Finalists Named As State’s Top Volunteers Over Age 50

AARP Wyoming named finalists from Star Valley Ranch, Cheyenne, and Sheridan for its coveted Andrus Award on Friday. The award is named after AARP Founder Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus and goes to the state’s top volunteer over the age of 50.

The finalists include Patricia Naumoff of Star Valley Ranch, Cheyenne’s Bryce and Pam Freeman, as well as Sheridan resident Jack Wood. The three finalists will now await the public’s vote to determine the winner of the Andrus Award. Voting will take place from now until August 18 at 3 p.m. Mountain Time and can be done one of two ways:

1. Go to AARP Wyoming’s Facebook page (facebook.com/AARPWY) and like, comment on, or share the video of the finalist you wish to support.
2. Click on this link and cast your vote.

“We asked the public to help us find the top volunteers in the state over age 50 and it is clear Wyoming understood the assignment,” says AARP Wyoming State Director Sam Shumway. “These three represent the best of Wyoming and selecting a winner will not be an easy task.”

The Finalists
Patricia Naumoff 
Star Valley Ranch’s Naumoff is a wedding and event planner and finds time to volunteer between eight and 15 hours a week in the area. Abbey Morales nominated Naumoff and says despite living in a small, secluded part of the state, Naumoff’s efforts to bring together the community through fundraisers and events is inspiring.

“I'm currently 28 years old and want to be as wonderful and active in the community as Patricia is. She's a hero for me and many in the community,” Morales writes. “Patricia hosts events to improve people's skills and confidence, helps organizations host fundraisers for those in need and always volunteers for community events.”

Naumoff’s list of volunteer efforts is impressive, starting with Rev It Up Girls (Women of Worth), an Etna-based program designed to empower women veterans, women with disabilities or debilitating diseases, or other women who face life’s hardships. The group believes all women should have the opportunity to experience a winter or summer motorized backcountry adventure and leave their troubles behind. In addition to taking women on these adventures, Naumoff is the former president of the organization and helped Rev It Up Girls to raise over $14,000 for The Turning Point, a Lincoln County program which supports victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Last year, as Vice President of the Festival of Trees Fundraising event, Naumoff’s efforts contributed to over $16,000 being raised to combat food insecurity in the Star Valley region. Festival of Trees' fundraising efforts got a boost as matching funds meant each dollar raised became $14 when spent through the area’s food banks.

“My personal mission was to create a cohesive partnership among three separate food banks, uniting them under a common goal: to fight food insecurity,” Naumoff says. “Our combined efforts resulted in a significant contribution to our community, demonstrating the power of collaboration and the shared commitment to ensuring no one goes hungry.”

Naumoff’s volunteer work with the Sno-Skippers snowmobile club has led to her being named the Wyoming State Snowmobile Association’s Female Snowmobiler of The Year. Naumoff also works with the service club Top of the Rockies in Alpine. The organization was founded to bring together people with similar interests to raise money for the community and support family-oriented activities. The Alpine chapter specifically is dedicated to conservation and care of the responsible use of public lands.

Pam and Bryce Freeman of Cheyenne
For the past 40 years, the names Pam and Bryce Freeman of Cheyenne have been synonymous with youth agricultural education in Southeast Wyoming. Pam has been a 4-H leader in the community for 41 years, while Bryce has been a leader for the past 35. The Freemans volunteer with Wyoming’s Future Farmers of America, acting as cooks at FFA’s state camp, and conventions, as well as the Blue Jean Ball. Pam was a five-year member of the Laramie County Fair Board, and both have acted as Laramie County Fair Superintendents for animal and static exhibits. Pam is a two-time recipient of the Presidential Volunteer Award through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

During the COVID pandemic the Denver Stock Show went on a brief hiatus leading the Freemans to develop a safe regional alternative for both students and adults to show their livestock. Since its inception in 2021, The Cheyenne Livestock Expo has become an annual event in Laramie County handing out over $100,000 in cash and prizes in 2023.

The Freemans were nominated by Bill Pannell for their work in and around agriculture education in Southeast Wyoming.

