2023 Awards of Excellence Winners

Category 3: Leadership

Edith Heller Lifetime Achievement Award

The Edith Heller Lifetime Achievement Award is presented in grateful appreciation of her 30 plus years of dedicated service to Tennessee and the nation. A once-in-a-lifetime distinction award for a person who has demonstrated longtime leadership in raising public awareness about solid waste issues, litter prevention, community greening, and/or recycling.

The 2023 Edith Heller Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Frank “Bucky” Edmondson

Before retiring in 2022, Bucky Edmondson was the Director of Natural Resources for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). This organization manages 293,000 acres of public land and 11,000 miles of shoreline on 49 reservoirs across a seven-state region in a cost-effective and efficient manner, that supports TVA’s mission of environmental stewardship. He worked with his team to serve the people of the Tennessee Valley by managing the diverse use of TVA public property for commercial, industrial, residential, and recreational activities. Additionally, the Natural Resources team works to protect natural and cultural resources associated with its managed lands within the Tennessee River system. Under Edmondson’s leadership, the organization issues more than 1,600 permits and agreements annually for access and use along the Tennessee River and its tributaries. These areas are used for a host of public and commercial recreation activities, including commercial marinas, boat launching ramps, and state and county parks. TVA’s Natural Resources’ group strives to balance these uses with resource management, working to ensure public land remains available for camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, and general use. His career spanned four decades, most of which were spent working with the public and TVA partners to manage and care for TVA’s public lands and natural resources. His leadership has led to the development of many TVA guidelines and policies. Most recently, he has spearheaded the development of TVA’s Natural Resource Plan, which guides how TVA manages its natural resources for the next twenty years.

Judge Larry E. Potter Law Enforcement Award

The Larry E. Potter Law Enforcement Award is a once in a lifetime award recognizing a law enforcement professional, such as a police officer, prosecutor, judge or environmental compliance officer, who has gone above and beyond in their approaches to enforcement of environmental laws and regulations.

The 2023 Judge Larry E Potter Law Enforcement Award was given to Glennis Monday

As the Campbell County Environmental Officer, Glennis Monday has long exemplified a commitment to litter prevention and awareness that others could only describe as pure passion. Glennis is a lifelong native of Campbell County and has always been dedicated to protecting the East Tennessee Mountains that he calls home. Long before he became our county’s Environmental Officer, Glennis worked in the coal industry and could often be seen walking along the roads in his community picking up litter during his free time. He hated seeing trash littering the beautiful mountains and waterways in the county and wished that he could do something to solve the issue. When the position of Environmental Officer became available, General Tom Stiner, then County Mayor and a revered war veteran in Campbell County, recommended Glennis for the job due to the strong environmental leadership example he had set with litter cleanup in his own community. Coming from a family of law enforcement officers, Glennis was familiar with the impact law enforcement could have in a community and felt that this was his opportunity to finally make a difference with the litter problem in the county. However, he considered the position with some apprehension knowing how difficult a career in law enforcement could be. While growing up, Glennis would hear stories of his grandfather, Reuben “Brownlow” Monday who was a Sheriff in Claiborne County, and some of the situations his job had put him in. “Brownlow” Monday even had his arm shot off during a bar shootout in 1957! I guess we could thank Glennis’ brother-in-law, a retired officer from the Kentucky State Police, who served as encouragement for Glennis to take the position. In the early 1990s, Glennis would visit with him, and they would often end up discussing law enforcement and Glennis would accompany him on calls. In looking back at all these visits with his brother-in-law, Glennis decided to meet with then Campbell County Sheriff, Ron McClellan, to apply for the position as Environmental Officer. After months of interviewing at county commission meetings, he received the position in 1999 and was bonded as a Deputy Sheriff. Since then Glennis has demonstrated his abilities as an exceptional law enforcement officer, mentor, and colleague.

Shawn Bible Community Leadership Award

The Shawn Bible Community Leadership Award, newly named after TDOT Highway Beautification Office Administrator, Shawn Bible in honor of her outstanding career efforts in Keeping Tennessee Beautiful.

The 2023 Shawn Bible Community Leadership Award was given to Cereice Morris

Cereice Morris lives in Memphis, TN, but her heart is with "The Beach at Clifton, TN" where she owns her vacation home and several rental properties. She registered as an Adopt a River Mile in the Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful program. After receiving her package of cleanup gear, KTNRB swag, and Adopt a River Mile sign as all adoptees do, she rallied her friends and followers on her Facebook page to follow suit and adopt all of the river miles in the Clifton area. As a result of her challenge (and thorough follow up with people she knew that lived on each river mile), we had over 40 river miles in a row spanning three counties adopted! Cereice didn't stop there, though. Each adoptee is required to host two cleanups a year and she organized for a coordinated cleanup to be held near Earth Day. Because the adopted river miles span three counties, she had to arrange for trash removal sites with three county solid waste offices. Additionally, she collaborated with Keep Wayne County Beautiful and (I think) Keep Muary County Beautiful to arrange for Adopt a Highway miles for residents that wanted to help but lived inland. For this cleanup, she also recruited KTNRB to bring our boat for volunteers to ride in and clean shorelines. The adoptees ended up removing several thousand pounds of trash on their own, and it was all because of Cereice's challenge and leadership to see the cleanup through. Since then, she has been working to arrange another collaborated cleanup again in 2023.

Martin L. Kennedy Award For Outstanding TN Keep America Beautiful Affiliate Coordinator

The Martin L. Kennedy Award, named in honor of the first TDOT Highway Beautification Office Administrator, recognizes outstanding, professional service by a LGP or KAB staff member.

The 2023 Martin L. Kennedy Award was given to Kathleen Gibi, of Keep The Tennessee River Beautiful.

Kathleen started as Executive Director of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful in 2019. The organization was required by contract with TVA to host 4 cleanups with Living Lands & 4 cleanups on their own. The first year she led the organization, they hosted more than 20 cleanups! Kathleen has led the organization to increase the original fleet from one boat, adding another boat, two kayaks and two trucks to haul the two boats! Until the second boat was added, Kathleen was the sole boat driver for KTNRB, minus the occasional help of Living Lands & Waters bringing their own boats or a TVA official joining a cleanup with their boat. She even drove the boat to 30 cleanups in 2022 while pregnant the first 9 months of the year! She was nearly 8 months pregnant in July on her last cleanup before having the baby. This year, she has helped to lead volunteers to remove a record number of trash (147,000 lbs. in 2023 alone) while also keeping her baby at home full-time while waiting on a spot at daycare (been on four daycare waiting lists since she was 3 months pregnant!) Since Kathleen took KTNRB's first boat on its maiden voyage in 2019, she has helped to rally 3,800 volunteers to remove over 580,000 lbs. of trash from the Tennessee River watershed.