Honoring Joy

Tennessee gave Texas Sam Houston, who made his mark on the new state. On Tuesday, a Texas native will be honored for making a lasting mark on Blount County when Joy Bishop is honored as the eighth recipient of the Community Leadership Award, given by Leadership Blount County.

It is Joys consistent service to the organizations and causes in Blount County that has set her apart and improved the community she settled in 17 years ago, said Leadership Blount executive director Cathy Cate. Joy will receive the award at a breakfast in her honor at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 8, at First United Methodist Church of Maryville. Breakfast reservations can be made by calling Leadership Blount at 865-984-9368 by Thursday, May 3.

In her nomination of Joy, Pellissippi State Professional Teri Brahams wrote, "Joy has poured her heart and soul into this community with no expectation of recognition. She has tirelessly given of her talents, time and finances to make this community better."

Bishops volunteer service includes a number of civic and community organizations such as Kiwanis Club, Chilhowee Club, Blount Chamber of Commerce, Hearing and Speech Foundation, Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center, East Tennessee Regional Leadership Association and United Way, to name a few. She was an advocate and skilled fundraiser for the new Blount County Public Library. In 2005, she was appointed by Governor Phil Bredesen to the Tennessee Workforce
Development Board, and served as honorary co-chair of the first Tennessee Economic Summit for Women.

"We should all aspire to Joys level of community involvement," says Leadership Blount Chair-elect Mike Zorio. "Since moving here in 1990, she has embraced Blount County by sharing her talents for the common good. She has sincere enthusiasm for this community, and were going to take this opportunity to show our appreciation."

The Community Leadership Award is given based on several criteria. Nominees must have demonstrated a commitment to leadership in Blount County, exercised leadership in a variety of community positions, helped develop future leaders and used leadership positions to promote the development of the community. Previous recipients of the award have been the late Harwell Proffitt, Tutt Bradford, Dean Stone, Dr. Sue Wyatt, Geraldine Upton, Joe Ingram and Gary Hensley.

Joy Bishop is a 1998 graduate of Leadership Blount. Leadership Blount County, established in 1990, is a non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening the community by educating leaders for active service. The organization recruits and prepares diverse groups of local leaders and encourages a commitment to life-long community service.