United Way honors Everett volunteer with Roger Bouck Award

This summer’s last AquaSox home game was Sunday, but one baseball memory will linger into fall for Steve Ahern.

The 70-year-old Everett area man was honored at the ballpark Aug. 17 when he was presented with the Roger Bouck Award for Volunteerism in Action. It was United Way of Snohomish County’s volunteer appreciation night, and the Bouck prize is “kind of a lifetime achievement award,” said Sara Haner, United Way’s communications and events manager.

“It is to recognize somebody who embodies Roger’s spirit and enthusiasm,” she said.

Bouck, who died in 2009, volunteered with United Way of Snohomish County, Rotary International, and the Bluebills, a Boeing retiree volunteer group.

“Roger was my mentor when I got really seriously into volunteering. I’m a rookie compared to him,” said Ahern, who first encountered Bouck through the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program. “He was a volunteer for a long time, and I went on to work with him through United Way.”

Ahern, whose wife Martha died five years ago, has two daughters and six grandchildren. Some of them were at the AquaSox game Aug. 17 to see him throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

“I hadn’t thrown a ball in 50 years,” Ahern said. He bought a ball and practiced, but said his pitch fell a little short. “It got most of the way to the catcher,” he said.

Today, Ahern devotes much of his time to helping the Carl Gipson Senior Center through the Everett Senior Center Foundation. Ahern is president and treasurer of the foundation’s board of directors.

The senior center is run by the city of Everett, but the nonprofit foundation has helped pay for an elevator, computers for classes, the center’s annual USO dance, a 42-inch TV screen for Nintendo Wii games, and has supported Osher Lifelong Learning Institute-University of Washington programs at the center.

Before he retired, Ahern worked in finance and later in telecommunications.

“At age 58 it was taking two and a half hours to get to work. I worked in Federal Way,” he said. “One day I handed my boss the key and said ‘I’m done.’ I just quit. My wife said to take some time and volunteer.” Ahern has been volunteering ever since.

He served eight years on Snohomish County’s Council on Aging. With United Way, Ahern has been part of the Community Matters Vision Council. That group monitors grants for programs supported by United Way and works on the agency’s legislative agenda, he said.

His most recent project for the senior center involved the sale of a house that had belonged to Ruth Hall. The Everett woman, who died in 2014 at 93, had been a longtime member of the senior center. She bequeathed her house on Broadway to the Everett Senior Center Foundation. “It has been sold, for $185,000,” Ahern said. When contents of the home are included, he expects the total donation to be about $230,000.

“It’s always been a small foundation that never had a whole lot of money. We’re working to build an endowment,” he said.

Ahern’s recognition as a volunteer comes as United Way gets ready for its annual Days of Caring, scheduled for Sept. 11-12. Thursday is the deadline for volunteers to register to help with projects all over Snohomish County. In 2014, 700 people took part in Days of Caring, giving more than 3,000 volunteer hours at 35 nonprofit project sites.

Among this year’s many projects are: painting and landscaping at the Tulalip Boys &Girls Club; EarthCorps’ work on wetlands at Union Slough in Everett and Edmonds Marsh; and cleaning and fence-building at H3 Horses Healing Heroes in Monroe.

“Volunteerism helps the community stay afloat. Without volunteers doing all they do, budgets would be drained,” Ahern said. “And it’s quite rewarding if you get a chance.”

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

Days of Caring helpers needed

United Way of Snohomish County’s annual Days of Caring volunteer event will be held Sept. 11-12. Volunteers needed for projects all over Snohomish County. Sign-up deadline is Thursday.

To register or for more information: www.uwsc.org/daysofcaring.php or call 425-374-5549.