State Rep. Fred Nesler, D-Mayfield, and Frances Willey wave to the crowd at the annual W.C. Young Award dinner in Paducah Saturday. Nesler was the featured speaker at the program in which Willey, from Lone Oak, received the Young Award for her “support and dedication to the working men and women of Western Kentucky and America.” Named for the late W.C. Young, a national labor and civil rights leader from Paducah, the award is the highest honor the Paducah-based Western Kentucky Area Council, AFL-CIO, bestows. Willey has helped organize Paducah’s yearly Labor Day weekend program for many years. The 2008 Young Award recipient was Wayne Chambers, who lives near Mayfield. Chambers was the last vice president of Steelworkers Local 665 at the Continental General Tire plant, which has closed. (Photo by Berry Craig)