Community and Volunteerism Panel
This panel represents and honors the citizens over the century who embody the values of Community, Engagement, Citizenship and Volunteerism:
• Hattie Weber presides over this panel as our first paid librarian seated next to our first specially dedicated library. Together with Hattie Weber, the volunteer "Davis Bachelor Girls" sustained the library and taught children to read. These citizens were the pioneers laying the foundation for our important and thriving public library. The Hattie Weber Museum is now the keeper of many of our historical archives.
• University Farm Circle. The UFC helped bring together women faculty and wives to help the students in the University's early years. The organization has thrived over the century, and it currently has a million dollar endowment for scholarships. This organization, along with other early women’s groups, such as the Davis Bachelor Girls and the Women’s Improvement Club, represent the important work, often unrecognized, that women have done, and continue to do, throughout our history.
• The “a” is the Arts Alliance, an umbrella organization that represents the importance of the arts in the Davis community.
• The Davis Schools Foundation, provides support of many types to Davis Schools.
• The Flying Carousel of the Delta Breeze, owned by DSF and created by artists, has been a fun, creative and community-building way to raise money for schools.
• The City Awards reflect the values of the city and the citizens who exemplify them. This panel honors all of the extraordinary citizens who have been awarded these honors for their extraordinary contributions to the Davis Community.
• The Thong Hy Huynh Award is named after the 16-year-old Vietnamese student who was murdered at Davis High School in the late 1980’s in a racist attack. It is one of the tragedies our city has suffered, and this award receives special attention in this panel because it represents the way we come together as a community under circumstances such as these to mourn and comfort each other. Equally important, it also symbolizes the importance of recognizing the work we still need to do to address the problems of racism in our community. Finally, it represents the effort to create something positive out of a tragic incident. In this case, the awards created in Thong Hy Huynh’s memory are given to Davis citizens in recognition of the work they do in the service of civil rights, human relations, and social justice.
• The Redwood Tree was planted shortly after the Davis Community Church was built in the 1920’s. It represents not only the community-minded works of this church and the service organizations it houses, but also the works of other religious entities in the community. In addition, this tree has received special recognition by the Davis Tree commission, and Tree Davis, evincing the fact that we are a city that values trees in our city planning and honors the citizens engaged in the effort.