stories at Paragon Awards event

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KEVIN GUTTING

Pat Ononibaku, center, of Amherst, recipient of the Calvin and Grace Coolidge Award for outstanding public service, talks with guest speaker the Rev. Andrea Ayvazian, left, and Michael Greenebaum of Amherst during a reception after the Paragon Awards presentation Thursday in Hadley.

HADLEY - An awards program that celebrates Valley volunteers brought five new members into its fold this week. And for the sixth time, the Paragon Awards dared the whole community to join the cause of helping others.

In an event at the Marriott Courtyard in Hadley, the program honored Richard Ahart of Southampton, Valley Light Opera founders Bill and Sally Venman, Lena Sclove of Amherst and Pat Ononibaku, a Nigerian immigrant and Amherst resident.

The Paragon Awards are co-sponsored by the United Way of Hampshire County, the Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

The Rev. Andrea Ayvazian told Thursday's gathering that Paragon winners offer examples that can inspire and motivate others.

"They felt called to be of service, not because they ever thought there was an award or recognition waiting in the future," she said, with this year's winners sitting at a sea of tables before her. "They did not expect to be thanked and applauded some day."

Rick Lee, who leads the Valley's chapter of the American Red Cross, told the Paragon audience that the stories of volunteers illustrate "what can be done by a single person in the right place."

Those honored spoke of the spirit that guides their volunteer work. Ahart, who won the Kimball W. Howes Award, called his work "simple duty and moral responsibility." He says his contributions were minor until retirement. "Then it took off."

Ahart, 82, said his wish to help others arose from his connection with his place of worship, the United Methodist Church, and with his beliefs. Over the years, he helped sponsor refugees from the genocide in Cambodia, assisted in town and Hampshire Regional school projects and still spends time aiding the interfaith cot shelter program in Northampton.

His religion guides him and issues a soft mandate: "It is what I do for others that matters, not what I have done for myself," he said. "Pick a cause, and go for it."

Sclove, an Amherst Regional High School senior, was honored with the youth award for developing a successful writing workshop serving women and children. She spoke of her hope to help clients of Safe Passage, a program that counters domestic violence, to reclaim not just their lives, but their stories. "All I do is give them a space to express themselves. The rest comes from them. I am there to give them an opportunity to be heard," she said.

Ononibaku, who has lived in Amherst for 25 years and runs a restaurant, won the Calvin and Grace Coolidge Award for her pursuit of social justice and multicultural understanding.

For years, Ononibaku, a founding member of Multicultural Families of the Amherst Area, has pursued change within the school system to make opportunities more equal for all students.

"For me, equity, fairness is a big issue," she said after accepting her award. "Kids not starting from the same place -- it affects what they can become unless there is intervention for these kids."

She likens racism to a virus for which there is no cure. "But there are strategies to cope with it."

The Venmans received the community enrichment award for their 35 years at the helm of the Valley Light Opera. The Paragon Awards citation noted that in addition to mounting countless theater productions, the couple has brought arts and culture programming into area schools and served as a rallying point for arts volunteers.