“Pam and Bryce Freeman’s involvement and influence is primarily in long-standing organizations that have been instrumental in the success of the community for decades,” wrote Pannell in his nomination. “These organizations provide a unique opportunity for multiple generations of the same family to work together with purpose, passion, and dignity. By advancing the values and principles of these organizations and activities, the Freemans are helping to ensure a bright future for Cheyenne, Laramie County, and the state of Wyoming.”

The Freemans do not limit their volunteer work to students. The Freemans have been board members and club members of the Cheyenne Kiwanis Club, in addition to volunteer and board efforts for Needs, Inc., a Cheyenne-based food pantry. The two were Girl and Boy Scout leaders in the community, softball coaches, have volunteered with junior olympic shooting and run the Laramie County Progress Show, a junior livestock show they run with their extended family and volunteers.

In his nomination form, Pannell points out Pam has been volunteering a bit longer than Bryce, who says volunteering is simply one way they spend time together.

According to Bryce “I want to spend time with Pam, and if you want to spend time with her this is what you do.” Bryce adds that he hopes to continue to volunteer, “as long as we are able to. It’s harder to throw dirt on you if you’re moving.”

Jack Wood
For Sheridan’s Jack Wood, the inspiration to volunteer to promote cancer screenings and early detection comes from a very genuine place. Jack and his wife, Kathleen, lost their daughter to cancer in 2016. Since Dana Mane Wood’s death, Jack and Kathleen have devoted their time and money to helping those in the Sheridan County area fight the dreaded disease.

For Wood, that includes volunteering at the Sheridan Memorial Hospital’s Pink Link Fun Run and Walk; raising money for cancer causes, and even paying for and making television commercials that encourage others in Northern Wyoming to get screened.

While the fight against cancer may be his most personal area of volunteer service it is far from his only service. Wood is a Chamber Ambassador, where he welcomes new businesses to town. Jack and Kathleen are better known as Santa and Ms. Claus during the winter months in Sheridan as they play those roles in the City’s Christmas parade.

When not busy with those efforts, Wood volunteers with AARP Wyoming’s Community Action Team, he serves on the Sheridan County Fair Board, and could be taking on yet another heavy lift as he is running for Sheridan City Council. He is already well known at City Council meetings, having advocated for the Goose Creek Transportation System, which serves older adults and veterans. Last summer he spent two days behind a grill, cooking food he had donated for the Sheridan Softball Association’s tournament.

Kathleen nominated her husband for the Andrus Award and says the 73-year-old Wood shows no signs of slowing down.

“He is always ready to help wherever he can for his family and community,” Kathleen wrote. “He’s a leader. He does what he says he’s going to do and inspires others to do the same. Family, community and country is his motto and I don’t think there is anyone who can back up what they say like Jack.”

About the Award
The Andrus Award is named for AARP Founder Ethel Percy Andrus and is AARP’s most prestigious and visible volunteer award. It recognizes individuals who are sharing their experience, talent, and skills to enrich their communities in ways that are consistent with AARP’s purpose, vision, and commitment to volunteer service, and that inspire others to volunteer.

The award recipient will be announced in early fall and the winner and their family invited to an award ceremony in Sheridan as part of AARP Wyoming’s annual volunteer summit.

AARP Wyoming Andrus Award for Community Service nominees must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Nominee must be 50 years or older.
• The achievements, accomplishments, or service on which the nomination is based must have been performed on a volunteer basis, without pay. Volunteers receiving small stipends to cover the costs associated with the volunteer activity are eligible.
• The achievements, accomplishments, or service on which the nomination is based must reflect AARP’s vision and purpose.
• The achievements, accomplishments, or service on which the nomination is based must be replicable and provide inspiration for others to volunteer.
• Partisan political achievements, accomplishments or service may not be considered.
• Couples or partners who perform service together are also eligible; however, teams are not eligible.
• Previous Andrus Award recipients are not eligible.
• This is not a posthumous award.

