Back in August, we asked you to nominate ‘Citizen of the Year,? someone who goes above and beyond in service to the Orion area. Following are responses from members of the community, in their own words.
The Orion Area Parade Group, in conjunction with The Lake Orion Review, will announce a winner who will serve as Grand Marshall of the Holiday Lighted Parade. Citizen of the Year will also be profiled in the Review and honored at the Holly Jolly Folly.

Jennifer Smith
‘Jennifer has been an active leader in the community for many years. She continuously steps up when no one else will take on complex volunteer roles.
Jennifer has volunteered as a leader with the Lake Orion Girl Scouts for many years, as well as proactively supporting the annual Lake Orion Girl Scout Day Camp.
In addition, Jennifer has served as the chairperson for the Lake Orion Dragons Youth Football League and a cheer coach for the past few years.
Finally, in 2010, Jennifer chaired the annual Lake Orion Relay for Life, a 24-hour fundraising event that raised over $70,000 this year. Relay had 26 teams and 417 registered participants.
Jennifer single-handedly makes Lake Orion a better place and has dedicated countless hours to our community. As a leader, Jennifer is an excellent motivator and is always full of energy. She understands enterprise management, risk management, and empowers other volunteers to comlpete their tasks. She provides ingenuity to complex problems and performs all tasks with a high degree of integrity and reliability. Jennifer is responsive, compassionate, dedicated and fully committeed to the task at hand. However, she can easily redirect focus to urgent, high-visibility tasks with ease and grace. In addition to her countless volunteer hours, Jennifer holds a job outside the home and is a devoted mother and grandmother.?
Nominated by Jane Rymarczyk

Kathy McMinn
‘Kathy is a member of the Lake Orion United Methodist Church in Lake Orion. She is a member of the PRAISE team, helps in producing the Christmas pagent, leads the music with the Sunday school classes helps with vacation Bible school and the huge youth group LOGOS. With the community outreach group and on her own, as well, Kathy has assisted families secure housing when needed. She helps people in emergency situations, and provides or arranges transportation for those in need. Kathy gives her time freely and frequently to others.
Through Kathy helps serve meals through Love INC, is a very active member of the Lions Club and supports school children and their families in times of need. Lake Orion is so very fortunate to have Kathy McMinn as a community member. She loves her community and gives tremendously of herself to help make Lake Orion the special place it is.?
Nominated by Jo-Ann Ronan and Denise Skiba

Kathy Wieland
‘Kathy is very civic-minded, and is a volunteer of the Orion Veteran’s Memorial, music programs and many other events. She serves as the director of the Church Street Singers.?
Nominated by Dr. Joseph Mastromatteo

Reggie Harrison
I started working with Reggie 18 years ago when she began the Reflections Art Contest at Stadium Drive Elementary; Reggie has been active in Lake Orion arts ever since. She does more for this community that anyone else, constantly in the paper to promote one thing or another.
Nominated by Lucynda Thrushman

Suzanne Turpen
Sue is a tireless community activist who puts other people first. She has a heart of gold and is always willing to help with projects she believes in. She goes far beyond the call of duty in all situations, she is generous to a fault and opens her home to groups, committees, visiting artists, etc (not to mention feeding them showing them a great time and making them feel so welcome in her home.
I cannot say enough about this woman. Lake Orion is so lucky to have Sue’s creativity and vision. I truly feel she is the perfect person for the 2010 Citizen of the Year. Sue Turpen is Lake Orion.
Nominated by Reggie Harrison