The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission has announced the recipients of the 2007 Volunteer Recognition Awards for outstanding volunteer service, which includes several from Island County.

“Outstanding contribution by an individual” accolades went to Steven Kobylk of Coupeville, who has been volunteering at Fort Casey since 1999. He prepared and painted the 10-inch disappearing rifles, cleared brush, restored and painted historical features in the battery storage room. Kobylk owns a number of the historical artifacts on display and donated phones, lanterns, spotting scopes, uniforms, replica post lanterns, shell casings and more. Kobylk also developed a booklet to tell the story of the life and career of Mathew L. English, a Coupeville native who served in World War I and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

“Outstanding contribution by a group” honors went to the Cama Beach Quilters. In January 2003, the Camano Island Quilters formed an elite group of quilters with a goal of making 100 quilts for Cama Beach State Park. They researched quilt styles and patterns from the 1930s and ‘40s, donated and received donations of quilting material and completed 35 quilts. The quilters put nearly 2,700 hours into this project, and the value of the quilts is estimated to be $50,000 to $60,000.

The “scout award,” went to Boy Scout Troop 4058 of Coupeville. The troop performed a service project at Pearrygin Lake State Park. They removed an old vault toilet in the group camp area, prepared the ground for grass, painted 50 feet of fence and repositioned the fire pit.