Our Volunteer of the Year is a graduate of Charleston High School. They then attended and graduated from Delta State University and entered the corporate world. But, the bright lights of the big city lured them away and they left Charleston and Mississippi.
They began to climb that corporate ladder, but even in the big city, they found time to volunteer to help their community – coaching little league baseball when they did not even have a child that was playing on the team and spearheading a children’s ministry that reached hundreds of children weekly. They were also known as Papa Bear to a motley crew of 30 high school wrestlers, because they were always in the stands for meets.
However, a few years ago our Volunteer of the Year returned to Mississippi and more importantly to Charleston that he now calls home. He returned with two simple thoughts – When you look back on your day, make sure that you tried to leave everything better than when you found it. And, his favorite saying – Just be good to people. Just be good to people.
So, let me tell you a little about our Volunteer of the Year and what he has touched and continues to do daily in Charleston. He has packed thousands of boxes with Pastor Joe Young for the Faith Food Pantry. During COVID, he delivered food boxes monthly to 15 senior adults who were afraid to get out due to the illness. He has served as a volunteer for the TGH Retirement Home and periodically calls Donna Ryals to just check in and see if the residents need anything.
He is the Treasurer of the Tallahatchie County Library Friends of the Library group and was awarded the Ruby Assaf Award in 2021 for Volunteer Service by the Mississippi Library Commission. And, if you ask him, he will tell you how great the upcoming Haunted Library is going to be. He is proud to serve as the cook for the Charleston Lion’s Club meetings, and Danny Adams is one of his biggest fans on those nights. He is the current Vice-President for the Board of the Charleston Recovery Center.
He is the current President of the Charleston Rotary Club, and has worked diligently to revitalize this organization. He has added new members, secured speakers and recently met with the ETSD Superintendent to resume the Rotary Student of the Month program to recognize teens in the community. And, finally I can honestly say that he logs almost as many ours in the CARE building each week as I do, and all of things he does because he continues to live by that simple phrase – Just Be Good to People.
He is father to Cory and Andrew, Father in law to Maureen and Madi, father to his adopted Charleston Daughter Meg Sinervo. He is Papa to Alice, Anna, Louise and Drew. And, I think by now you know that our Volunteer of the Year is – It is with pride and love that I present our Volunteer of the Year Award to Ray Clolinger.
Editor's note: This tribute to Ray Clolinger was read aloud during the Oct. 14, 2023, Gateway to the Delta Festival in Charleston by Charleston Arts and Revitalization Effort Executive Director (and Ray's wife) Dana Clolinger.
