OGDENSBURG - The Ogdensburg Command Performances has presented its highest annual honor to someone who has helped support the organization in a variety of unique and varied capacities for more than three decades.

At the final show of each season, Ogdensburg Command Performances presents its “Franky Award” to a member of the community who has shown extraordinary commitment to the not-for-profit theater group. Given first in 1992, each recipient has supported OCP with their time and resources. The award was named in honor of Frank Schwartz, the founder and director for 27 years.

The recipient this year is Dr. Manny Palao, who has had an enormous impact on OCP over the decades by donating countless hours to support the organization, according to OCP officials.

Cindy Wilson, a long-serving volunteer and past board president of the group, presented the award at OCP’s recent season-ending performance. She said Dr. Palao, a retired surgeon, is a person that “many people admire but few truly know.” She said few people know how hard he works behind the scenes to support OCP’s mission of bringing professional live performance art to the north country.

“He has been our selfless courier, shuttling the company bus drivers,” Mrs. Wilson said in presenting the award. “He has picked up and delivered late-night take-out dinners for the cast and crew. He once drove to Massena to get pasta fagioli for Jack Klugman and another time to Brockville, Ontario to buy a specialty chocolate treat for a NYSCA VIP.

She added, “He has carted countless boxes for OCP. When surgery was not enough, he even became our invaluable OCP bookkeeper. So, on behalf of the OCP volunteers and the Board of Trustees, it is an honor and privilege to extend our gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Manny Palao for his ongoing support and generosity behind the scenes for the past 35 years.”

Dr. Palao said, “I am just one of many that have played a role in helping Ogdensburg Command Performances. For more than 60 years it has been the volunteers, the board members, and the community that has helped OCP fulfill its mission. He has always believed in giving back to the community and said he wished more people would volunteer their time, talent and resources to better their respective communities.

He added, “This award represents those unsung community heroes and of course the legacy of Frank Schwartz who started it all. I am just a conduit through which his legacy flows.”