Service projects pay off for college student
By Tim Gallagher, Journal staff writer | Posted: Sunday, September 21, 2008
SAC CITY, Iowa -- She is a fund-raiser. An author. An organizer. And a booster interested in keeping her hometown relevant.
She is Amy Peyton, 19.
And she's now $5,000 richer, after becoming one of 10 U.S. recipients of the 2008 Yoshiyama Award for Exemplary Service to the Community.
"It's a big honor," said Peyton, a 2008 graduate of East Sac Community High School and now a freshman at Iowa State University. "I was surprised."
Peyton was one of 192 high school students nominated for the leadership award directed by the Hitachi Foundation, which seeks to showcase and celebrate the efforts of those attempting to create lasting change in an uncertain time.
It is that for the Sac County seat, a community that has seen its population drop the past few decades.
"The news is filled with reasons to worry," said Barbara Dyer, president and CEO of the Hitachi Foundation. "Amy and the other young men and women are proving that, if we just take a moment to look around our communities, there is plenty of reason to be hopeful."
It didn't take long for Peyton to realize what her community has. She could step outside and gaze up at the first of Sac County's famed barn quilts. The decoration is at the farm of her parents, Harold and Sue Peyton.
Building on the quilt project her brother, Kevin Peyton, began years ago, Amy tracked the history of the first 55 barns in the county to features these colorful quilts. (There are now more than 100 large and small quilts which bring visitors to the county year-round.)
Amy Peyton wrote "The Barn Quilts of Sac County," a 64-page soft back coffee-table book interspersed with memories of the barns, photos of the quilts and tidbits about agriculture in Sac County.
Sales of the first books paid for printing. Proceeds now fund an endowment to help maintain these treasures of rural art.
"We've sold over 1,500 books since the book came out in December," Peyton said.
Other projects
The book was one of four projects Peyton tackled. She raised funds and coordinated the creation of a mural at the east entrance of town along Highway 20. The mural depicts Sac City's Chautauqua Building, one of only three such structures left in Iowa. Sac City’s, she noted, is the only one enclosed.
The mural, created by artist Carl Homstad of Decorah, Iowa, is a tribute to the traveling chautauquas so popular a century ago when Sac City's building was constructed.
Peyton also provided volunteer labor and leadership for a new Heritage Walk in front of the Sac County 4-H building on the county’s fairgrounds. Sales of engraved pavers made the area much more attractive, while offering county residents a way to honor or remember loved ones. Excess funds fuel the Sac County 4-H Endowment which provides money for the training of future 4-H leaders.
Finally, Peyton worked with her family, her 4-H club and other community members in developing an historic village with the Sac City Historical Society.
Retired teacher Isabel Neuhring of Sac City, Peyton's math instructor, nominated her for the national award. Along with earning a $5,000 cash prize, Peyton gets to spend part of a weekend at a national leadership retreat near Washington, D.C. The 10 winners will also be honored at a luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington on Oct. 14.
She'll miss two to three days of class at Iowa State, she said, but it will be worth it.
She's simply trying to keep her hometown on the map.
"That's the plan," she said.
Breakout:
Name: Amy Peyton
Age: 19
Hometown: Sac City
School: Freshman at ISU
Plan: Work in public relations or business management, eventually moving back to a rural area, perhaps Sac County.
She is Amy Peyton, 19.
And she's now $5,000 richer, after becoming one of 10 U.S. recipients of the 2008 Yoshiyama Award for Exemplary Service to the Community.
"It's a big honor," said Peyton, a 2008 graduate of East Sac Community High School and now a freshman at Iowa State University. "I was surprised."
Peyton was one of 192 high school students nominated for the leadership award directed by the Hitachi Foundation, which seeks to showcase and celebrate the efforts of those attempting to create lasting change in an uncertain time.
It is that for the Sac County seat, a community that has seen its population drop the past few decades.
"The news is filled with reasons to worry," said Barbara Dyer, president and CEO of the Hitachi Foundation. "Amy and the other young men and women are proving that, if we just take a moment to look around our communities, there is plenty of reason to be hopeful."
It didn't take long for Peyton to realize what her community has. She could step outside and gaze up at the first of Sac County's famed barn quilts. The decoration is at the farm of her parents, Harold and Sue Peyton.
Building on the quilt project her brother, Kevin Peyton, began years ago, Amy tracked the history of the first 55 barns in the county to features these colorful quilts. (There are now more than 100 large and small quilts which bring visitors to the county year-round.)
Amy Peyton wrote "The Barn Quilts of Sac County," a 64-page soft back coffee-table book interspersed with memories of the barns, photos of the quilts and tidbits about agriculture in Sac County.
Sales of the first books paid for printing. Proceeds now fund an endowment to help maintain these treasures of rural art.
"We've sold over 1,500 books since the book came out in December," Peyton said.
Other projects
The book was one of four projects Peyton tackled. She raised funds and coordinated the creation of a mural at the east entrance of town along Highway 20. The mural depicts Sac City's Chautauqua Building, one of only three such structures left in Iowa. Sac City’s, she noted, is the only one enclosed.
The mural, created by artist Carl Homstad of Decorah, Iowa, is a tribute to the traveling chautauquas so popular a century ago when Sac City's building was constructed.
Peyton also provided volunteer labor and leadership for a new Heritage Walk in front of the Sac County 4-H building on the county’s fairgrounds. Sales of engraved pavers made the area much more attractive, while offering county residents a way to honor or remember loved ones. Excess funds fuel the Sac County 4-H Endowment which provides money for the training of future 4-H leaders.
Finally, Peyton worked with her family, her 4-H club and other community members in developing an historic village with the Sac City Historical Society.
Retired teacher Isabel Neuhring of Sac City, Peyton's math instructor, nominated her for the national award. Along with earning a $5,000 cash prize, Peyton gets to spend part of a weekend at a national leadership retreat near Washington, D.C. The 10 winners will also be honored at a luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington on Oct. 14.
She'll miss two to three days of class at Iowa State, she said, but it will be worth it.
She's simply trying to keep her hometown on the map.
"That's the plan," she said.
Breakout:
Name: Amy Peyton
Age: 19
Hometown: Sac City
School: Freshman at ISU
Plan: Work in public relations or business management, eventually moving back to a rural area, perhaps Sac County.
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