Five regional leaders were honored Tuesday night at Mountain State University’s second annual Living Leadership Awards ceremony.

MSU’s School of Leadership and Professional Development recognized living leaders for the first time last year, choosing honorees from the Beckley area. According to the dean of the school, Dr. William White, the five 2009 recipients were nominated from the entire region of southern West Virginia.

“As the only School of Leadership in the region and in the state,” White explained, “we began to think we should be recognizing folks in our communities who exemplify the five major characteristics of leadership.”

The awards recognize individuals who are viewed as modeling, inspiring, challenging, enabling and/or encouraging in the community.

“The difference here tonight is that more often than not, when you recognize someone, you wait until they die and you put up a monument and say, ‘well, weren’t they great,’” MSU President Charles Polk said. “But this is the Living Leadership Awards, and we want to recognize our leaders while they can enjoy it.”

The five honorees were Joe Long, president of the MSU Alumni Association; Gary Bowling, owner of The House of Art in Bluefield; Beckley Newspapers Publisher Frank Wood; Wayne Richmond, advancement chairman of the Seneca District Buckskin Council Eagle Board of the Boy Scouts; and Richard Jarrell, owner of Chick-fil-A at Beckley Galleria.

Long said he could not ask for anything more than to come back to his university and be recognized as a leader. Long was the recipient of the Model the Way award.

“I’m not sure if I’m a model or not,” Long said, laughing, “but it sure feels wonderful and I do appreciate the award. You can only hope that you are an example to others, and people are watching so that you can make an impression on someone in a positive way.”

Bowling was awarded for Inspiring a Shared Vision.

“This is quite an honor, and it comes as quite a shock that people are noticing what I do,” he said.

“The House of Art is a voice of Appalachia,” he continued. “We have sculptors, painters, musicians, writers and dancers that come in. It’s just my way of paying it forward for the younger people and convincing them to be proud of who and what we are.”

Wood received the Challenge the Process award. He was recognized for searching for opportunities by experimenting and taking risks, and for his working on bringing leaders together to address community issues.

“The 158-plus employees at Beckley Newspapers truly deserve the credit for this prestigious recognition,” he said. “They work tirelessly to provide you with an informative and relevant award-winning newspaper each day that challenges the process.

“And we may be preaching to the choir here tonight,” Wood added, “but Mountain State University is truly one of the crown jewels in our community.”

Richmond received the Enable Others to Act award for fostering collaboration and strengthening others.

“I’m very humbled to be honored here for what I do with the scouts,” Richmond said. “I’ve been with the Boy Scouts for probably 15 years, but I was not expecting this at all. I’m very, very honored. It’s my hope that through my leadership, several hundred boys come from here with a good head on their shoulders and can face this world with a lot of dignity.”

Jarrell received the Encourage the Heart award.

“You are always honored to be selected from the community for anything that recognizes you for your participation and contribution,” he said. “It came as quite as a surprise to me, but basically I just hope that it acts as an inspiration to others to step up, engage and lead, whether it’s in business organizations or civic opportunities. Leadership is a great opportunity to do that.

“If we can inspire our people to reach beyond themselves and not just accept where they’re at today, I think that’s what this really means to me.”

— E-mail: cclark@register-herald.com