Beginning last fall, hard work, dedication and the desire for Caroline County to win the prestigious “All America Civic Award” has now come to its final moments. On Wednesday, June 17 through June 19th in Tampa, Florida, Caroline’s delegation will compete with communities from all over the United States. Caroline County is the only county or city from Virginia competing in a field of 20 finalists from Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Texas. Several states have more than one finalist in the competition.

The competition is sponsored by the National Civic League and was developed to showcase solutions to challenges faced by communities that best illustrate a proven record for community based problem solving. Caroline County will present the award winning Caroline County Library System; the ongoing Dawn Community utility water and septic system; and the development of the dental program. Team members Kathy Beard, Frank Hammond, Cynthia Green, Olympia Tillman, Martice Tillman, Marquita Tillman, Yasenia Amaya, Alexis Amaya, Irene Fields, Eileen Beach, George Wieber, Joey Schiebel and Dr. Nancy Cole will be performing on stage to a script developed by Mrs. Linda Thomas in front of a panel of judges. Members of the Dawn Community, participants of the dental program, and library board will be in Tampa as well to answer a series of questions posed by the judging panel.

The funding for this project has been supplied by sponsorship from the business community and individuals in Caroline County.

Caroline’s Website will provide site reports and “Twitters” to keep up with the competition and the efforts put forth by the team. Winners will be announced Friday.