Five Cottonwood Heights residents, each active in the community in a variety of ways, were honored at the city’s Volunteer Dinner on Jan. 24. 

Honored were Kim Horiuchi, Excellence as a Community Partner; Mike Hanson, Community Volunteerism; Jim Holtkamp, Supporting Community Development; Jerri Harwell, Preserving Our Community History; and Emmaree Josephson, Promoting Community Culture.

“Even though we single a few people out to be honored tonight, we know that it takes all of you to accomplish everything you do for the city,” Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore, Jr. said. “We appreciate all of you.”

Kim Horiuchi has served for several years as a member of both the Canyons and Jordan School Boards. She advocated for the creation of what became known as the Canyons District.

Since the formation of the Canyons District, Cottonwood Heights has enjoyed benefits through the association with the district. Examples of those benefits, cited at the dinner in her introduction, were the new Butler Middle School, eight new tennis courts, a new soccer field east of Butler Middle School, renovations to Ridgecrest Elementary and the rebuilding of Butler Elementary scheduled to take place next year.

Horiuchi was also praised for helping with the district’s support of a partnership with Cottonwood Heights, resulting in the popular Mountview Park, built by the city on property owned by the Canyons District and rented to the city for 20 years.

Mike Hanson was recognized for taking on three years of very tough challenges on the Butlerville Days committee. He became chair in 2012, building a committee of volunteer leaders. He was also praised for expanding the event to include Movies in the Park, while adding concessions and inflatables, along with a 5K race.

Jim Holtkamp, a member of the city’s Board of Adjustment since 2008, is a practicing attorney with more than 35 years of legal experience in environmental, natural resources and energy project development issues throughout the world. He served on the staff of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities (Watergate Committee) and as an attorney for the U.S. Department of the Interior before entering private practice. He is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Utah, where he teaches air pollution control law and climate change law.

As a member of the Board of Adjustment over the last few years, he was involved in two highly contentious planning commission appeals—Cottonwood Corporate and Canyon Centre.

Jerri Harwell has served the community for many years. She was a member of the Cottonwood Heights Community Council prior to the city’s incorporation, and has served as a volunteer on the Historic Committee and Planning Commission. She also ran for mayor in 2009. Since then, Harwell has been a key member of the team that competed for the All-American City Award, utilizing some of her historical knowledge to help city officials with their presentation in Kansas City.

One of her biggest contributions has been her involvement in the Butlerville Days event. Among those contributions are providing historic photos and background. She also worked with the Brighton High Drama department in performing a historical presentation at the middle school.

Emmaree Josephson was the first arts council chair and had the privilege of being one of its founders.  She helped give direction and vision to the arts council. She saw opportunities for the arts council to grow and took chances. She was the council chair for three years, and after her term served for three more years to continue to help make the arts council a success.

Under her tenure, three successful plays have been produced, a community orchestra has been organized and other performance artists have been showcased in the city.

The leadership Emmaree provided helped summer musical productions take off. She also wrote the ZAP grants, a Sorenson Grant (which helped fund the Write for the Heights contest), and got a grant from Walmart. 

“Volunteers are the backbones of Cottonwood Heights,” said Ann Eatchel, city events coordinator. “They spend countless hours yearly and never expect anything in return for all their time and devotion. The city recognizes their efforts and this dinner is a way to say thanks.”