Portsmouth Municipal Judge Steven Mowery (right) was given the 2013 Kudos for Caring Award from the Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste Management District in his courtroom, Tuesday. Presenting the award were Dan Palmer (center) Director of the LSSWMD and Stephanie Helms (left), Community Outreach Coordinator/ Education Specialist with LSSWMD.

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Wayne Allen

Common Staff Writer

Portsmouth Municipal Court Judge Steven Mowery was pleasantly surprised Tuesday afternoon when he was presented the 2013 Kudos for Caring Award from the Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste Management District in his courtroom.

Prior to walking into his courtroom Mowery was preparing for a meeting when he was greeted by a room full of family, friends and supporters.

“We have a program called Kudos for Caring, in which we (LSSWMD) acknowledge an outstanding individual, group or groups that believe in our philosophy of cleaning up the county and addressing the litter situation,” said Dan Palmer, Director of the Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste Management District. “This year we could not think of a better person than Judge Mowery.”

Palmer cited a recent example of how Mowery helped in the litter cleanup effort of a portion of U.S. 52 last week.

“If you look at the paper you will see an article on the trash situation we addressed last week. We could not have done this without his (Mowery) cooperation. He supplied us with 15 community service workers and we went from Daymar College on US 52 all the way to the Vern Riffe School,” Palmer said.

Mowery was taken back by the news and thanked his family, friends and supporters in attendance.

Mowery was presented with an award, a certificate of appreciation along with a donation that will help fund the litter cleanup efforts of Portsmouth Municipal Court.

Portsmouth Municipal Court has dedicated some resources to sending out community service workers to help cleanup city, village, township and counties roadways for nearly a year.

“They got me, this was a big surprise,” Mowery said upon being surprised with the award. “I would like to see our community be cleaned up and we’ve had an opportunity with our community service program, which has developed over the last several years,” Mowery said. “There is a lot to do (in terms of litter cleanup); this is the gift that keeps on giving. Hopefully we can keep making end roads on this issue.”

Mowery said there has been a lot of people coming together to approach the issue of litter cleanup head on.

“I think getting the townships and the cities and people in the community supporting this, we can make a difference and take our community back,” Mowery said.

For more information about the programs and services of the Lawrence Scioto County Solid Waste Management District visit their website at www.lssemd.org.

Wayne Allen may be reached at 740-353-1151, or tallen@civitasmedia.com