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Four get spotlight for their service to Northland neighborhoods

Editor’s note: Northland Neighborhoods will hold its fourth annual Awards Breakfast starting at 7:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 16, at the Intrigue Park Place Hotel in Kansas City. The breakfast is a chance for Northland Neighborhoods to recognize those people who make outstanding contributions to communities in the region. Below are profiles of this year’s four winners. For the first time this year, Northland Neighborhoods will also hand out awards for best neighborhood newsletter and newsletter article.

Terri Wolfe is the woman behind the curtain.

For her mostly invisible service across the community, Wolfe will receive the 2009 Larry McManus Good Neighbor Award. It’s not the kind of attention she’s used to receiving.

“I was quite stunned,” Wolfe said. “It just never occurred to me that I would win an award like this.”

Much of Wolfe’s work day is spent screening the attention directed at another person, Kansas City Councilwoman Deb Hermann. As Hermann’s administrative assistant for the last six years, she’s often the first point of contact for thousands of Northland constituents.

It’s a job Wolfe does well and gracefully, according to Northland Neighborhoods Executive Director Jim Rice. She’s learned how to navigate the city’s sometimes baffling bureaucracy.

“She has a way of cutting through red tape without damaging fragile egos,” Rice said. “A master of one of the world’s most stressful jobs, Terri is the picture of composure, never sharing her own stress with the people she helps.”

Wolfe’s “behind-the-scenes” problem solving skills extend to her numerous volunteer activities for the Gracemore neighborhood and North Kansas City Schools, Rice added.

Wolfe’s community service includes working at the Gracemore Recreation Center, as president of the Winnetonka High School Booster Club and on the school district education foundation.

Wolfe said her mother, Roberta Linch, inspired her own public service.

“She was kind of the eyes and ears of the neighborhood,” Wolfe said.

BETTY KNIGHT

Platte County Presiding Commissioner Betty Knight is getting a 2009 Ruthanne Harper Outstanding Public Service Award from Northland Neighborhoods.

Since 1995, Knight has consistently received strong voter support for her efforts to life in the Northland, according to Northland Neighborhoods Executive Director Jim Rice.

“Platte County residents recognized the superb record of accomplishment in building and maintaining parks, trails and community centers during Betty’s watch,” Rice said.

Ray Brock

Even when Ray Brock is getting an award, it’s about helping other people.

When the longtime Northland resident learned that he would get the 2009 Jay Dillingham Lifetime Achievement Award, Brock only agreed in order to help draw attention to Northland Neighborhoods, at least according to Northland Chamber of Commerce Past President Ellen Todd, his daughter.

“When they asked him if he would accept this award, he was reluctant,” Todd said.

Not only his daughter, Todd has worked with Brock for 28 years at Curry Investment Co. It is a rare treat to spend everyday with someone who cares so much about helping others, Todd said.

“He’s a terrific leader and a perfect example of public service,” she said.

Since the mid-1950s, Brock has risen through the ranks of the company, becoming chairman in 2005, according to Northland Neighborhoods Executive Director Jim Rice.

But Brock’s work has never kept him from lavishing attention on his large family and spending time doing voluntary service for civic, professional, church, hospital, education, cultural and economic development organizations, Rice said.

“Beyond his business, professional and civic accomplishments, Ray Brock possesses extraordinary and increasingly rare qualities as a human being,” he said.

ED QUICK

Clay County Presiding Commissioner Ed Quick will receive a 2009 Ruthanne Harper Outstanding Public Service Award from Northland Neighborhoods.

Quick has built a good reputation since 2006 among county voters for good fiscal management, according to Northland Neighborhoods Executive Director Jim Rice.

“Ed has worked diligently to ensure a sound budget and financial structure for Clay County,” Rice said.

Staff writer Ray Weikal can be reached at 389-6637 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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