AMV Board members Dick Munson & Libby Birch have been named the 2023 Oxford Couple of the Year!
The honors of Oxford Couple of the Year is given to people who have contributed materially to making the Oxford community a better place to live. Recipients are selected from among numerous individuals nominated by members of the Oxford community. The individuals are selected on the basis of contributions made as volunteers rather than as part of employment responsibilities.
The Citizen/Couple of the Year recognition was started by the Oxford Press in 1952. Since then, 163 individuals have been recognized as Citizens of the Year. Recipients are honored at a lunch hosted by the Oxford Kiwanis Club. Each honoree receives a reproduction of a watercolor painting of Oxford by local artist Marjorie Bowers.
Dick Munson is a horticulturist and botanist who retired in 2014 as Conservatory Manager and Lecturer of Botany on the Miami Hamilton Campus. Libby Birch is a retired art educator and artist. Both work “tirelessly on conservation,” in the words of Sarah and Jim Michaels, who nominated them.
Marlene Hoffman, who also nominated them, writes “Dick Munson continues to share his knowledge and passion for plants and trees with the Oxford community. He does this in many ways. . . . Libby Birch is an artist. Her talent and creativity are evident and shine through all she does. . . . She has given countless hours of volunteer time to the community and especially OCAC [Oxford Community Arts Center].”