Josh Minter, 18, is surrounded by members of the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada. After attending the club for nearly 10 years, Minter was named Youth of the Year at the club's Awards Banquet on Thursday night. Photo by Rick Gunn.
What Josh Minter couldn't find at home, he found one within the walls of the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada.
"It filled an emptiness," he explained. "This is a place to escape. I can't imagine my life without the club."
Nearly a decade after he first walked into the clubhouse, Minter, 18, was named Youth of the Year at the Awards Banquet on Thursday night.
"It's a great honor," he said from the Stewart Street complex that afternoon.
Minter said when he first started going to the club, it was merely day care. It wasn't until he was about 13 that it became an integral part of his life.
"I was going through those teenage times and it really helped out," he said. "I did my homework here and kept my grades up."
And it filled a void left at home.
"Since my father wasn't there, I had no one to learn from," he said. "The guys who used to work here like Travis Crowder and Tim McCullough were like a father figure for me. They were there and I could talk to them about anything."
Initially uninterested in sports, he learned to love them through the club and played three years of varsity football at Carson High School.
Crowder, now executive director of Lyon County's Boys & Girls Club and McCullough attended all of Minter's games.
Known now to the younger kids as "Mongo," Minter said he hopes to give back some of what he has received over the years.
"I need to be the same thing for them," he said. "I hope kids can come here and what they don't have at home, they find in me."
Club member Taylor Pierce, 9, recognizes Minter's influence.
"He's really cool," she said. "He likes kids and he likes to play with us."
Angela Augusta, 8, said Minter is "really good at playing 'Army, Navy.'"
Minter plans to earn a degree in recreation then return to the Boys & Girls Club as either a youth or sports director.
Youth of the Month and other community awards were also handed out during the banquet.
AWARD RECIPIENTS 2002
Volunteer Service Award
Capital Campaign Steering Committee
Gary Andreas, Lori Haney, Brent Holderman, Helaine Jesse, Dwight Millard, Kelli Newman, Brenda Robertson, Jennifer Russell, Gary Sheerin, Joann Sheerin, Rosemary Smith, Marv Teixeira, Roger Williams
Marketing Achievement Award
Steve Reynolds, Sign Pro
Distinguished Service Award
Carol Sheeks, Carson City School District summer food program
Mentor of the Year
Bob Thrower
Program Volunteer Award
Jean Hesse, sewing instructor
Employee of the Year
Melinda Fowler, program director
Youth of the Year
Josh Minter
Dinner entertainment provided by club members Crystal Diller, Sarah Barragan, Charyl Petersen and Carol Petersen.