By Maggie Beamguard
Insider Editor
Seven Lakes West volunteers were celebrated April 28 during a community appreciation event in the Great Room of the Seven Lakes West Community Center.
Two volunteers were honored during the occasion with the community’s highest recognition, the Fellingham Award.
The celebratory event hosted by the community events committee featured a taco bar, live music by Amanda Acoustics and recognition of the many residents who contributed their time and expertise to the community. About 70 people attended.
The awardees were presented with their awards at the board meeting on Monday evening and recognized at the volunteer recognition event the next evening by Jim Christner.
This year’s Fellingham Award recipients, Kieh Deuver and James “Jim” Greaves, were recognized for years of service and leadership that have had lasting impacts on Seven Lakes West.
The Fellingham Award honors members of the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association who have made “a significant and enduring contribution to the improvement of the community” over a period of at least 10 years, generating the “admiration and respect of the community as a whole.” Recipients are recognized for sustaining quality of life within the community and creating opportunities through programs, leadership or facility development.
The award traces its origins to 2005 following the death of community member, Ted Northrup. In response to calls from residents to recognize extraordinary volunteer service, community leaders developed the award in his Northrup’s honor and selected Joe Fellingham, regarded as one of the foundational figures in the development of Seven Lakes West, as its first recipient. Previous Fellingham Award recipients serve on the selection committee and review nominations submitted annually by community members.
Deuver, who moved to SLW in 2011 and began volunteering the following year, has served in numerous leadership and advisory roles, including more than 11 years on the Architectural Review Committee, six of those as co-chair. He currently serves as the chair of the Land Management Committee and is also a member of the Infrastructure Committee.
One of his most significant contributions grew from a presentation he presented to the Moore County Board of Commissioners regarding environmental concerns connected to a proposed truss plant expansion and its potential impact on Lake Auman. The effort resulted in the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality requiring runoff testing from the existing truss plant.
Deuver has also conducted extensive research on wetlands within SLA and traced deed transactions and ownership records connected to Clubhouse Commons, work credited with helping prevent potential overdevelopment of the area.
Known throughout the community for his knowledge of the N.C. Planned Community Act and construction and infrastructure issues, Deuver has also supported efforts to compare builder fees among area developments, helping guide updates to SLW ARC fees and community revenue planning.
Outside of this SLW volunteer work, Deuver financed and built the Memorial Interment Wall at Chapel in the Pines and currently serves as vice president of the Corvette Club of the Sandhills, which sponsors charitable car shows.
Greaves, who moved to SLW part-time in 2005 before becoming a full-time resident in 2007, began volunteering in 2008 and has contributed to a wide range of community initiatives involving communications, information technology, legal matters and historical archiving.
Over the years, Greaves became a trusted resource for both the community office and residents on IT-related matters. He developed the unofficial SLW Community Facebook page and continues to serve as one of its administrators.
He also played a major role in reworking the community website to improve usability and served for many years as webmaster.
Greaves also undertook extensive efforts to preserve the history of SLW by scanning and archiving community historical documents, including working with Gerhard Hergenhahn to digitize historical files important to the community’s institutional history.
His volunteer efforts extended to the Communications Committee, where he helped develop the community’s gift communications survey, and to support for the Board of Directors and other committees. Most recently, he assisted with reinstating the front gate entrance system following acts of vandalism.
Greaves also independently visited the State Dam Safety Office in Raleigh to scan historical documents that aided the Dam Committee in understanding the relationship between Lake Auman and the state dating back to the dam’s original construction.
Fellingham Award recipients Deuver and Greaves were honored as two among many volunteers who contribute to the culture of volunteerism that shapes life in SLW.
Contact Maggie Beamguard at maggie@thepilot.com.
