Chip Withers, a former Coral Gables vice mayor and commissioner and former Rotarian, was named the 2018 Rotary Club of Coral Gables (RCCG) Martin Hughes Citizen of the Year.
Withers’ positive impact on the Gables is without question. In fact, there would be no Coral Gables Museum had it not been for his vision and one shared by the museum board who made him chair emeritus and bought a table to enjoy the luncheon in his honor.
Of course, true to form, Wuthers made the program and presentation the most entertaining ever, receiving lots of help from presenters RCCG past presidents Frank Sexton and Felix Pardo. Instead of the actual Citizen of the Year Award (apparently missing in action), Pardo substituted with a City of Coral Gables Employee of the Month Award plaque.
This followed a short talk by Withers with a crazy story about an altercation a man had with police when Withers left the meeting to take a call. It seems the man got away from the police before they could finish cuffing him. You guessed it, Chip raised his hands in the air and, to much laughter, one of his hands had a handcuff attached.
This was the 30th year the club has honored the memory of Rotarian Martin Hughes with this award. Hughes conceived the award to recognize Coral Gables citizens who displayed generosity and commitment to philanthropy and service in concert with the principles of Rotary.
Withers had not been eligible to win the award before as it is not presented to a Rotarian and he had been a Gables Rotarian and even held office for years until the past few years when time became an issue.
Past honorees include David Lawrence Jr., Robert Fewell, Roxcy Bolton, Leona Cooper, Judge Steven Leifman, Dr. Pedro “Jose” Greer, Bill Kerdyk Jr. and former Mayor Dorothy Thompson.
