The Rotary Club of Winter Park-Fraser has named Felicia Muftic as the 2016 recipient of their Service Above Self Award.

We will also remember Dr. Michael Muftic, the creator of the award, who passed away this past August.

This award is presented each year to someone that has made significant contributions to our community. Felicia Muftic is being honored this year for her tireless efforts in service to Grand County over many years. Felicia and her late husband, Michael, have a long history here going back to 1967. They were members of the original Winter Park Resort Association. Felicia is most known for her column in Sky-Hi News where she presents a very insightful commentary on current political events. She is an excellent writer and has been involved in politics for over 50 years.

Felicia started as a consumer advocate in Denver when she and Michael arrived in Denver in the early 60’s. She wrote the Colorado Consumer Handbook which is still available on Amazon. Felicia was the first woman to run for Mayor of Denver and just narrowly lost the election. She then served on Mayor Pena’s cabinet and staff and was the Denver Clerk and Recorder. She has also been interested in international politics and has focused most of her energy on the Balkans where Michael grew up.

Recently she organized a very successful global grant with Rotary International to educate young women in Bosnia. Both Felicia and Michael have been very generous to the community here in Grand County and in Denver. Felicia is most proud of her service on the Winter Park Architectural Review board and support of the Grand County Concert Series.

We will also honor the memory of Michael Muftic who was truly the father of our club here in Winter Park. The Service Above Self Award was named in his honor when it was first conceived almost 10 years ago. Michael was born in Yugoslavia in 1933 to a prestigious family. But after the war, they had to escape communism and left in 1954. He told this story with great passion and was always extremely grateful for the freedom and opportunity that America allowed him as a young man with hardly a dime to his name when he first arrived. After his medical studies in Europe (where he met Felicia), he came to America in the early 60s, first to New York and then to Denver. He began his practice as an OB-GYN in Denver in 1965 and was always proud to say that he delivered 12,000 babies in his career. He served on too many boards to mention and he received numerous awards in his lifetime. Michael was very devoted to Rotary and his proudest honor was being named Rotarian of the year. Michael was also very involved in politics and was the Democratic National Committeeman for Colorado over many years. He was passionate about music and supported the opera in Denver and the concert series here in Fraser Valley. He loved American football and was a huge Broncos fan. He will be missed. We loved him for his bear hugs and “over the top” compliments to all he greeted. And who will forget those little jars of Melem that he always seemed to have in his pocket.

Past recipients of this award include Ron Nelson, Mark Johnson, Kirk Klancke, Lurleen Curran, Steve Radcliffe, Gary DeFrange, Rich Devlin, Kim Linin, Peggy Smith and Shanna Lalley.

The award will be presented at the annual dinner being held at Pole Creek Bistro 28 on Sunday, March 13. The festivities will begin at 5 p.m. with cocktails and dinner at 6 p.m. with a short program afterward. Tickets for the dinner are $35 each. Please come and join us for a fun evening. For tickets, contact Steve Radcliffe at ridgecliffe756@gmail.com or 970-509-9678.