on the Pickaway County Chamber of Commerce board for two terms and was named 2007 Business Person of the Year, to recognize his community leadership, business ethics and generosity in helping fund worthwhile initiatives.

Annually, Pickaway County Council on Youth Leadership selects the top youth leader from each of the county’s four high schools, recognizes all nominees at a banquet, and sends the top individuals to ‘Town Meeting on Tomorrow’ in St. Louis. A member since 1988, Fouts chaired the organization three times and has been chair of the patrons and banquet committees for the past 15 years. Since the late 1960s, Dannie has been a Boy Scouts of America merit badge counselor for personal fitness and personal management, assisting hundreds of young men in pursuit of the Eagle Scout rank. Simon Kenton Council chose him as the first recipient of its “Good Scout Award” in 2010 for a lifetime of service to the citizens of Circleville and Pickaway County.

He has served on the Pickaway County Family YMCA advisory board for 32 years, as its chair three years, and on the facilities committee for more than 20 years. He cochaired two very successful capital campaigns to expand facilities and programs. Fouts grew up on a small farm in Muskingum County. He graduated cum laude from Muskingum College in 1966 with a bachelor of arts degree and married his college sweetheart, Esther. After teaching and coaching in Circleville City Schools for 11 years, he turned to a career in insurance and retired as owner/president of Hummel & Plum Life Insurance Agency Inc. in 2009. Two sons, daughters-in-law and especially the two grandchildren are the spice in his life.

Fouts will join 10 other seniors in the 38th annual Central Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame, including Milton Wyman, DVM, of Delaware County; Dorothy Peterson of Fairfield County; Mell Wickensimer of Fayette County; John N. Reisman, Mary C. Long and Yung-Chen Lu, PhD, of Franklin County; Glennie Smith of Licking County; Wayne Roberts of Madison County; and Fredrick and Arthena Smith of Union County. Of more than 218,000 seniors living in central Ohio, these selected individuals represent older Ohioans who set an example by leading lives not defined by age. Their inspiring stories demonstrate lifelong commitments to causes, organizations and their communities. All winners are 60 years of age or older. The mission of the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging is to plan, coordinate and advocate for the development and delivery of services for older adults, families and the community. Through leadership, funding and education, the COAAA supports individual choice, independence and dignity.

 

Article posted in Circleville Herald on Tuesday, May 7, 2013.

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