Tolwinski Award Honors All Around Good Kid

Turning a horrific tragedy into a lasting memorial for her late son, Loretta Tolwinski is anticipating this year's seventh-grade competitors for the Joseph D. Tolwinski Memorial Award.

In the year after Joe's untimely death at age 13, Loretta and her family and Joe's close friends decided to honor his memory with an award given to two seventh-grade students at the middle school.

But Loretta said the Tolwinski Award is not for grades, or athletics, or a particular subject. It is for being an all-around good person, the kind of kid that Joe was. There are two awards given annually, one for a Sanborn student and one for Peabody.

"Their character is so shaped and developed during those years," said Loretta this week. "You might get an unlikely winner. That's what's unique about this award."

She said five of Joe's close friends and their parents got together and formed a nonprofit organization as part of the memorial. It is a low-key affair, she said, not raising lots of money with lavish events or anything like that.

Donations to the Joseph D. Tolwinski Memorial Award Fund, Inc. produce enough money to give the award winners a chance to do something "in the near term," Loretta said, such as a summer program or a class trip that they might not otherwise afford.

Loretta also writes a personal note to the award winners' families and makes a phone call to convey her pride in their achievement. The award is given on class day at the Concord Middle School. Loretta said she calls the family in secret so that parents and grandparents can come to the ceremony.

"It's a very emotional thing," she said.

"Each spring since 1998, two students, one from each of the Concord Middle School buildings has had the thrill of hearing his/her name called to receive this prestigious award at the annual "Moving Up Day" ceremony on the last day of school in June," the background information sheet stated.

The criteria are kindness and generosity of  spirit towards others; supportive and encouraging behavior towards classmates; an enthusiastic and spirited approach to life; and a striving to be one's best.

The award recipients are selected by the faculty at each building without regard to gender or financial need. The scholarship component of each award is provided directly to thededucational organization selected by the awardee and his/her parents rather than to the student.

Loretta said three of Joe's close friends from middle school, now college graduates, are on the board of directors.

For more information or to donate to the Joseph D. Tolwinski Memorial Award fund, visit "Support the Joe T Fund" on Facebook or send checks made out to the Tolwinski Memorial Fund, c/o Patrick Padden, Vice President, Middlesex Savings Bank, Concord, MA.