Three individuals, one organization to receive Zeisberger Heckewelder Awards

SUGARCREEK ‒ The Tuscarawas County Historical Society will honor three individuals and one organization at its annual Founders Day Banquet and Zeisberger Heckewelder Awards on May 14.

The event will be held at 6 p.m. at Union Hill Church of Sugarcreek.

The Zeisberger Heckewelder Awards are given each year to individuals and an organization which have made significant contributions to Tuscarawas County, making it a better place to live. The Tuscarawas County Historical Society first presented the award in 1981. The basis of the award is service to society and the county exemplifying the ideals of humanity, peace, God and love.

This year’s medal winners are:

Greg Bair recently ended his service as the president of the Dover Historical Society Board of Trustees after almost 20 years. He had served on the board since 1989, and in the role as president since 2005. He served for more than 16 years as a Dover City councilman, serving on the Parks & Recreation and Safety committees, as well as the chairman of the Service Committee for many years. Over the years Bair has also spent time in the Dover community as a part-time employee of the Parks & Recreation Department, serving in different capacities with Dover Little League, and with the Dover Tornado Club, including serving as its president.

Joshua Compton is an elementary art teacher for Dover Schools and known as Brother Joshua in the music community. Compton recently released an album of original songs inspired by the early history of Tuscarawas County. The album, The Big Trail & Other Ballads of the Tuscarawas, includes 20 tracks. Compton’s research created folk songs that tell the story of the Tuscarawas River, the Moravians, miners, canals, and trains with songs like “Schoenbrunn Song,” “Picks & Shovels,” and “The Iron Horse is Coming!” Compton is involved in the community with his role as an elementary art teacher and the Dover Elementary Chalk Walk.

Scott Gordon has served the community of Zoar for many years. After retirement in a career out of the area, Gordon returned to his Ohio roots in 2005 and became a volunteer at the village of Zoar. His first project was to rejuvenate the Zoar Garden using the handwritten diaries of Zoar Gardener Simon Beuter. Plants that were in the original gardens were used. Gordon also served as the mayor of Zoar from 2016 to 2023. He worked with the Army Corps of Engineers to reconstruct the Zoar levee and was in office when Zoar became a National Historic Landmark in 2016.

The Camp Tuscazoar Foundation was formed in the late 1980s when the Buckeye Council of the Boy Scouts combined operations of Camp Buckeye and Camp Tuscazoar and transferred the Boy Scout camp to the Seven Ranges Scout Reservation, and Camp Tuscazoar was sold to the Kimble family. The foundation was formed with the goal of acquiring and maintaining Tuscazoar. The Kimble family first leased the camp to the foundation and then donated 110 acres in 1989. The activities of the present camp include college students earning community service degree requirements to weddings. Boy Scouts remain the biggest user of the facility and still camp at Tuscazoar. The camp has become popular with mountain bikers with eight miles of track on the site.

Banquet reservations are required and can be made by sending a check and names of registrants to Tuscarawas County Historical Society, P.O. Box 462, New Philadelphia, OH 44663 by May 1, or by contacting the society at 330-308-7494. The cost is $25.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Zeisberger Heckewelder Awards will be presented at annual banquet