Staley Named Ocean City Citizen Of Year

OCEAN CITY - Long-time local resident and community activist John Staley has joined a long list of distinguished winners when it was announced this week he will be honored later this month with the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce's 2007 Citizen of the Year award.

The Chamber of Commerce several years ago established the outstanding Citizen of the Year award to recognize individuals for superior service to the Ocean City community. Winners of the prestigious honor 'have represented the most dedicated participants in community activities and have demonstrated unselfish devotion to others,' according to the Chamber, and Staley certainly fits the description.

Staley was born in Dundalk in 1926 and worked for C&P Telephone for 35 years. He moved to Ocean City with his wife Pat in 1982 and has been active in the community and in local government ever since. He served as an Ocean City Planning and Zoning Commissioner for 17 years including 13 years as secretary.

Staley was also president of the Worcester County Library Commission for 10 years and served on the Ocean City Ethics Committee for three years. He has been a member of the Ocean City Lions Club for 22 years and is a past president. Staley is also a member of the Elks, the American Legion and the VFW in Ocean City.

Staley also serves on the Board of Trustees for the St. Luke-St. Andrew and St. John Neuman Catholic parish in Ocean City and Ocean Pines and has served as the head usher at the 10 a.m. mass at St. Lukes for several years.

With the announcement of his Citizen of the Year Award for 2007, Staley joins a distinguished list of past recipients for the award. Eunice Sorin was named the Chamber's Citizen of the Year for 2006, while Pam Stansell received the honor in 2005. Other past recipients include Art Davis, Alfred E. Harmon, W. Preston Laws, J.D. Quillen III, Al Berger, Pete Richardson, Thelma Conner, Dick Pairo, Tony Villani, Sr., June Todd, Roy McLaughlin, Dr. Francis Townsend, Robert Taylor, Bill Greenwood, Louise Gulyas, Dorothy Healy, Daniel Harris III, Adam Showell, Norman Cathell, Donna Greenwood, Sara Jarmon, Granville Trimper, Omar Todd, James F. Watts, India Bandorick, and Wayne Cannon.

Staley will be officially named Citizen of the Year at an awards banquet at the Clarion Fountainbleau Resort on Wednesday, April 25, with cocktails at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m. and the award presentation scheduled for 8 p.m. Contact the chamber at 410-213-0144 for more information.