Those of us who are blessed to be able to call this little corner of the world home know that we have a gracious plenty to be thankful for. When considering all of the wonders that make our community special, chief among them are its people.

Especially so, because ours is a place that has been made great by individuals who care enough about their neighbors to endlessly give of themselves to show it.

No one does so more than Clyde Parker.

Clyde truly exemplifies community service, and he has served this, his community, in almost every conceivable fashion. The Lion’s Club, The Franklin-Southampton Area Chamber of Commerce, Southampton Memorial Hospital’s board of directors and a host of other organizations have all been made better because of Clyde’s decades of commitment to his community and his fellow man.

So we were pleased and proud, but not the least bit surprised, to learn that his four decades of service to the American Red Cross of Southeastern Virginia was recently recognized with the Justine Lowenberg Nusbaum Award for exceptional volunteer service.

According to the Red Cross, the annual award is presented to “a special volunteer whose humanitarian service, resourcefulness in getting a job done, and readiness to act as an ambassador for the Red Cross, all symbolize a strength and beauty of spirit, that are recognized as the essence of the exceptional volunteer.”

We can think of no other words than those to more perfectly describe the man who is so deserving of such recognition. Clyde, your friends at The Tidewater News congratulate you. And on behalf of a grateful community who is better because you are a part of it, we thank you.