"Average people, who did something extraordinary" was the way Keran Lemons, Senior Vice President at Liberty Bank, described the recipients of this year's Everyday Heroes awards.

TheAmerican Red Cross Greater Ozarks Chapter and KY 3 honored twelve local heroes at the 5th Annual Everyday Heroes breakfast and awards ceremony March 15, 2005 at the Oasis Convention Center in Springfield. KY3's Cara Connelly was the emcee for the program. More than 550 greater Springfield area residents attended the celebration.

Liberty Bank, the rising star in southwest Missouri, was the underwriting sponsor for this year�s event.

This year's honorees were Donna Willoughby, Adult; Bob Stewart, Community Justice/Law Enforcement/Woodruff; Kevin Huffman, Education; Mike and Linda Cheek, Family; David Hall, Firefighter; John Bullard, Industrial Safety; David Eslick, Lifetime Achievement; Jim Lawrence, Medical/Rescue; Kevin Collier, Military; Matt Gravelin, Youth; and a special award was given to Ralph Manley, Distinguished Service.

Nominations for the 2006 awards are open. Nomination forms and award criteria are available on line at www.redcross-ozarks.org. Nominations are being sought from the following counties: Barry, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Douglas, Greene, Lawrence, McDonald, Ozark, Polk, Stone, Taney, Webster, and Wright.