Hanks Preservation Award Recipients
2023 DOUGLAS HANKS, JR. AWARD WINNERS
The Douglas Hanks, Jr. Preservation Award was presented to Liza Ledford and John Tochko at the Members Party on June 22. This award recognizes extraordinary efforts by individuals, organizations and others in preserving the unique history and heritage of Oxford, Maryland and the surrounding area.
Liza Ledford has been a major contributor to the growth of the Oxford Community Center. She took over an already successful endeavor and has taken it to another level engaging even more of the community. Her tireless efforts have brought speakers and programs that educate us, programs that make us aware of the community and region we live in and programs that center on art and music. She has developed partnership programs in collaboration with the John Wesley Preservation Society, the Oxford Museum, and other local groups that tell the histories and stories of this unique town and highlight the special people who live here. Doug Hanks would be very pleased with what the community center has become in promoting and preserving Oxford’s history.
John Tochko, has been a loyal steward to the Town of Oxford since he came here in the mid-1990s (or as he says, “at the turn of the century”.) He and his wife Chris originally owned and restored a house on High Street. John has quietly supported many organizations without fuss or fanfare. For the last few years, he has been chairman of the Museum’s building and grounds committee and an essential member of the board. He constantly checks the basement for flooding which keeps the Museum from suffering water and high humidity damage that would affect the historic items on exhibit. He is also a past board member of the Oxford Community Center and very involved in the design and set up of the Oxford Fine Arts Fair, cooking dinners for community events and attending to lighting and many other engineering tasks as needed. John has also been deeply involved in the restoration of the Yankee Pedler, and as an artist, in the Oxford Picket Fence project. The Museum congratulates both of this year’s deserving award winners and thanks them for their many energetic and enthusiastic contributions to the preservation of Oxford’s unique history and heritage.
For more information on the Hanks award visit this page.