Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010

Garner honors two for service

A Relay for Life organizer and a resident who has pushed for downtown revitalization are this year's winners of the James R. Stevens Service to Garner award. Town leaders honored Jill Cottengin and Pam Cash at a ceremony on Saturday. The award, named for the late elected town leader James Stevens, is the highest award bestowed by the town.

Jill Cottengin

Cottengin, 40, has been instrumental in Garner's Relay for Life since the event began in 1998.

That year, Cottengin, a teacher at Garner High School, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She is now cancer-free.

But her battle with cancer inspired Cottengin. Every year, she serves as chairwoman of the popular Garner Relay for Life, which raises money for the American Cancer Society.

Garner residents embrace the Relay, held each spring at Lake Benson Park.

"It is such a community event," Cottengin said. "Garner is just the right size. ... People still appreciate the small-town atmosphere of it."

This year, Cottengin said, the event raised about $171,000 for cancer research.

Planning for the Relay takes months. Beginning in November or December, Cottengin starts organizing meetings.

And while doing that, she's rearing 7-year-old twin daughters and teaching freshman English and speech classes at Garner High, where she graduated in 1988.

Cottengin is also adviser to the school's student government, which organizes homecoming activities every fall. She will devote next month to planning parade floats, a powderpuff football game and spirit days, Cottengin said.

During her days as a Garner High student, Cottengin served on the student council and was a cheerleader. She still carries that school spirit with her today.

"I have a lot of loyalty to the Garner community and the school," Cottengin said.

Pam Cash

Seventeen years ago, as she recovered from cancer, Cash, 62, began walking through her North Garner neighborhood to get some exercise.

On her walks, she chatted with neighbors about their community. From Cash's home on West Garner Road, she has a bird's-eye view of downtown, once the center of Garner but now somewhat forgotten as the town has grown along U.S. 70.

"I had always looked over there and thought, 'What's going on?'" Cash recalled. "I just thought there was so much potential there."

Cash and her neighbors formed a community-watch group in the mid-1990s and began hosting National Night Out events with the police department.

Then, they formed the Friends of Historic Garner. The group encouraged town leaders to put money into downtown, Cash said, and then the group used some money to help restore the train depot along the tracks downtown.

"Where does it start?" Cash asked of revitalization. "You're not going to get individuals to invest their money if you don't have commitment from the town."

Now, Cash said she's excited about new plans for downtown that call for commercial and residential development.

She realized downtown wasn't going to transform overnight. "You know, you always want it to be faster," she said. "[But] I knew it was a long-term project."

Cash is an advertising representative for The News & Observer, which owns the Garner-Clayton Record. She is a past winner of Capital Area Preservation's Anthemion Award for commitment to historic preservation. And along with her dedication to downtown, Cash has served on Garner's parks and recreation committee and has tutored students at Creech Road Elementary.

After years of remission, Cash's ovarian cancer returned in 2007 and again last June. She's now receiving more chemotherapy.