Guy Stanley and Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival were recipients of the Clyde Hooker Award for their contributions to the arts at the annual award ceremony held June 5 at Piedmont Arts. Several educators were also honored for their contributions to students, and students who are pursuing the arts in college were awarded scholarships.
Each year, the Clyde Hooker Award is given to a person of the year and a business. Award nominees are submitted and then evaluated by a board.
Both Stanley and Rooster Walk “have significantly enriched our community and embodied the spirit of the Clyde Hookers Award,” said Heidi Pinkston, the executive director of Piedmont Arts.
A past president of the board of directors for Piedmont Arts, Stanley’s “efforts laid the foundation for significant growth and development within the organization, setting ambitious goals and inspiring others to rally behind our vision,” Pinkston said, adding that Stanley helped to retire Piedmont Art’s long-term debts and helped to renovate the museum.
Stanley said that several improvements were made to bring Piedmont Arts to where it is today.
“We were able to take a gym and turn it into a shining star,” Stanley said, and added that the founders of Piedmont Arts “left their legacy for us to take care of.”
He credited many of the donors for their contributions, and noted that he was proud to “keep that legacy alive.”
Rooster Walk was awarded the second Clyde Hooker Award for its contributions to the community. “Rooster Walk is an inspiring testament to turning tragedy into a beacon of hope and community spirit,” said Pinkston. The festival was created to honor Edwin “the Rooster” Penn recently held its 14th event.
“The festival has raised over $323,000 for local and regional charities, with a substantial portion benefiting the Penn-Shank Memorial Scholarship Fund,” she added.
Johnny Buck, the festival’s executive director and one of its founding members, accepted the award. “We wanted to do something to remember our friend. We wanted to celebrate not only their life but life in general,” Buck said, and recalled that although the festival started small, it has grown each year.
“The local tourism community has been truly amazing and embraced us from the very jump,” Buck said.
Several educators were honored with the 2024 Arts in Education Award, including the Martinsville City Public Schools Performing Arts Academy, Carlisle School’s director of Fine Arts Anne Norman Young, and Bryan Dunn, Magna Vista High School’s Forensics Coach.
Three students received scholarships:
Monica Walker, who is studying music and music business at Radford University, was awarded the Nicodemus D. Hufford Memorial Scholarship.
Dylan Royal who is studying music at James Madison University and Ainsley Jones who is studying dance at Radford University were the two students to receive the Harold Knowlton Work Memorial Scholarship.
