By JOHN EBY
Dowagiac Daily News

Elks Lodge 889 2009-2010 Exalted Ruler Max Sala revived the Citizen of the Year award Saturday night to recognize Ray Klomes’ flurry of contributions to the community.

“This is an award we honestly don’t do every year,” Sala said. “We judiciously award the Elks Citizen of the Year to a worthy person. I think the last time was three years ago,” he looked to Dave Scott, another past ER, for affirmation.

Ray Klomes and his wife, Zana, once spied at a restaurant, Luigi’s in DuBois, Pa., a message board which seemed to sum it up: Be generous of yourself and your resources; giving changes the community around us and it changes us; giving helps soften the heart to a harsh world…”

Those lines “kind of re-emphasized in his mind why people do what they do,” Sala said.
Klomes’ family came to Dowagiac every summer to stay at Smallbone’s Sister Lakes resort.

He liked it and decided he wanted to live here when he retired.

Twenty years ago he bought a cottage at Twin Lakes for when he retired in 2007.

Ray retired after 32 years with the City of Chicago and the Daley Center, managing its computer center.

He took time from work to volunteer for the Apple Festival Exceptional CItizens Day, Rocket Football and Little League concession stands, taking miniature horses and donkeys to the intermediate school district, grade schools, nursing homes and programs for disabled young people and moving the junior varsity football chains, donating his pay back to the athletic program.

Since retiring, Klomes tutors Cari Soderbloom’s fourth grade class at Justus Gage Elementary School in math, was a Chieftains “Team Dad” in 2009, picking up and serving the football team dinner before games; a member of the Celebration Graduation 2010 committee (son Cody just graduated), a member of Cass County Cancer Services, a volunteer for Simian’s Hope homeless shelter, a member of the Cass County and Dowagiac CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and for Dowagiac Conservation Club assists with Sunday breakfasts and Hunter Rendezvous, which raises funds for youth programs.

Klomes belongs to the Elks, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Dowagiac Conservation Club and Knights of Columbus.

He joined the Elks a year ago.

The awards represent the lodge year April 1, 2009-March 31, 2010, when Sala was Exalted Ruler.