W.C. Young Award goes to Glenn Dowdy posthumously

By BERRY CRAIG

AFT Local 1360

Emcee Larry Sanderson briefly paused the politicking Friday at the Danny Ross West Kentucky Building and Construction Trades Council Labor Luncheon in Paducah for the posthumous presentation of the W.C. Young Award to Glenn Dowdy, longtime president of the Paducah-based Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council.

Named for the late W.C. Young, a national labor and civil rights leader from Paducah, the award is the highest honor the council bestows.

Dowdy died Oct. 29, 2022, at age 76. 

The veteran union activist, who lived near Paducah, was also a local union president and a member of the state AFL-CIO Executive Board. In addition, he worked for many years as a legal investigator for attorneys in Paducah and St. Louis.

Carol Young, W.C. Young's widow, presented the traditional award plaque and a framed photo-biographical sketch to Dowdy's daughter, Sandy Dowdy Lewis, and her son, Alex.. of Murfreesboro, Tenn. Gov. Andy Beshear, the featured speaker for the luncheon, joined Sanderson, Lewis, Alex and Young on stage at Walker Hall, where more than 325 people came to enjoy a free lunch and cheer their candidate.     

A duplicate photo and biographical sketch will join similar ones on a wall at the council hall. 

The annual luncheon is one of the traditional preliminaries to the Fancy Farm political picnic.