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WHEELING -- Two women and two men who have long worked to build better communities will be honored by the Wheeling Martin Luther King Celebration Committee in 2021. Plans for the Jan. 17 Martin Luther King Celebration and March for Justice are still up in the air due to the pandemic. More information will be made available when plans are finalized.
Ellen Saunders of Moundsville and Judi Saunders of Bridgeport will receive the Rosa Parks Award, and Daniel Dudley of Wellsburg and Chase Watts of Martins Ferry will receive the Martin Luther King Award for their contributions in eliminating racial inequity and promoting peace and harmony.
Each has worked diligently to improve the quality of life for all people.
Announcement of the awards was made by the Rev. Ignatius Sasmita, S.J., and Ron Scott, Jr., co-chairs of the MLK Celebration Committee. The awards will be presented at a later date, once it is safe for people to gather together again.
ELLEN SAUNDERS
Ellen Saunders is the administrative assistant at Laughlin Chapel, where she works to provide love, structure, nutrition and education for children.
She previously served as the chapel's education mentor. Ellen works tirelessly to create a safe harbor for children.
She is a lifelong member and an exhorter/steward at Wayman AME Church in Wheeling, and president of the Women's Missionary Society. In this capacity she works with members and other local charities on Blossoms, a program that provides resources for homeless women one Saturday each month. The women can get a warm meal and a haircut or manicure, and enjoy the company of others for a few hours each month.
Ellen is a board member of Court Appointed Special Advocates for children (CASA), a member of the Moundsville Lions Club and former chair of the Moundsville Zoning Board of Appeals. She is a graduate of the Wheeling Police Civil Service Academy, a past Sexual Assault Help Center advocate, a past John Marshall high School Band Parent, and past president and secretary of the McNinch Elementary School PTA. Ellen Saunders has been honored in a recent YWCA Wheeling Tribute to Women.
She has been married for 52 years to Eugene L. Saunders Sr., councilman and former mayor of the city of Moundsville. She is the mother of four children, grandmother of 10 and great-grandmother of six.
JUDI SAUNDERS
Judi Saunders is also making a difference in the Ohio Valley. She has worked at Laughlin Chapel since 2016, first as a mentor and now as coordinator of the after-school program. She cheerfully assists children with homework, working with them to set goals and helping them reach the finish line.
A lifelong member of Wayman AME Church, Judi has been the church financial secretary for the past 20 years. She is active in Laughlin Chapel's Blossoms program for homeless women, and a member of Belmont County chapter of the NAACP.
Judi has received the Bethlehem Temple Dorcas Award for acts of charity and good works, and the Unsung Hero Award from the African Methodist Episcopal Regional Conference. Like her sister-in-law Ellen Saunders, Judi Saunders views herself as a servant of the community. Both women have been working quietly for years to make a difference.
Judi has been married 47 years to George Saunders; she is the mother of one and the grandmother of two.
DANIEL L. DUDLEY
A lifelong Wellsburg resident, Daniel Dudley is a Wellsburg councilman, representing the city's first ward. He's only the second African American to win a council seat in Wellsburg. Dudley worked for Eagle Can Manufacturing for 43 years. Before retiring in 2015, he served as a union representative and volunteered on the Eagle Manufacturing Unions Civil Rights Committee.
Dudley has been president of Eagle Can Employees Federal Credit Union for 10 Years and vice-president of the Weirton-Wellsburg Chapter of Credit Unions. He's a lifetime member of Henderson Chapel AME Church, where he is a past Member of the Year. He has long provided pro bono lawn care service for the church.
He's a member of the Wheeling Branch of NAACP. Upon returning from the Original "Million Man March" in Washington D.C., he shared the experience with Wellsburg Middle School students in a Q&A assembly. He has chaired the First Ward Playground Reunion. The playground is named after Elizah Nichols, Wellsburg's first African American council member.
Without calling attention to himself, Dudley has always been active at his church and in his community. Over the years he has been a volunteer coach for youth soccer, T-ball, girls middle school basketball and Ohio County Special Olympics girls basketball. He is married to Pamela Paige Dudley and the father of two children and two grandchildren.
CHASE WATTS
Chase Watts is an Ohio State trooper who works to inspire and help the people around him. He pursued a career in law enforcement upon graduation from Martins Ferry High School, and has been in the profession for more than10 years. He is currently assigned to the Office of Recruitment & Diversity.
Watts also founded and serves as executive director of Books with Badges, a reading program for elementary students that works to build trust and positive relationships between students and emergency responders. Since its founding in 2016, the program has reached 10,000 students and expanded to six states.
The Books with Badges platform helps Watts promote literacy in young people throughout the tri-state area. He also has organized several fundraisers like kickball games and bowling tournaments to promote the cause.
He has been a producer and engineer for successful and aspiring artists in the area. He recently opened SoundBox Studios and uses it to let all artists from any genre come to record their music and pursue their passions. He also produces and hosts the Positive Push Podcast with his father to showcase the diverse group of individuals and organizations who dedicate their time to unite and promote positive resources for the Ohio Valley.
For more information about Wheeling's MLK celebration, visit https://www.facebook.com/mlkjrwheeling/.