Mayor Jon Nehring presents the Van Horn family with their November City Volunteer of the Month framed certificate at the Dec. 13 City Council meeting. Pictured from left with the mayor are Vicki, Elya, Conner, Kyla and Troy Van Horn.

 

Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring recognized Troy Van Horn as recipient of the Marysville Volunteer of the Month Award for November 2010 during the Dec. 13 City Council meeting.

Van Horn, a pastor with the Venture Church in Marysville, his wife Vicki and their children, Conner, Kyla and Elya, are actively involved in the community. Often the family's commitment to service has directly benefited City of Marysville programs and activities, Nehring noted during the presentation.

The Marysville man is an active, enthusiastic member of the Marysville Community Coalition, a partnership that promotes safety and responds to the needs of our youth. Van Horn involved youth members in Coalition meetings and Coalition-sponsored events and outreach activities.

He has played a lead role in coordinating annual Clean Sweep and shred-a-thon activities the past few years, representing Venture Church in partnership with the city and local business and media sponsors. He is also a past member of the Marysville Strawberry Festival's Board of Directors.

According to the mayor, no city department has benefited more from the Van Horn family and the church's support than the Parks and Recreation Department.

The Van Horns' dedication to youth offerings in free week-long art camps the past two summers has helped Parks and Recreation immeasurably, not to mention the budding young artists and their parents, noted Nehring.

The family and church members have volunteered each year for the All-Comers Track and Field meets, and Van Horn has assisted with the annual Easter Egg hunts hosted by the Parks Department.

At a critical time in the Marysville Healthy Communities project when limited funding was becoming an issue due to the worsening economy, the Venture Church, through Van Horn's involvement on a Healthy Communities Subcommittee, sponsored three months of open swims free to families.

The pastor's ardent volunteerism is probably best illustrated in a familiar annual parks project, said Parks maintenance manager Mike Robinson, who nominated Troy, the Van Horns, and Venture Church.

Van Horn stepped forward last year to help the department with Make a Difference Day, a national day of volunteerism celebrated in Marysville.

Faced with budget reductions that would have cut the annual bulb planting program in the city, Van Horn asked how he could help. He went out and found partners to help support the program financially or with in-kind support, such as refreshments for volunteers and event banners, and he also recruited volunteers to plant the bulbs. In 2009, Parks planted 3,000 bulbs at various locations and matched that level of support again this year, even as the economy remained flat.

"We are truly appreciative of Troy Van Horn and his family, and Venture Church," Nehring said. "The service they are providing is an inspiration to the entire community."

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