Townsell wins Elks' Citizen of the Year Award

Staff Reports

JoJo Townsell was awarded the Carson Tahoe Elks' Citizen of the Year at an award dinner Friday, Jan. 29, at the Elks Lodge in the Gardnerville Ranchos. The Grand Lodge Award was presented to Townsell by Larry Rackley, president of Nevada Elks Association.

JoJo Townsell tribute

by Carson Tahoe Elks Lodge member Bob Allgeier

Our Douglas County is truly blessed with a plethora of volunteers.

In evaluating the final cut of candidates this year, I was struck by how much our community truly benefits from the volunteers in our midst. Many of our citizens are truly outstanding.

Our selection criteria for the lodge Citizen of the Year has evolved over the years. The candidate is not determined by popular vote. In this lodge, the candidate, be it male or female, truly earns the title Citizen of the Year. The candidate must have proven themselves through a record of service and benefit to this community. A short term flash in the pan effort will certainly not be considered. If your service to the community is the result of employment or business opportunity you are not considered a viable candidate.

Our selected candidate this year is a quiet, unassuming person. No flashy advertisements or posters. Just a quiet person who does so much good with little or no fanfare. You really haven't heard much if anything about him.

Let's get his professional career out of the way so it does not detract from his community work and the real reason he is our citizen candidate.

You might say, where have I heard that name before? As you can tell by looking around this room, the Elks are a maturing lot. In our mid-years, like 1985, most of us were devoted professional football league fans. Our wives would certainly remember those hours spent in front of the TV on Sunday afternoon and Monday evening. Why does the name JoJo Townsell sound so familiar to many of you? He is that well-known football player from the Los Angeles Express (USFL) 1983-1985 and the New York Jets, 1985-1990. A widely acclaimed National Football League wide receiver and ball return specialist. He was awarded the Jet's MVP award in 1989.

JoJo Townsell was named Joseph Ray at birth, but what do parents know about names anyway?

Now I will tell you some things about JoJo that you will never hear from anyone else.

He is unique in that he is a native son having been born and raised in Reno, Nevada. He was born Nov. 4, 1960. I'll let you do the math but I think that makes him 49 years old. He was the youngest of seven children.

He was born in the early age of television and spent every Saturday morning watching the cartoons of super heroes. On Sundays he would arise early in the morning and in the early morning shadows recreate himself in the image of his favorite super heroes, Superman, Batman and his most favorite Spiderman. After all, when you are the youngest of seven kids who pays attention to the squirt. You soon better figure out how to entertain yourself.

JoJo attended Hug High School in Reno. Who would have thought that he who quit Pop Warner Football twice would eventually attain stardom in the NFL.

JoJo was awarded a football scholarship to attend UCLA and play Division 1 college football. He was a member of the championship UCLA Bruin Rose Bowl team in 1983. His educational achievement and football skills at UCLA made him a third round NFL draft pick in 1983.

We always wonder, with good reason, how some of the football players can keep their wits straight after being smashed so hard while playing. This is especially true for pass receivers, JoJo's specialty.

On one occasion, the Jets were playing the Giants, and JoJo followed his route, a crossing pattern in the middle of the field. He caught the pass and was promptly smashed pretty hard by a 300-pound rock and ended up smashing his head on the field. Out runs the team doctor and staff to administer aid. The first thing they did was ask JoJo questions to see how alert he was. When they asked him his name he decided to have some fun and promptly said "Horatio." The doctor said to those on the sideline, "He must have been hit pretty hard as he thinks his name is Horatio." This got a big laugh from the sideline as his teammates knew he was just fooling around with the doctor. Some of the guys called him Horatio after that.

JoJo and Suzi moved into the east valley area of Douglas County in 1995. They have two daughters, Mysta and Mia, who are here with us tonight. Suzi is the volleyball coach at Douglas High School. Mysta, a senior at Douglas this year, was a star on the volleyball team. Mia is a junior at DHS and will be a returning member of the DHS volleyball team.

The family dog is a black and white Springer spaniel mix named Toby.

I asked about JoJo's favorite food.

JoJo is certainly not a picky eater. Among his favorite gourmet delights is the pasta, pizza, breadsticks and soup and salad at the Olive Garden. Loves his mom's German chocolate cake, 7-Up cake, and his dad's ribs with barbecue sauce.

Community youth has always been a prime interest of JoJo's. He has gone into the schools in our community over several years and talked with our children about the importance of education and participation in athletics.

To that end, he an Suzi formed the MEFIYI Foundation in 1997. MEFIYI stands for Me-for Incredible Youth, Inc. The mission of this organization is to support Nevada youth in areas of amateur athletics, recreation programs and physical fitness. MEFIYI program goals are to build self-esteem, learn the importance of personal education and how to work with others utilizing the sports team concept.

He strongly believes that being able to play team sports keeps many youngsters from dropping out of school. It is a known fact that children who are active in sports are more likely to attend college.

Since their inaugural year, the MEFIYI organization has touched the lives of over 10,000 students that have participated in the program. That is touching an average of almost 1,000 of our local northern Nevada youth every year. These sports and enrichment programs give our northern Nevada youth the opportunity to work with professional athletes, coaches and instructors.

The benefit and accomplishments of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America was not lost in JoJo's thinking. While a strong program flourished in Carson City, most youth in Douglas County were unable to enjoy the program because of distance and transportation problems.

How could such a Boys & Girls Club program come to Douglas County? With no facility or staff how could such a program be undertaken? How could such a program be financially supported?

JoJo and others pondered the question. Without a doubt, the Gardnerville Ranchos and the number of children in residence here would benefit greatly if such an organized program were made available to them.

JoJo formed an exploratory committee through MEFIYI that studied the question with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Nevada.

About five years ago a Boys &Girls Club operation was put into play here in the Carson Valley. It is known as the Boys & Girls Club of the Carson Valley. JoJo has acted as the CVO, chief volunteer officer, much like a corporate CEO, since its inception.

The group currently has over 300 enrolled youth and a daily participation in excess of 100 youngsters. Operations are supervised by professional staff. The program is carried out in a local Gardnerville Ranchos middle school.

Program costs are supported by volunteer efforts and contributions from the local community.

Without JoJo's presence, time, and effort it is likely this Boys & Girls Club program, so desperately needed in our community, would not be available for our kids.

JoJo, we truly thank you for all you have done, and continue to do, for the young people in our community. Please keep up your wonderful work. We certainly will not forget you or your effort.