SALEM — A Salem woman who spends hours planting flowers on city rotaries will be honored next week as the city's Unsung Heroine for 2008.
Sandi Power was nominated for the state award by Mayor Kim Driscoll and state Rep. John Keenan.
The Unsung Heroine Award, presented by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, recognizes citizens who aren't in the headlines but who make a difference in their communities or businesses.
A member of the Salem Beautification Committee, Power took personal responsibility for plantings on Riley Plaza and Hawthorne Boulevard, officials said. For years, she used to take care of Loring Plaza, near her South Salem home.
"She has been an amazing force on the traffic island program," said Ellen Talkowsky, who oversees special projects for the city. "It has truly been her passion. She has planted several of the islands herself or gotten sponsors for them ..."
"The city is a better place in large part because of her many contributions," Keenan said in a statement. Driscoll called Power "one of the most well-known volunteers within the city."
Power doesn't limit her beautification activities to flowers.
"She actually had surgery last week and was still at Clean Sweeps at Riley Plaza on Saturday morning," Talkowsky said. "I drove by (Wednesday), and she was out there again."
Clean Sweeps was a volunteer trash pickup effort across the city.
Power is the treasurer and longtime member of the South Salem Neighborhood Association, one of the most active neighborhood organizations in the city.
"Her community service is just unparalleled," said Jim Rose, president of the group.
Power also serves as president of the Seamens, Widows and Orphans Association, a city trust fund that provides assistance to families in need. She also is on the board of the Woman's Friend Society, which provides housing to 19 working women.
Power and other unsung heroines will be honored on Wednesday at a Statehouse ceremony in Boston.
