RANDY POVEY

In May 2000, Randy Povey was chosen as the Central Oregon Volunteer of the Year in Deschutes County. He was picked out of a field of 22 nominees from various volunteer agencies in the area.

Redmond is a small Central Oregon city of about 12,500 citizens. It is in the process of transition from a small, farming and logging community to a larger, multi-use area and is facing many of the issues that accompany growth, but does not yet have the extreme poverty and crime that many large cities face.

Randy Povey has lived in Redmond for more than 30 years and has volunteered in one way or another for all of that time. Some of his activities include 23 years as a volunteer firefighter and EMT, city councilor (volunteer position) for 12 years, and founder and organizer of the Redmond Flag Committee, a volunteer group which has collected close to 600 flags that have been flown over the Capitol Building in Washington, DC and displays them throughout Redmond every 4th of July, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Flag Day, Fair Parade Day and Labor Day.

Randy Povey feels that “the strength of a community can be measured by its interest and commitment to youth activities.” One of the problems common to small communities is a lack of things for young people to do. For many years, the only playing fields for youth sports were at the high school and middle school and, as the population grew, they became more crowded. Povey gathered community members and contractors and over a period of several years the group of volunteers built two large sports complexes, both of which include several fields for baseball and soccer.

As a city councilor, Povey recently helped a group of youth and parents realize a long-term goal of building a permanent facility for skateboarding in one of the city parks. The project faced several years of opposition from community members and businesses, but with Povey’s help the group was able to answer questions and solve the problems.

Several community members have said that if you need something done in Redmond, get Randy Povey involved and it will be done. This statement was proven when he organized a group of volunteers to build a large parking lot at the new county fair and expo center in order to be ready for the annual fair.

Although he is no longer a city councilor, he continues to be a volunteer in Redmond to help the community move through the growth process and remain a livable city.