Olympic champion
Local volunteer a supporter, organizer of Western Area Summer Games
The highway cleanups are nice. Work on the city charter committee was interesting. The evenings with Santa bring needed joy to people around the holidays, and it was rewarding to give back by working on a school improvement committee.
But, of all the activities and causes Jim Herschberg has participated in and supported throughout the years, none tug on the heartstrings more than the annual Special Olympics.
Each May, the Western Area Summer Games draw hundreds of Western Slope athletes, coaches and family members to Craig, which is one of four qualifying sites for state competition.
“That’s the biggie,” said Herschberg, a long-time Moffat County resident and community volunteer. “I think that’s the activity I feel the most pride to be involved in. I’m just extremely proud of that.”
Herschberg, 54, is a member of the Craig Kiwanis Club, a community-service group that helps sponsor and organize the Western Area Games. For the past four years, Herschberg has served as the club’s games director.
He also has organized the club’s Highway 13 cleanup and evenings with Santa, two nights of visits in December to senior citizens, shut-ins and Horizons Specialized Services homes for the past seven years.
“In those two nights, we bump in to close to 300 people,” he said of evenings with Santa. “What’s really special for most people is just getting a ‘Merry Christmas.'”
What Herschberg finds special is donating his time to worthy causes. In addition to the Kiwanis, he’s also volunteered time to the city of Craig, the Moffat County School District and is currently on the board of directors for the Yampa Valley Golf Course.
Volunteering, he said, is the lifeblood of the community.
“It’s a very rewarding thing to do, and I’ve met some really great people,” Herschberg said. He added, “This town is full of great volunteers, this town is just great.”
The city of Craig invited Herschberg and other notable volunteers to today’s celebration of National Volunteer Week, an event sponsored by the city, Moffat County and the United Way.
Herschberg, a Los Angeles native, grew up in Glendora, an east L.A. suburb. He moved to Craig in 1976 and a year later began work at Trapper Mine, where he currently is the material and purchasing manager.
Fellow Kiwanis Club members shared words of praise for Herschberg, specifically citing his work organizing the Special Olympics.
“He’s just one of those people who, if you need to get something done or organized, he’s a good one to call upon,” Craig city manager Jim Ferree said. “I’ve never heard him say ‘no.'”
“He’s very intense and has a lot of passion, enthusiasm and dedication,” said Richard Haslem, lieutenant governor of the Kiwanis Club’s Rocky Mountain Division. “He goes out, works and pulls it all together. It’s one heck of a big undertaking and responsibility.”
Another satisfying aspect of volunteering, Herschberg said, is that his wife, Linda, and son, 14-year-old Matt, have participated in the activities as well. Matt has helped his dad for several years and has grown his own sense of volunteerism, Herschberg said.
“I’m really proud he’s got that attitude,” he said.
The Western Area Summer Games kick off May 11 with a party for athletes, coaches and families at Craig Intermediate School. Competition begins the following day at Moffat County High School.
The event is expected to draw 250 to 300 people, Herschberg said.
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