2008 Col. Bill Lambert Award Announced
Patti Foster, an active community volunteer and longtime behind-the-scenes organizer of the Famous Marching Presidents of Nevada City, is the 2008 recipient of the annual Col. Bill Lambert Award.
The Lambert Award award is presented annually by the Marching Presidents to recognize outstanding contributions to Nevada City and the annual Constitution Day Parade. The award is named in honor of the late Col. William H. Lambert, founder of the parade.
Next Sunday's (Sept. 14) 42nd Annual Constitution Day Parade moves down Broad Street through the downtown historic district beginning at 2 p.m.
"I'm in a state of shock," said Foster when informed of the honor. "Knowing all of the people who have received the award over the past 18 years makes it special and humbling. I'm very honored."
"Patti is very deserving of this award," said Marching Presidents founder David Parker, who will present the award at the group's post-parade party at Miners Foundry. "She has always been there for the Marching Presidents and for the community. I can't think of anyone more deserving of this special recognition."
A retired teacher and 12-year Nevada City resident, Foster has helped organize the annual Marching Presidents get-together, including the annual awards banquet. For the past 10 years, she has portrayed Grace Coolidge, wife of President Calvin Coolidge.
She's a former member and two-time president of the Sierra College Nevada County Campus Foundation and has served as treasurer of political campaigns for several City Council candidates in Nevada City. She also serves on Nevada City's oversight committee for street and sidewalk improvements.
Foster and her husband, Jack, reside in Nevada City.
Past recipients of the prestigious award are retired city manager Beryl P. Robinson Jr., former mayor and city clerk Cathy Wilcox-Barnes, parade organizers George and Pat Harper, city councilman and former mayor Pat Dyer, the late real estate broker Jim Mackey, writer Dave Carter, Chamber of Commerce executive manager Cathy Whittlesey, former city councilman and mayor Steve Cottrell, businessman Bob Buhlis, retired Nevada County general services director Dennis Cassella, John Christensen, leader of community efforts to establish the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum, cartoonist R.L. "Crabman" Crabb, business owners Lee and Susan Thurston, Nevada City public works director Verne Taylor, historian Edwin Tyson, the late folksinger/activist U. Utah Phillips and city engineer Bill Falconi. Marching Presidents founder David Parker was presented the award last year to mark the group's 20th anniversary.
The Marching Presidents of Nevada City is a fun-loving and educational group that portrays all 43 U.S. Presidents with reverence, good humor and varying degrees of historical accuracy. For reliable information on U.S. Presidents, see www.americanpresident.org.
