2025

PASTOR MIKE NELSON 2025 CIVIC LEADERSHIP AWARD

 A supportive crowd packed the Board of Aldermen session on Tuesday, July 8th as Grandview Mayor Leonard Jones and the Board of Aldermen awarded its 2025 Civic Leadership Award to Grandview First Baptist Church Pastor Michael Nelson.

Surrounded by his family, Pastor Nelson accepted the honor as Mayor Jones read the proclamation detailing his leadership through service.

The Mayor and Board chose the pastor for his and the church’s many contributions improving the quality of life for neighbors, particularly those in need, including a food pantry, free clothes closet, and annual prom dress giveaway for high school students.

Since 2019, Pastor Nelson and Grandview First Baptist Church have partnered with the City on the Harry’s Hay Days festival. The church hosts the Kids Zone in its parking lot and many members of the church volunteer to help out on the games, bounce houses and other fun. 

“It’s an honor to be a part of the city, honor to be able to serve through First Baptist Church and to have been a part of the community for as long as we have,” said Pastor Nelson. He has led Grandview First Baptist Church for ten and a half years. 

As this year’s Civic Leadership honoree, Pastor Nelson will attend a luncheon alongside other civic leadership award winners in the region. He’ll also serve as the Grand Marshall of the 2026 Harry’s Hay Days Parade next May.

 

2024

2024 CIVIC LEADERSHIP AWARD

  

Peterson Manufacturing is a world-class company headquartered in Grandview for over 80 years now. The Armacost family is behind the successful business and over the years have become an integral part of our community. 

The generosity of Don Armocost, and his late wife Wendy, sets an example for all of us. 

They have served on the boards of Salvation Army, Chamber of Commerce, and Eastern Jackson County United Way. 

In 1992, when Grandview Assistance Program began to help families of children in the Grandview C-4 School District, Don and Wendy made the first donation of $5,000. Don & Wendy went on many Mission Trips and their response was always, “We received MUCH more than we gave”.

For their generosity and philanthropy, Mayor Leonard Jones and the Board of Aldermen named Don and Wendy Armacost as winners of the 2024 Civic Leadership Award. 

 

2023

BEN TEEVAN 2023 CIVIC LEADERSHIP AWARD

Grandview’s 2023 citizen of the year is a man of honor, bravery and valor. 

Ben Teevan was an undeniable choice for this award. Mr. Teevan is a highly decorated World War Two veteran who courageously fought in battle. As part of America’s Greatest Generation, he served in the Navy on the USS Alabama from 1943-1946 where he shot down a number of enemy planes in the South Pacific. 

In 1949,  Ben and his wife Betty moved to Grandview. He and Betty raised their three children in Grandview where they all graduated from Grandview High School. 

Among his many contributions to our country and the City, Mr. Teevan takes great pride in his yard and over the years has twice been awarded the City’s “Yard of the Month” honor. 

Mr. Teevan has earned the respect and admiration of our community and continues to wow everyone with his yard and his tenacity for life. 

We thank Ben for his service, for being an exemplary citizen, and for calling Grandview home over these many years. 

2022

JIM CRAIN 2022 CIVIC LEADERSHIP AWARD

“In my new life, I don’t do speeches and I don’t do ties,” Jim Crain said to a laughing crowd at City Hall. Who could blame him? Crain spent over 40 years serving Grandview as Alderman of Ward III, but in June he stood at a City Hall podium to accept the 2022 Civic Leadership Award from Mayor Jones and the Board of Aldermen. 

Even after Mr. Crain moved on from his Alderman seat in 2020, he has continued to serve the City in a number of ways. He remains on the Youth Court, an organization he helped create, and now serves as a Planning Commissioner and Parks & Recreation Commissioner. He also serves as the City’s representative on the Board of Equalization.

The proclamation recognized Jim as “a great ambassador for the City of Grandview who has given selflessly to this community, sharing his time and talents to contribute to the betterment of the community.”

The Vietnam Veteran is also very involved with the Grandview Assistance Program serving as Treasurer and remains committed to the Eagle Scouts through volunteering. 

