A local leader in Orange County received an award for her service to the state last week. Former Orange County Commissioner Penny Rich was recognized with the Old North State Award from Governor Cooper for her decades of work in local government.

The Old North State Award is a governor’s award which recognizes people who have more than 20 years of service to the state of North Carolina. Rich served on the OWASA board, Chapel Hill Town Council and the Orange County Board of Commissioners.

Lee Storrow, the executive director for the North Carolina AIDS Action Network, submitted the nomination to Governor Roy Cooper to consider Rich for the award. Storrow previously worked with Rich on the Chapel Hill Town Council.

Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling and North Carolina General Assembly member Graig Meyer of Hillsborough also submitted letters of support for Rich.

Over the course of 2020, Rich collaborated with the towns, the mayors, OWASA, law enforcement, and UNC to help prepare for an uncertain future of the COVID-19 pandemic. Storrow said the time felt right to recognize Rich for her leadership through 2020.

“We nominated her at the end of 2020,” Storrow said. “Those things take a little bit of time, but I think the timing ended up being really lovely that we were able to present it at an in-person small gathering outside. Folks I know were particularly excited to be in a small group of people and see people.”

Rich was honored at a small outdoor gathering in the courtyard next to Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe in Chapel Hill on May 3. Local government leaders past and present were in attendance to celebrate her accomplishments.

“It was really special,” Rich said. “My heart got all warm and I was like this is pretty amazing. This award was for 20 years of service, but where I kicked it up the most was in January 2020. That was my first COVID meeting.”

Voters chose not to reelect Rich during the North Carolina primaries in March 2020, around the same time the first case of COVID-19 reached North Carolina. During her last eight months as commissioner, Rich continued to work to keep residents safe.

Rich said county emergency service leaders were measured in their actions to make sure they continued to adapt to challenges presented by COVID-19.

“It was a challenging year, but I felt like I didn’t have a choice,” Rich said. “I felt like I needed to do the best I could to keep everybody safe and alive, and I think we turned out okay.”

 

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