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Pictured from left to right are award recipients during MCC’s 2011 DREAM Day celebration from Yancey County including alumni award recipient Cathryn Hughes and distinguished citizen recipient Larry Howell.

Robert Bailey and Buck Stove were presented the 2011 President’s Award.

Bailey has worked quietly and tirelessly to strengthen, support and encourage the growth, development and livelihood of his community. 40 years ago, just as Mayland had its beginnings, Bailey created a nationally respected industrial enterprise that is still growing, thriving and hiring. As one of Mitchell County’s native sons, Bailey exemplifies mountain independence and resourcefulness. Bailey and his company, New Buck Corporation, continue to invent new, beautiful, useful (and green) products, all made only in America. Bailey’s commitment to family, community, hard work and giving back made him a clear choice for this award.

Martha Guy was presented with the first Founders’ Award during DREAM Day. She is one of the original Mayland Trustees, and her visionary leadership in the beginning years of the college set the stage for Mayland’s future role in serving Mitchell, Avery, and Yancey Counties. Over the past 40 years, Guy has committed considerable time, talent, and financial resources in fulfillment of that initial vision. Her passion for the college continues in her service as an active board member of the Mayland Community College Foundation.

Mayland’s Board of Trustees also presented their annual distinguished alumni and citizen awards

“My dream growing up,” says Anthony Pollygus the Avery County recipient of the 2011 distinguished alumni award, “was to become a fireman.” A 1981 graduate of Avery County High School, Pollygus came to Mayland and began building a career with public service---including fire training and Basic Law Enforcement Training---as its cornerstone. While a student at Mayland, Pollygus served as SGA president. Since attending Mayland, has served his community and his country at all levels, including as a Sergeant Major in the US Army, where he distinguished himself with an impressive array of awards and honors, including the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal and the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal. Pollygus is now a member of the Newland Volunteer Fire Department, VFW, Linville and Mt Ararat Masonic Lodge, sons of Confederate Veterans, and he has served in law enforcement in Avery, Mitchell, and McDowell Counties. “Mayland helped me achieve my dreams, “Pollygus says. “Mayland has been a big part of my life and my family’s lives. Mayland plays a big part in public service for our region. Every EMS person, EMT person, every fireman, every police officer and so many nurses get their start or their training right here.”

If the definitions of “service” and “education” were blended together, the result would be Avery County’s Distinguished Citizen award recipient, Edwina Sluder. Everywhere she goes, scores of Avery County students know Mrs. Sluder as their fourth-grade teacher. Sluder taught in the Avery County School System for 30 years. She might call herself retired, but the long list of charitable organizations who receive her energy and enthusiasm would surely disagree. Sluder is very active in her church, the Newland Presbyterian Church, where she is church treasurer, choir member and Sunday School teacher. She volunteers with the Avery County Relay for Life (her team, the “Glow Trotters,” raised $12,988.50 this year), the Rural Health Initiative of Avery County, is a Surrogate Parent with the Avery County Schools, delivers Meals on Wheels, has served on the Avery County Board of Education, the Mayland Community College Foundation Board of Directors and currently serves as a Mayland Community College Trustee. She and her husband, Junior, live in Newland, not far from where Sluder grew up in Pineola.

The 2011 Distinguished Alumni from Mitchell County had been out of school for twenty years, married and had three children before she decided to come to school at Mayland. Now an educator herself, Duncan teaches math at Mitchell High School. She received her AA degree from Mayland in 1997 and her BA from Mars Hill in 1999. She is a National Board Certified Teacher. Her family understands the value of a Mayland Community College education: her husband received an electronics degree in 1982; her daughter Carrie earned her ADN in 2001 and is now working toward her doctorate in nursing; her son Kyle received an Associates Degree at Mayland and is now enrolled in the East Carolina School of Dentistry, and daughter Keisha is now attending Mayland and will apply for entrance into the ADN program in the fall of 2012.

For his commitment to community service, Phillip Byrd was presented with Mayland’s Board of Trustees Mitchell County Distinguished Citizen for 2011. Byrd is or has been a presence on numerous civic boards, including the Mitchell County Board of Commissioners, the Mayland Community College Board of Trustees, the High Country Council of Government’s Region D Executive Board, the Mitchell County Economic Development Commission and the Toe River Health District Board of Directors, just to name a few. Byrd is the principal broker at Real Property People Realtors, and also attended Mayland Community College. Byrd is also a member of the Spruce Pine Vesper Masonic Lodge #554 and is a member of the WNC Green Builders Council. He and wife Lisa have one daughter, Ashley Kirkland, and two grandchildren, Kimber and Tristan Kirkland.

The Yancey County 2011 Distinguished Alumni is 2008 graduate, Cathryn Hughes. While at Mayland, Hughes served as a Student Ambassador, and was selected Outstanding Graduate of the Associate in Arts program. She received a degree from Mars-Hill College in December, 2010, and is now earning her Master’s degree in library science at Appalachian State University. Her success has come full circle as she now teaches in Mayland’s Human Resources Development Program, also teaches social studies at Mountain Heritage High School, and is an assistant with the MAGIC afterschool program at Cane River Middle School. Hughes has two passions: football and education. Hughes has been filming games at Cane River Middle School for the last eight years; her dad has been coaching football there for the past 28 years. “I have grown up with football all my life and know of the positive breakthroughs that occur within the youth of our area because of it,” Hughes says. “As an educator, my goal is to help students down the path of success and instill a love of both history and learning.” Since 2006, Hughes has also worked as a radio announcer at WKYK in Burnsville and WTOE in Spruce Pine.

In Yancey County, the name Larry Howell is synonymous with education. His longstanding dedication to the students of Yancey County has earned him the title of the 2011 Yancey County Distinguished Citizen. Anyone wanting to know anything about the history of education in Yancey County just needs to ask Howell. For 34 years, Howell worked in the Yancey County School System, spending six years as a high school teacher/counselor and 28 years in administration at Burnsville, Micaville, Cane River and Mountain Heritage. He attended the 1st class of Principals Executive Program, initiated the Tech Prep Program at MHHS, and mentored many future administrators in Yancey County. Howell’s passion is student success. He is Chairman of Yancey County’s Traditional Voices Group and continues to be involved with the schools and the music and history preservation of Yancey County.Howell is married to Mary Howell; they have two sons, Jeff and Brent Howell.

Service awards were presented to Jim Greene, William Ellis, Kristabell Kennedy, and Dr. John Boyd.