The Park City Rotary Club has presented this year’s Linda Singer Berrett Professional Citizen of the Year Award to Charlie Sturgis. As head of the Mountain Trails Foundation, Sturgis has played a key role in overseeing Park City’s renowned trail system.
In the Rotary presentation on Tuesday, almost everyone honoring Sturgis talked about the mottoes, or life lessons he’s fostered about trails, or living in Park City. Tom Peak offered a couple of examples.
“You’ve all heard these they’re almost platitudes now. ‘10-seconds of kindness.’” Peak said, “I’m going to mention that, Charlie will fill you in on what that is and then ‘maximize the potential and minimize the damage.’”
Andy Beerman, now Park City’s Mayor, said that years ago it was Sturgis who motivated him to move from Salt Lake to live here. Where, in his early day he worked at White Pine Touring.
He mentioned a number of ideas passed on from Sturgis.
“’Work hard play hard’. He taught me that you need to work hard because it’s the only way you’re going to stay in Park City. It’s not a cheap or easy place to live but if you don’t play hard here you’re missing the point. We all move here to have fun in the mountains.” Beerman continued, “‘Can do.’ He doesn’t know the meaning of the word no. When you tell Charlie, when he has a problem, the first thing he goes to is never no, it’s how. He believes there’s a way to do it, we’ve seen that over and over. ‘Lead, follow, or get off the path.’ Now you’ve got to understand this is two decades before ’10-seconds of kindness’ so it might have been about the people hanging out in the middle of the trail. As life went on I really took that to heart. When I became frustrated with some things in the community I decided that you really need to either shut up or you need to take on a leadership role.”
City council member Tim Henney said when he was a summer visitor to Park City, he knew Sturgis before settling here permanently. He said Sturgis has made an important point about personal responsibility.
“Charlie has been very courageous in pointing out to this community when they’re coming from a position of entitlement. What he would like to see, the reframe that he always presents to us is that we need to be grateful. We need to show consideration, the 10-seconds of kindness, the proper tail etiquette, the good responsible behavior by dog owners, responsible e-bike ridership which is now in the conversation of the community.” Henney said, “Instead of looking at things from a position of entitlement, ‘why is this trail going away?’ because this development is happening. Charlie has always reframed it and said ‘the trail will come back, and you’ve been really fortunate to have access to this property which is on private property.’”
Summit Land Conservancy head Cheryl Fox talked about several items they’ve learned from Sturgis, some of them off-beat.
“He has picked the locks in our office so that we could escape into the bank that houses us. Explained how he learned about cause-and-effect through an experience involving the rafters of his high school gym and a trampoline. And is always willing to buy the first, and often the second, round of drinks.” Fox continued, “Having apparently learned those lessons about rebound from the trampoline of his youth, Charlie is now always looking for ways to float everyone’s boat. In a small town with a lot of non-profits this willingness to work together is truly amazing. Park City would be a darker, and smellier place without Charlie and his legion of poop fairies.”
Sturgis told the audience the award was an “unbelievable honor.”
“I never, ever, in my 66-years alive thought I’d be sitting up here being called professional.”
Sturgis and the Rotary’s Volunteer Citizen of the Year honoree, Craig Cooper, will be on the Local News Hour this Friday at 8:15.