As part of the honor, the Missouri Municipal League recognized Mr. Crain alongside other cities’ leadership award winners at a dinner and look for Mr. Crain to serve as the Grand Marshal for next year’s Harry’s Hay Days Parade.

2021

Grandview business owner Jeff Teague, Jr. is always working. If you can catch him between jobs he’s quick with a joke, a loud laugh, and a handshake. Teague has become a familiar face at City Hall and at many community events, so when Grandview’s elected leaders started searching for their 2021 Civic Leadership Award winner, Teague’s name rose to the top.                                                  

Teague grew up in Grandview and is a graduate of Grandview High School. After college, he returned here to work in the family business at Teague Construction.

Over the years, he has worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life in the Grandview community.

Teague has been a proponent of growing Grandview's small business sector and bringing in new businesses to the city.

One of his first accomplishments was recognizing a need for a controlled Industrial Park for Grandview's new and emerging industrial base. With the help and cooperation of the City, Upland Industrial Park was developed allowing numerous companies to stay or relocate to Grandview.

At a June session, Mayor Leonard Jones and the Board of Aldermen honored Teague as the 2021 Civic Leadership Award with a proclamation that read in part: "The Board of Aldermen recognizes Jeff as a great ambassador for the City of Grandview who has given selflessly to this community, sharing his time and talents to contribute to the betterment of the community.”

Teague will also be recognized at a regional Municipal Missouri League meeting alongside other cities' Civic Leadership Award Winners.

2019

The 2019 Civic Leader is dedicated to making Grandview a better community for all. Mayor Leonard Jones and the Grandview Board of Aldermen have chosen Mr. Charlie Knight for his years of dedicated service.

Charlie has been running the food pantry at Grandview Assistance Program (GAP) for 18 years.  As a volunteer, Charlie has the food pantry well organized and he spends countless hours making sure it has the most nutritious food to give clients. He volunteers at GAP an average of 20 hours a week, and has personally trained hundreds of volunteers. He has trimmed shrubs, cleared sidewalks, emptied and disposed of the trash weekly, implemented and carried out the recycling program for GAP, vacuumed, picked up donations (food, school supplies, Christmas items, and  general goods), and made general repairs in the office.

Knight is also a 2018 graduate of the Citizens Academy and is a familiar face around City Hall.

Knight is a proud 20-year veteran of the United States Air Force and met his wife Melissa while stationed at Richards-Gebaur AFB. They have been married 47 years and have two children.

Grandview Board of Aldermen honored Mr. Knight for his service and leadership at a regular session in July of 2019. Charlie was also recognized alongside civic leaders from other cities at Missouri Municipal League Westgate summer meeting. 

2018

When talking about people who work tirelessly to improve the quality of life in Grandview, one name rose above the rest in 2018: Tom Worstell. 

Mayor Leonard Jones and the Board of Aldermen chose Worstell to receive the 2018 Civic Leadership Award and honored him and his community service at the Regular Session tonight (Tuesday, July 24.) 

Worstell has served as Pastor of Southview Christian Church for 20 years. During that time, he has organized the Grandview Pastors Alliance, Grandview National Day of Prayer, kids' zones at different festivals and volunteered his time to many different city and Grandview C-4 School District organizations and charities. 

The Missouri Municipal League- Westgate will honor Worstell at their dinner on July 26, alongside other metro recipients of the Civic Leadership Award. Wortell will also serve as the Grand Marshall of next year's Harry's Hay Days parade. 

 

 

2017 

Congratulations to 2017 Citizen of the Year, Liz Ogle.

On Tuesday, July 11, Mayor Leonard Jones and the Board of Aldermen recognized Ogle for being an active member of the community who uses the power of social media to engage fellow citizens and organize them into action.

When complaints about trash along I-49 piled up on a Facebook page, Ogle organized a Pop-up Clean-Up event this past spring. She and a group of volunteers picked up trash along the West Frontage Road and turned the bags into cash using the City’s Trashbusters program. Ogle then donated the money to the Grandview Assistance Program.

Liz also completed the 2017 Citizens Academy and serves on the Grandview Arts Council and is President of the Main Street group.