Past Winners

• Sheridan’s Judy Hayworth was AARP Wyoming’s 2023 Andrus Award winner after volunteering all over her native Sheridan County. At The WYO Theater Judy is an usher, a ticket, taker, and cleaner of the theater. As a part of the Sheridan Memorial Hospital’s Auxiliary, last year she helped decorate 18 Christmas trees located at the hospital, as well as medical clinics; helped with mailings for the hospital, such as Christmas cards; and helped plan the annual five year old birthday party. As a volunteer in the Sheridan Memorial Hospital’s surgical waiting room, she gets coffee, makes calls on behalf of the families at the hospitals, and even brings goodies. As a volunteer for CASA, Hayworth is assigned to work with children from the time they enter the legal system until they are, hopefully, reunited with their families. That means being a friend, a lunch partner, a sports fan and a source of strength.
• 2022 AARP Wyoming Andrus Award Winner Bernadette. “Bernie” Horst is a familiar face around Albany County, volunteering at The Albany County Library, The Wyoming Women’s Club; the Laramie Plains Museum, and Wyoming Women’s History Museum. Horst is perhaps best known for her work at the Eppson Center, where she remains active at the Eppson Center where she volunteers to update the grounds of the center by doing landscaping and decorating tables according to a monthly theme. For ten years, Horst has been a member of the Home Delivered Meals, delivering warm meals to those who are homebound or not able to cook for themselves. The University of Wyoming’s St. Paul Newman’s Center benefits from Horst’s efforts as she bakes snacks for students as they study for finals, contributes desserts for some Sunday night dinners St. Newman’s hosts for students.Horst also volunteers with the Laramie Women’s Club, The Wyoming Women’s History House, and PEO.
• In 2021, Torrington’s Paul Novak was named the AARP Wyoming Andrus Award winner for his better than 40 years on the Goshen Care Center Joint Powers Board of Directors. Since joining the Joint Powers Board, Novak has been a driving force in helping Torrington build a 24-unit Independent Living Facility; a skilled nursing home and dementia care unit with 75 rooms; and a 30-room assisted living facility, which opened in October of 2021. An extremely impressive array of care options and housing for older adults in a community of 6,700 residents.
• Don Cushman was the 2020 AARP Wyoming Andrus Award winner. After retiring 15 years ago, Cushman took a trip to Mississippi with the Presbytery of Wyoming to help repair homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. That experience led Cushman to make a commitment to work more consistently with Habitat for Humanity in Teton County. Cushman began driving the 55 miles each way, often twice a week (4,500 miles) to build sites in Teton County, which has culminated in its current effort, a five-year, six-building run. He has been named the Turnkey Award - given to the volunteer with the highest number of volunteer hours on a project - numerous times, and was named Habitat’s Lee Kuntz Volunteer of The Year Award winner for the Rocky Mountain Region in 2016. 
• The 2019 Andrus Award winners, Karen and Walter Jones, spend their retirement years volunteering with the National Park Service in Grand Teton National Park. For four months out of the year, the Jones’ live in their camper and devote their time to ensuring that the visitors of the park have a fulfilling and educational visit. Their duties with the park include talks about bear safety, animal information, and cultural history. They can be found answering questions at the desk or out on the hiking trails.
• When the rules committee was making up those rules, it almost seems they had 2018 Andrus Award Winner, Kay Bjorklund of Thermopolis, in mind. Well into her 90’s, Kay remained a Chamber of Commerce Ambassador, welcoming new businesses to Thermopolis, as well as program director for her Kiwanis Club, lining up speakers for the club’s twice-monthly meetings. One week a month you can find Kay delivering Meals on Wheels to Thermopolis residents. Each weekend she is acting activities director for The Pioneer Home, where she lines up Wii Bowling tournaments and shuffleboard. Kay would also mention she carries a 231 average on Wii bowling. If that isn’t enough, she also volunteers one day a week in the gift shop of the hospital in Thermopolis, and works with the doorstep ministry of her church.
• Clayton and Gloria Jensen were honored as winners of the 2017 Andrus Award by AARP Wyoming. The Jensens are the coaches at the Casper Boxing Club in Casper where they have gained a reputation for changing the lives of at-risk young men and women. The mission of Casper Boxing Club is to promote sportsmanship, responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and individuality through education, dedication, desire, and a commitment to maximize excellence. The program seeks to use the mind and body as a catalyst to bring about change, creating an environment to reach youth who others may have written off as unreachable.