PRIDE Honors A.L. Sinclair
February 4, 2015 by clackey
Karen Kelly, District Administrator for Congressman Hal Rogers, presented the tribute made by Rogers to Sinclair in the U.S. House of Representatives. Photo by Blake Spires, Adair Progress.
Note: We are grateful to the Adair Progress for allowing us to reprint the following article, which was written by Assistant Editor Blake Spires and appeared in the newspaper’s Jan. 25, 2015 issue. The photos also were provided by the Adair Progress.
A banquet was held last Wednesday in the Roberta Cranmer Conference Center Board Room on the campus of Lindsey Wilson College to honor the retirement of a longtime friend of both the people and the environment of Adair County and the surrounding region of the state.
A.L. “Pee Wee” Sinclair was joined by more than two dozen family members, friends, current and former coworkers, and members of the community to celebrate and commemorate a career that has spanned nearly two decades. Sinclair was a founding member of the PRIDE Executive Committee in 1997, and has served as the Adair County Solid Waste Coordinator for more than 13 years.
“A.L. has always loved the environment and had a passion for PRIDE that has shown everywhere he’s gone,” PRIDE board member Sandy Gay said. “He’s been a backbone guy for us.”
A.L. “Pee Wee” Sinclair was surrounded by members of the PRIDE Board of Directors and current and former PRIDE employees, as well as Karen Kelly, District Administrator for Congressman Hal Rogers. Left to right: Jennifer Johnson, Mark Davis, Cindy Lackey, Rodney Hitch (PRIDE Board member), Pee Wee Sinclair, Becky Calhoun, Sandy Gay (PRIDE Board Secretary), Karen Kelly, Tammie Wilson (PRIDE President/CEO) and Phil Osborne (PRIDE Board Chairman). Photo by Blake Spires, Adair Progress.
Former PRIDE President/Chief Executive Officer and current District Director for Congressman Hal Rogers, Karen Kelly, outlined what Sinclair has meant to both Adair County and the central and eastern parts of Kentucky.
“What A.L. means to Adair County is apparent by all these people here today, but it’s never just been about Adair County to him because he saw the bigger picture,” she explained. “In his time with us, PRIDE has cleaned up over 3,900 garbage dumps and removed more than 900,000 tires from streams. That wouldn’t have happened without A.L.”
Since 1997, Kelly said that Sinclair has worked with people from all parties and across all administrations.
“It didn’t matter who you were or how you were registered, A.L. would work with you to clean up our state.”
Kelly then read a statement made by Congressman Rogers on the floor of the Kentucky House of Representatives honoring Sinclair. In it, Rogers outlined Sinclair’s importance to the environmental changes and progress made throughout the region. [To read the tribute, visit http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2015-01-13/pdf/CREC-2015-01-13-pt1-PgE57-4.pdf#page=1]
“I launched a battle plan against pollution,” the statement read. “A.L. immediately became a general in that war.”
In Adair County alone, Sinclair reduced the number of roadside garbage dumps from 168 to just three.
“A.L. has been like a dad to me,” former PRIDE Field Representative Mark Davis said. “We’ve covered a lot of country together, and he’s been an inspiring leader for this part of our state. I wish we had people like A.L. in every one of our communities.”
“I didn’t know I had this many friends,” a somewhat emotional Sinclair joked. “I appreciate the kind words and everything everyone has done throughout the years.”
“I’m not sure what we’re going to do without you, A.L.,” Kelly said. “Keep your phone close by.”
“You deserve to get some retirement time in for all you’ve done,” Gay added. “But I’ve got a feeling this isn’t the last we’ve seen of A.L.”
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