CHAPEL HILL - Former Chapel Hill Town Council member Lee Pavao is the recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine award for his 30 years of volunteer service in Orange County.

Pavao accepted the award Dec. 13 at the Seymour Center in Chapel Hill.

In 1990, Lee joined forces with two other Chapel Hill leaders, the Rev. Robert Seymour and Chapel Hill Town Councilman Alan Rimer. They designed a plan of action to introduce a new senior center to Chapel Hill. They raised $500,000 in community donations, resulting in the Chapel Hill Senior Center, which is now called the Robert and Pearl Seymour Center, serving seniors throughout Orange County.

“Being presented with this award is such a tremendous honor,” Pavao said. “From the onset I believed in the need to pursue a senior center in Chapel Hill and the community played a large part. It was a wise investment; a smart way to diversify our tax industry.”

Pavao is a former member of the Friends of the Seymour Center; current member of Chapel Hill/Orange County’s Visitor Bureau board and has been a longtime champion of tourism in North Carolina.

“From dedication to improving the lives of our children and senior citizens, his leadership in advancing smart, sustainable economic development, to being a champion for our parks and recreational assets, Lee Pavao has been a strong representative for Orange County and North Carolina,” said Moses Carey, secretary of administration on Gov. Perdue’s cabinet.

Established in the mid-1960s, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine award is presented to residents in recognition of a proven track record of community service or similar notable achievement. The recipient receives a certificate and the privilege of proposing, at any time, the official North Carolina Toast:

“Here’s to the land of the long leaf pine, the summer land where the sun doth shine, where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great, here’s to ‘down home,’ the Old North State!”