Meghan Lucas, junior recipient of the 69th annual Distinguished Service Award, looks on as student Lavinia Grabe reads her winning essay Wednesday at Butler Country Club.

PENN TWP — Judy Neigh and Meghan Lucas both showed their love of helping people Wednesday night by encouraging others to volunteer.

Neigh, winner of the county's 2017 Senior Distinguished Service Award winner, and Lucas, winner of the Junior Distinguished Service Award, were honored at dinner at Butler Country Club.

The awards are sponsored by the Butler Eagle and Rotary Club of Butler.

Lucas, a fourth-grade teacher at Emily Brittain Elementary School in Butler, was recognized for starting the Kids' Weekend Backpack program at the school as well as participating in Cure Search events, Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure, volunteering at St. Wendelin Roman Catholic Church and more.

“It is clear that Meghan Lucas has a genuine love for helping others,” said Sam Zurzolo, the 2016 Senior Distinguished Service Award winner, who introduced her.

Lucas, a mother of five, was joined at the event by her family and also a special guest from her classroom.

Lavinia Grabe, 10, was selected as the winner of an essay contest Lucas held among her students. For the contest, which was optional, students were asked to write about helping others and why it is important.

Lavinia got to introduce herself to the crowd and read an excerpt from her essay.

“Facial expression is important because when we smile at someone it can bring a little joy into their day. I know this because every day I get a little joy brought into my day starting with the security guards to the end of the day with my bus driver. We should be someone who is ready to show kindness to others. Holding the door for someone is a kindness that goes a long way. It shows that you want to help others and sometimes the littlest thing can inspire someone else to be kind too,” she said.

In accepting the award, Lucas thanked her family and her mother-in-law who nominated her. “I am certainly honored and humbled to receive this,” she said.

Neigh is a Eucharistic minister and member of the Women's Council at St. Peter Roman Catholic Church in Butler. For more than 22 years, she and her husband, Joe, served communion on Wednesday nights at Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. She is also a longtime member of the Intermediate League of Butler.“Judy has used her guiding principle of 'taking time to care' as the north star for her actions,” said Kenny Bonus, the 2016 Junior Distinguished Service Award winner, who introduced her.In accepting her award, she said she hopes she can leave a legacy of helping others with her children and grandchildren.“I want to show them that to be caring to others enriches you because it improves your life, their lives and the lives of others,” she said.

Distinguished Service Award winners and the year they were honored are:SENIOR1949: No award given1950: No award given1951: No award given1952: Elias Ritts1953: Carmen V. Marinaro1954: I. Max Jaffe1954: Ira E. Keck1955: Edward A. Roncone1956: Charles A. Snyder1957: A. Whitney Murphy1958: Harry S. Hagen1959 William Horowitz1960: Louis Karges1961: John Chiprean1962: Vernon L. Wise Sr.1963: Michael Chuhra1964: The Rev. Max E. Smith1965: Bernard J. Bryan1966: Hy Hurwitz1967: Mitchell G. Uram1968: Robert L. Kaufman1969: Calvin E. Bieseeker1970: T. Earl Boliver1971: William C. Graham1972: Dr. William Armstrong1973: Saul J. Bernstein1974: Lois S. Jaffe1975: Jean B. Purvis1976: Andrew Yaracs1977: Gail L. Rose1978: John Eisler1979: Charles Thompson1980: William J. Lutz1981: Hugh Stratton1982: Sophia Himchak1983: Guy Travaglio1984: Elinor Branning1985: Mary Phillips1986: G. Edward Howard1987: John W. Gumpper1988: Margo B. Pitts1989: Nancy Murrin1990: Reldon Cooper1991: John E. Kosar1992: Amy Beiler1993: Bill Bessor1994: Dale Pinkerton1995: Joseph Smith1996: Ida Findley1997: Robert Thompson1998: Anabel Brunermer1999: Charles W. Beighney2000: Pete Richdale2001: Millie Pinkerton2002: Wesley Hamilton2003: Abie Abraham2004: Wayne Myers2005: William “Digger” Young Jr.2006: Tullio “Doc” Viola2007: Bill Bittner2008: Kenneth Bennett2009: Sherry Lynn2010: Jocelyn Howard Sinopoli2011: David H. Tack Sr.2012: Lisa Konesni2013: Bruce Mazzoni2014: Denny Offstein2015: Gerri Paulisick2016: Sam Zurzolo2017: Judy NeighJUNIOR1949: John N. Gazetos1950: Robert Bruce Faulk1951: Joseph Davidson1952: No award given1953: Rabbi Robert Syme1954: Arthur O. Black1955: James D. Lawson1956: Earle D. Whitney1957: John L. Wise Jr.1958: George T. Walters1959: David Lloyd1960: C.R. Crawford1961: Edward P. Vargo1962: Charles Fuellgraf Jr.1963: James A. Green1964: Leonard A. Green1965: William A. Lehnerd1966: C. Thomas Kelly1967: Larry M. Berg1968: Thomas Patterson1969: Hal Hamilton1970: James Jones1971: David L. Tressler1972: The Rev. John Ayoob1973: Don Donaldson1974: George Braun1975: Edward Wadding1976: Alberta (Schaffnit) Stoll1977: Sue Bennitt1978: Fred Bennitt1979: Jack Barkley1980: Ronald Brandon1981: Linda Bennitt-Hemmes1982: Dr. Carole Bitter1983: Patricia Patterson1984: Vince Tavolario1985: Vickie Hinterberger1986: Vickie White1987: Dennis Rickard1988: Cynthia Sweeney1989: Jud D. Stewart1990: Brad Magill1991 Anne A. Miller1992: No award given1993: Ron Vodenichar1994: Sharon Clouse1995: Rebecca Plymale1996: Michael Slupe1997: John Spryn1998: Tony Chiprean1999: Leslie A. Osche2000: Harold Jurysta Jr.2001: David Crater2002: Kristen A. Hofer2003: Michele Jurysta2004: Nancy Hunter Mycka2005: Lisa Guard2006: Jennifer Roxbury2007: Jennifer Sproat-Whitmoyer2008: Robert McCafferty2009: Dixie Lee Lipnichan2010: Nicole Bronder-Robinson2011: Tom Panei2012: Chris Ziegler2013: Jennifer Pullar2014: Lyric Schnur2015: Pamela Ambrose2016: Kenny Bonus2017: Meghan Lucas

Judy Neigh, senior recipient of the 69th annual Distinguished Service Award, accepts flowers from granddaughter Chloe Seybert during the event.