Elysa Batista

Cyril Marks, 77, a Rookery Bay volunteer, is the Jefferson Award winner for February.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

More Local News

• Marco Islanders share the experience of Palin’s visit to Southwest Florida
• Politics get personal at Marco City Council meeting
• Farmworkers’ children get chance to tackle new skill — fishing

Share and Enjoy [?]

It took a lot of secrecy and a small covert mission to get Rookery Bay volunteer Cyril Marks to the presentation.

"They told me they had an update about the bridge they want to build across and that I had to be there," said Marks, 77.

The look on his face when he found out he had won February’s Jefferson Award for Public Service was priceless, said Renee Wilson, spokeswoman for the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

"That’s why we had to do a sneak attack, to get him to attend his own ceremony," Wilson said.

Collier County Publishing Co. sponsors the Jefferson Award for Public Service. The company publishes the Naples Daily News, Bonita Daily News, Marco Eagle and a number of other regional publications in the Naples and Bonita Springs area.

A native of Rhodesia, now the African nation of Zimbabwe, Marks moved to Southwest Florida in 1980.

He has volunteered at Rookery Bay for more than nine years.

"He’s been very integral in the programming at the center," said Wilson, adding that Marks’ tenure also has afforded him a notable honor — he’s the only volunteer allowed to monitor the crocodile nesting sites within the Rookery Bay estuary.

In addition to working with Rookery Bay’s Learning Center, Marks is a volunteer guide at Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park and an occasional speaker at events at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Collier Seminole State Park and the Naples Preserve.

"Each one of these (Jefferson recipients) is really unique," said Marco Eagle general manager Robert Sandy, who presented Marks with the award. "Each and every presentation is unique in its own way."

It was halfway through a speech by Rookery Bay Learning Center manager Amelia Horadam when Marks said he figured out the meeting wasn’t about a boardwalk.

"I suddenly realized they were talking about me," said Marks, adding that when he finally received the award he was speechless. "For once in my life, I was quiet. I couldn’t say a word."

Getting the award was definitely a surprise, Marks said, because he never expected to be recognized for doing something he enjoys and which keeps him young.

And, Marks said, he would continue to volunteer and to get the next generation interested in the environment.

"If I can get one kid to get off their rear end and away from the computer to go out there and actually touch it (the environment), see it and know what they’re looking at ... hopefully that will get them going," he said.

The monthly Jefferson award winners will become finalists for the annual regional award to be selected by an independent panel of judges. The annual winner then will represent the area at the Jefferson Awards National Ceremony in Washington, D.C. The event is one of the top ceremonies for public service in the nation.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Sen. Robert Taft Jr., and economic development expert Sam Beard founded the Jefferson awards in 1972. There are more than 150 media partners in the nation for the Jefferson awards.